I made it through the last of the allergy season and had several good weeks before catching the flu. So here I am, back in bed! The netbook computer has proved to be a good investment, being eminently portable when I am not.
The excitement during the past thirty days included the eventual arrival of Star*Line 3.4 (July/August), in which was published my poem "Endings." There was also a check and a contributor’s copy, mailed along with the subscription copy.
“Endings”
Elizabeth W. Bennefeld
Lulled to sleep by weeping sands against the window,
mixed by winds with sleet and snow,
I dream again of golden, glorious clouds
racing before that one last towering storm–
the day the Earth last heard our voices,
felt our steps, and then
was washed by rains no more.
Published in Star*Line, July/August 2009 issue.
At the end of September Al and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary with an early supper at Applebee’s. The next weekend was my parents’ 67th anniversary, and I do not know what they did to celebrate the occasion. I do know that Dad is finally (he turns 93 in December) turning loose his last job, because he asked me, this week, to write a letter of resignation for him effective the end of the year. Mom says that he’s just sent them off to the board members. As he said, he can do the job just fine, but having to go out into the country in the winter makes him a bit nervous, now.
My work load has been even more seriously pared down by the flu that’s sweeping through Fargo-Moorhead. I hope that I will be well by next week, when some hope to reschedule. I usually don’t get the flu, not since I cut wheat out of my diet, 18 or 19 years ago. I’m assuming that’s what I’ve got, even though I’m not running a fever. All the other symptoms match.
-~*^*~-
It’s sort of funny that I come out of the allergy season totally disoriented. It breaks the continuity of my life. I have not retained the details of last spring, before the allergies hit, and the intervening time is quite blurry. Who am I? What do I like to do besides dance and pray?
One major change in the household that occurred between allergies and the current bout of flu is that I’ve started getting up when Al does in the morning. I make breakfast for both of us before he heads off to work. That’s going well. I like starting the day with eggs and toast and meat of some sort.
Another change is that I have returned to going to bed when I am sleepy, rather than waiting until Al is done watching his last TV program, somewhere between Midnight and 1:30 a.m. Getting into bed between 9:00 and 11:00 in the evening is helping me to stay caught up on sleep and feel more rested.
Guess I had better fix lunch for Al, who will be home sooner than I’m prepared for. Or, is one ever prepared for the moment after next? Really?