I remember now this other downside of the colder part of the year: people get sick. And here's something else to consider: when families grow, the chances of someone being sick on any of the fall and winter days is, well, pretty high. There are three members of the young family in Chicago and four in the Madison bunch. Add the farmhouse duo and that's nine, with three that are at a vulnerable age in terms of sniffles and the like. Inevitably someone will have a cold.
Us grownups tend to be a little hardier. We don't get everything that they get. But we do pass around bugs freely. Perhaps we even introduce ones into the mix. After all, aside from Ed, we do go out and about where viruses run rampant.
All this to say that I had a disappointing day today. I was to go to Chicago to visit with Primrose, but a few days ago I picked up a familial cold and it's lingering. I decided it's unfair to the Chicago bunch to arrive with a good case of sniffles. So I stayed home.
I remind myself that this trip can be recreated soon. That it would be far worse if we had a special event, a holiday, travel plans. A bug can really mess with your plans then and there is nothing you can do but give a disappointed sigh and move on.
So what do you do with one of those annoying head colds? You feed the animals, glance at the garden...
... then spend the rest of the morning watching television. And for once, there was something to watch.
We sat down to breakfast with the TV on...
... and it stayed on until Dr. Blasey finished testifying at the confirmation hearings that are today taking place in DC. By then it was time to pick up Snowdrop.
(After that I only listened in bits and pieces. The girl, perhaps in possession of supernatural powers and therefore anticipating that at the farm, there would be the quiet hum of the TV in the background, begged to go to the park. Good idea! When you have a cold, being outside is sometimes a good thing. You're not sneezing at everyone in the same room. Snowdrop often uses swinging time to explain something to me: today she makes a strong case in favor of winter as the best season of them all!)
(The prettiness of purple...)
Toward the end of the afternoon, we returned to the farmhouse where we played "the dragon scares the babies." She appointed me to be the dragon.
I am cheered by all this. I'll be going to Chicago soon. Playing with my granddaughter was awesome. And the hearings were pretty interesting too.
Us grownups tend to be a little hardier. We don't get everything that they get. But we do pass around bugs freely. Perhaps we even introduce ones into the mix. After all, aside from Ed, we do go out and about where viruses run rampant.
All this to say that I had a disappointing day today. I was to go to Chicago to visit with Primrose, but a few days ago I picked up a familial cold and it's lingering. I decided it's unfair to the Chicago bunch to arrive with a good case of sniffles. So I stayed home.
I remind myself that this trip can be recreated soon. That it would be far worse if we had a special event, a holiday, travel plans. A bug can really mess with your plans then and there is nothing you can do but give a disappointed sigh and move on.
So what do you do with one of those annoying head colds? You feed the animals, glance at the garden...
... then spend the rest of the morning watching television. And for once, there was something to watch.
We sat down to breakfast with the TV on...
... and it stayed on until Dr. Blasey finished testifying at the confirmation hearings that are today taking place in DC. By then it was time to pick up Snowdrop.
(After that I only listened in bits and pieces. The girl, perhaps in possession of supernatural powers and therefore anticipating that at the farm, there would be the quiet hum of the TV in the background, begged to go to the park. Good idea! When you have a cold, being outside is sometimes a good thing. You're not sneezing at everyone in the same room. Snowdrop often uses swinging time to explain something to me: today she makes a strong case in favor of winter as the best season of them all!)
(The prettiness of purple...)
Toward the end of the afternoon, we returned to the farmhouse where we played "the dragon scares the babies." She appointed me to be the dragon.
I am cheered by all this. I'll be going to Chicago soon. Playing with my granddaughter was awesome. And the hearings were pretty interesting too.
