A Boon to Sick People

Home delivery – the latest trend to hit retail and grocery outlets – is a boon to sick people. I say this as someone who caught the current flu last Thursday. Here I was, innocently going about my usual routine, although I did note than on Thursday morning during the ritual Walking of The Doggles, that I was sniffing and sneezing; as if something had gotten caught in my sinuses. Innocently, it all seemed to pass; at mid-day my daughter and I went up to Bergheim in the Hill Country to meet with a small book club who had done me the honor of choosing the first of the Adelsverein Trilogy as their book selection of the month.

A lovely meeting with readers who loved the book and series, were interested in reading more, who asked intelligent and thought-provoking questions (and one member from whom we received a gracious thank-you card in the mail today!) and returned, hitting the usual amount of mid-afternoon traffic. Ugh. I honestly hope that I did not infect any of them – all good citizens of my vintage. In my defense, I didn’t feel the least bit sick until after we got home.

It was hot, the AC in the GG (newly returned from necessary work after the traffic altercation in June) needs tuning up, but all seemed au fait, until … I really began feeling terribly tired early that evening. I retired to my chamber (accompanied by the hovering and attentive cats) early that evening … and overnight, my sinuses turned into veritable snot-fountains. No, really – that’s what they became, for at least 48 miserable hours … hours which I spend mostly in bed, accompanied by the attendant cats who doubtless appreciated their human heat-source. The Daughter Unit went to the local HEB, returning with supplies of flu-specific remedies, and pineapple nectar, which is supposed to be good for this kind of thing, and I am good, for the moment … although the Daughter Unit seems to have fallen to the same flu-plague, just as I am feeling slightly better.

In turn, I trotted off to the supermarket around the corner, to renew our supplies of flu-remedies and pineapple nectar, and certain groceries … although for one regular item, I did break down and order from Amazon. The Indian-brand loose tea that I prefer is available from a Middle Eastern grocery halfway across town for half the price on Amazon, but honestly, I was just not up to the drive. It did occur to me that HEB, Amazon and Walmart and all instituting home or curbside delivery is an absolute boon at times like these, and doubly so for the chronically ailing and/or elderly, like the neighbor whose dogs we walk. She can drive just as far as the Walmart, and the staff very kindly load the back of the car for her. The postman with the route in our neighborhood complained to us once, about another neighbor who preferred ordering bags of potting soil and compost from Amazon for home delivery, rather than schlepp it home from Lowes’ himself – but if I had mobility issues, I’d go that route, rather than give up having a garden at all.

At least, I am recovered enough to go to Giddings on Thursday for the Word Wrangler, although I don’t know if the Daughter Unit will be fit enough, and my appetite is still practically non-existent. It’s another curious aspect of this years’ flu strain, besides the free-flowing sinuses; no appetite at all; no relish for food, even when the plate is in front of me and I haven’t eaten in hours.