When I was a kid with my nose in a book, I always wanted to get malaria....all the best people had it--Charlemagne; Sts. Augustine and Teresa of Avila; Genghis Khan; Christopher Columbus; US Presidents Washington, Monroe, Jackson, Lincoln, Grant, T. Roosevelt, and JFK; Jane Goodall; Mother Teresa. There were NO tropical diseases to speak of in North Dakota where I grew up, and it seemed very romantic to suffer from a disease, one of the salient symptoms of which--high fever--meant I'd be HOT all the time instead of half frozen.
Since i got back from Italy, the jet lag has really lagged! I've been feeling more and more punk and tired for the past two weeks. Today that finally segued into a splitting headache, high fever and chills, aches, cough, pains in the stomach: all symptoms of malaria.
It's highly unlikely that I have malaria, but I remember how voracious the mosquitos were in Capri. and I don't get headaches often--just when I've come down with a spectacular bug. They have home tests now for malaria. I wonder if they have them at CVS?
The Amalfi coast, Naples, Capri in ancient times had lots of cases of malaria. Now, with new pesticides and antibiotics, cases are rare to nonexistent. But they say global warming may cause malaria to come back. Gee....
A good glass of brandy should take care of your problem!
ReplyDeleteI hope you get better, Peggy's mom!
brandy? not gin & tonic?
ReplyDeletethanks, uncle mad....
Dammit I wrote something very wise and then it went POOF!
ReplyDeleteIt was something like go see the doc if the headache doesn't get any better.
I never wanted malaria whan I was a kid but I really really wanted a broken arm. I thought it would be so glamourous to walk around with my arm is a cast and have people write their names on it.
And I might have to miss school.
I've only ever had a broken toe and that was awful! so I've changed my mind about the broken arm.
and thankyou for saying such nice things about my photos, they are all taken with a simple point'n'shoot digital that i bought on Ebay for $40.
ReplyDeleteThe photos might look OK to you, but there's not much detail and I can't control the focus much.
Gin n tonic AFTER a quick trip to the doctor!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it is just something you caught on the flight home. I always get sick on a flight to or from the US.
ex-shammy: i'm emailing something i got from international living. i didn't order the book, but i did google around, and there are a number of places that will accept digital photos from "just folks" and pay a royalty every time someone (a newspaper or magazine or advertiser) uses it. i'm sure your photos would be snapped up (well...), especially your nature and travel ones.
ReplyDeleteheadache's gone. if it comes back, i'll call the doc pronto.
peggy: one thing i've learned in my 7 decades....don't bug the doctor about what is probably a flu-type virus. but if i get the headache and FEVER back, off i go to the clinic.
ReplyDeleteand bless that fever....i broke through the weight loss plateau i've been sitting on for weeks...just by one pound, but hey....
what i said to ex-shammy about photos--i'll send that to you, too. don't laugh. it's for real. i'm currently deciding which one to sign up with.
I love the way you write - even when you're sick! Does it give a certain zing to your thoughts? The D.N.
ReplyDeleteDN: when I'm sick, I can't THINK TOO MUCH, and that improves almost anyone's writing. Take it from an editor. The worst writing I have to deal with is from people who want to sound SMART and IMPRESSIVE. They use all those $45 words and pile them together in big log jams of sentences. sweet jebus. better to have some bug sitting on your brain that will allow the stuff down inside to come out. That's when it gets interesting....
ReplyDeletealso, i forget where i saw this, but someone said "explain your topic so your grandmother (you know, the old bat with her nose in the jar) can understand it." (parenthetical addition mine)....