Saturday

It was a strange, though not uncomfortable night. Tired and sleepy, I luxuriated in bed, thinking how different a Covid diagnosis would have been three years ago! Back then, I would have tracked my oxygenation levels, ready to be whisked off to the hospital should they drop. I would have looked for signs of trouble in every part of me. Now, I allow myself to stay in bed and think about these years of Covid and how they reshaped our lives and yet, we who believe in vaccinations and medicine are not pummeled by this virus. Most of us can expect to come out okay at the end of the day. Well, at the end of the week! I realize that I am greatly benefited by having had a recent booster. If I had to catch Covid, I could not have picked a better time for it. My responses are at their strongest this very week.

And by my usual get up and get moving time (7!), I'm feeling less tired and less raspy and I know that sometime in the middle of the night, the virus got kicked in the butt hard and if all goes well, I can expect it to back off and leave me alone. Soon.

Now, how to face our weird and screwed up days, here at the farmhouse? The 3 cats slept downstairs. I would have let them out but it rained all night and Pancake, the 7th interloper at the farmette, hogged the porch so I felt I should let them have their peace in the living room while I closed myself off upstairs. (Ed has the shed cats -- the three who never come to the farmhouse -- to keep him company.)

In the morning, I chase the cats out and head to the barn to free and feed the chickens. 

I poke my head into the sheep shed and shout over to Ed to feed the cats. I can't do it. It's his germ-free safe space. This, of course, terrifies the three felines that are in there with him. They flee as if a tornado had swept through the premises. (All the cats hate unexpected noises.)

And then I eat breakfast. Alone.

Honestly, I'm feeling lazy. And mad that this last trip ended with Covid. I had managed to do close to a dozen trips since the pandemic struck and I'd gotten it into my head that if I only follow precautions, I should be fine. And I was fine. Even during the peak of the spread last winter, I was fine. Until this fall --  I wasn't. 

Still, I am exceptionally lucky. In every single way. I am home, I can call my doc and get the antivirals. I have Ed to shout to across the farmette lands. Oh, not just that -- I helped him fix the brakes on his car this afternoon! Masked, with doors open, I pumped the brakes while he puttered and muttered and used tools to do who knows what. 

And here's another thing we can do together -- go on a bike ride!

True, it's not especially pleasant outside. Cold and gray (but with some breaks in the sky!). But the rains have stopped and I have to get used to the new normal of cold weather. Right now I'm still bundling up as if I were in the highest mountains in the middle of January, but my blood will adjust soon and winter will be nothing more than a clothing annoyance in terms of searching out the caps, the scarves, the missing second glove...

(We combine it with a walk in our favorite park. Keeping a nice distance apart!)

(Hey! The gaggle of cranes and geese is at it again!)

Back at home I think about how weird it is to have this virus that I have been basically avoiding every single day, sometimes with total preoccupation, sometimes with a little less, since March 8, 2020. Friends ask me how I'm doing and I have to say that there are two unpleasant aspects of Covid for me (apart from the mild raspiness which is nothing more than an annoyance) -- the taste in my mouth (remember when we read that Covid messed with your tastebuds? oh yeah!), and the psychological effect of getting this thing that I've been dodging for so long. I've become so complacent about being able to zip through travel without catching anything, that I allowed myself to book endless trips going forward. My pandemic-ly deferred travel budget went into overdrive! Now I'm thinking -- each trip will pose a new risk. And each time I come back sick, I mess with the lives of those at home. Oh sure, I'm careful in travel. I avoid the obvious crowds, stores, shows, and I mask up, with my super duper KN95! But of course, not while eating.. 

Ah well, life moves on. 

Now, excuse me while I pace. I cant let go of my movement rings, just because of a dumb old virus!

with love...