Cold comfort

Hello people who read this,

As you may or may not have noticed, it's been a few weeks since I last wrote. I was on vacation for two of them (massive thanks go out to the city of Chicago for the architecture river cruise, to Amtrak Empire Builder for a glorious ride through snowy Glacier National Park, and to the city of Portland for your consistently fantastic coffee and people-watching. and for fabulous friends in the Laurelhurst area), and for the last few days have been flat-out with the common cold, probably picked up from traveling on planes and trains.

I can't tell you how happy it makes me to write, "common cold." Or, to write, "common." I mean don't get me wrong, the cold is kicking my ass briefly, but it's clearly just a cold, and it's on its way out. The common cold. Like everyone gets. Just a normal cold. Normal!

I can't lie, I was really nervous when I knew it was coming --- like, my immune system has taken a serious hit this year, right? And the first day, when I couldn't get out of bed until 11:00 am, and was coughing and short of breath, I thought, this is it. My immune system is bust, and this cold will be the end of me. I'm going out on a cold.

Turns out it was "just a cold," and even though "just a cold" still feels crummy, it has the perk this time of feeling "normal," and at least right now, a normal feeling is a luxurious feeling to me. Please raise a tissue with me in celebration!