I love the sound of the rain on the roof.
Here it is, mid-morning, and I have every possible audio source in the house turned off, just so that I can hear that rain connecting with the shelter I am sitting in.
It is a sound that reminds me of all that is good, and clean, and hopeful.
It is a sound that floods me with gratitude, that I am sitting here, warm, protected from the elements, safe for the moment, moment by moment.
It is a sound that brings the wildness of nature into the center of perception.
I love the sound of rain on the roof.
This coronavirus circles around me, leaving me feeling heavy chested, coughing, and weary again, just when I think it has run its course. It is an unwelcome guest. It lets me know it is here, in my body, fighting me. I fight back.
I rest frequently, nap in the afternoons, and keep up as many of my routines as I can manage. I am avoiding leaving the house for now, and will not venture into a public place again for weeks, just to make sure I do not pass this along to anyone else, as it has been passed to me. I eat regular nutritious meals, drink lots of fluids, and take my vitamins. I stay as active as I can comfortably manage.
This morning I’ve managed to make four litres Switchel for Attila’s lunches. Most evenings I am managing to cook a meal. Yesterday I did a load of laundry, which I hung out to dry on the back porch, then gathered the dry clothes, folded them, and put them away. Today I am making a big pot of Stone Soup, using multiple bits of garden produce that might otherwise be lost in the drawer in the refrigerator. Into the soup goes the zucchini which is several weeks old, and the equally aging small carrots found in the bottom of the cooler in the plastic bag. Into the soup goes the handful of green beans Attila picked out of the garden yesterday. In total there are nine different vegetables in the soup, many dried herbs, and no salt. It will make a wonderful and easy lunch for days to come.
Canning season is coming to a close, with three brand new jars still unused. They will probably be used for another batch of Salsa Verde, or perhaps a few last jars of Pickled Peppers, we shall see what time brings in from the garden. There may be a few more jars of Coleslaw, as the second growth on the cabbages seems to be thriving.
There are quite a few Winter Keeper cabbages to come in, they will be chopped, blanched, and frozen.
The BIG job coming up in the next few weeks is the tomatoes. They have been frozen as they have come in, at least the ones we haven’t eaten fresh have gone into the freezer. At some point, they will all be thawed at the same time, more than a bushel of them, then run through the tomato mill to make Pizza Sauce. I am planning on thawing them in colanders, to catch the tomato water that comes out of them for broth, processing only the tomato flesh. Hopefully this will produce a thicker sauce, which will need less time to reduce, before freezing.
But for now, I am only tackling a few projects when I feel up to it.
It has been two weeks now since I felt the first effects of Covid, and I feel it still within me. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to clear my system.
Worldly
Weather
Updated on Thu, Oct 13, 10:35 AM
15 °C
FEELS LIKE 14
Rain
Wind 21 S km/h
Humidity 94 %
Visibility 6 km
Sunrise 7:19 AM
Wind gust 31 km/h
Pressure 100.1 kPa
Ceiling 400 m
Sunset 6:27 PM
Quote
“Say not, ‘I have found the truth,’ but rather, ‘I have found a truth.'”
Kahlil Gibran
1883 – 1931
This is not a small or quibbling distinction.
Keep taking good care of yourself, resting and drinking fluids!
(Such a shame that Attila is bullied into not masking up!)
Maggie, I do hope the COVID symptoms pass for you soon. Such an unpredictable disease.
Thank you Joan, very good advice.
Attila’s workplace can be very toxic, he tolerates it well most of the time, but the mask issue is very sad indeed. So many people are so busy defending their “rights” that they trod all over everyone elses. The turnover at his place of employment is high, the company can’t figure out why… they must not want to know.
Thanks Wendy, fingers crossed this thing goes on its merry way into oblivion and be gone. It is unpredictable, although I am not suffering, I am not able to carry on as usual either. I am keeping an eye on my oxygen levels and other health indicators, so far so good.
Maggie I hope your Covid symptoms disappear soon. It sounds like you’re taking good care of yourself. Resingt whenever you feel tired, eating healthy foods, staying hydrated. Get well soon!
Thank you Sandy for your kind wishes! I am surprised at how long the symptoms have persisted, but every day I feel a them a little differently, and they are slightly less troublesome.
Hope Covid goes away really soon and doesn’t come back to bother you anymore, Maggie!
Thank you Eileen! A little better for a little longer every day now, goodness I don’t wish this bug on anyone!
Aw, hon! I’m so sorry to see it is covid.
You amaze and concern me with how much you’re doing. From what I’ve read, you’re not supposed to do much when trying to recover. Pushing yourself in any way can cause it to linger.
Current covid strains usually begin to ease on Day 5 and test negative by Day 7. Hon, I strongly suggest you contact your Public Health Unit and ask for advice. There should be reasonable treatment options out there for you and Attila, to help you get past this rough bit.
Thanks for the good wishes Teri. I have an upcoming appointment with the NP, and will be talking this over with her. It is a good suggestiont to call the local health unit, I will do that. My guess is that they will just say isolate, but they might surprise me. The real miserable thing is that apparently covid may be implicated in worsening aneurysms, bad new, I’ll be talking that over with the NP as well.
Make sure you tell them you’ve had this for more than 2 weeks.
As always Teri, good suggetion, to relay the full picture.
I called the telehealth Ontario line last night, went over it all with the Nurse, she advised a visit to the ER. So that is what I did, gave the whole history there too, the Dr. who saw me was excellent, went through the whole history with him, they did a chest x-ray, clear thank goodness. He gave me a puffer for temporary use, and steroids to assist me with the symptoms. No danger of pneumonia, and other adverse lung issues thank goodness. Because Covid has been found to impact aneurysms he booked me for an ultrasound to ensure there are no developing issues with that.
The intake staff reminded me of the intake staff in the film Shawshank Redemption. Although the young man in line behind me received a completely different tone, delivery, and response with his intake, he was treated like a patient of value, not my experence at all. But I got past the dismissive and abrupt staff to find a different environment altogether.
The medical staff, the x-ray technician, the Nurse, and the Doctor were stellar, both in skill and bedside manner, couldn’t have asked for a better experience.
The waiting room was interesting, four very sick children there, one of them buzzing me, for a bit before she fell asleep, didn’t get too awfully close, only about three years old and very sick. The rest of the waiting patients were all young people, all under 30, interesting. Thankfully the children were all called in first, must have been really hard sitting there for hours. I only waited three hours, which I consider excellent, and was home four hours after I left for the ER.
I’ve just got to wait this out, but will be watching for any significant setbacks.
Very glad you were able to get competent help and they could give you some medication for your synptoms! And in a reasonable time, at that.
Feel better soon, my friend.