A couple of weeks ago I got a new pair of glasses. This style is radically different from my previous three pair, and I think I like it. The problem is, very few things seem to be in focus.
I can read stuff on my phone and my computer easily, but my eyes won’t focus on distances. It’s not like I’m as blind as I would be without glasses, but I certainly don’t have the distance vision I did with my last prescription. I can’t read a large green street sign until I’m within fifty feet or so. That’s no good!
I really wanted to avoid an in-office visit, but yesterday I finally broke down and called for an appointment.Fortunately they had an opening this morning, so I’m sitting outside the eye doctor’s office waiting until 9:10 to enter.
This pandemic is rotten, and it’s not going away anytime soon. I’m prone to dwelling on the heartaches. “There’s a Tear in My Beer” could’ve been my theme song, except it’d be a pity to water down a good beer.
Yesterday I was feeling low. Not depressed, just low. And then I made myself think of ordinary day-to-day good things about life right now, things that might NOT have come about had it not been for Covid-19.
One of the best is a group on Facebook called “Tallahassee Foodies.” It was started by a woman who wanted to call attention to good, locally owned eateries. It’s an overwhelmingly positive place for members to ask about specific types of foods available and to share information.
Here are a couple of sample posts from the site:
“This page makes my heart swell when I see it supporting people who need it (fried Oreos, peterbrooke) especially during these hard times of closure, lower capacity, etc. SO… If you own or know of a good business that is struggling to survive right now, please list them below so we can help them. So many restaurant, franchise, and bar owners put it all on the line to start their businesses, I want to do my tiny part to help… Thanks!”
“Y’all. This is probably 5000 Weight Watchers points, but I’ll eat soup the rest of the day so I can eat this. Bacon jam, avocado, and egg melt (added tomato)! Look at those layers of deliciousness! First time I’ve had bacon jam. It had a little kick and now I have to figure out how it’s made.”
From Freshroots Kitchen in Tallahassee
I absolutely love this site and all the good vibes the members are putting out. Any negativity gets shut down quickly. It’s a happy place for me.
What’s happening in your world that’s positive? Something that might only exist because of COVID? Maybe you’ve taken on a role that you’d never considered playing before. Tell me something good.
By nature I’m a bit of a hypochondriac, so the pandemic gods are having quite a bit of fun with me.
To me, any cough becomes suspect. Every headache signals the end. It doesn’t help that here in north Florida a thick coating of bright yellow pollen adorns every outdoor surface, and the particles find their way into nasal passages and beyond, resulting in stuffy noses, watery eyes, and headaches that seem resistant to Tylenol.
In the middle of the night I woke up with a headache of epic proportions. Behind my eyes the pain pounded relentlessly. Boom! Boom! Boom! Then I developed a tickle in my throat, resulting in a dry cough that awakened Studly Doright. Studly was actually concerned and offered to get me some medicine. I think his exact words were, “Are you feeling sick?” which to my paranoid mind was code for, “Is it the virus?”
I patted him back to sleep, got up and took a couple of Tylenol, even though those I’d taken four hours earlier hadn’t helped much. And I drank some over the counter cough syrup, that at least calmed the tickle.
Worse than the physical symptoms, though, were the imaginary ones. I was pretty sure I’d developed COVID-19, even while I knew that wasn’t the case. I’m a hypochondriac who knows she’s a hypochondriac. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.
My headache is merely a sinus headache and my cough is but a dry throat tickle. It’s that time of year and I go through this process annually, but damn, it’s hell for a hypochondriac during a pandemic.
When I stumbled out of bed this morning and fired up the laptop, I figured I’d be unproductive in the writing department, but after a slow start I totaled 2,000 plus words. So, maybe my muse works well with hypochondriacs. Go figure.
When one sticks to a mostly vegan diet, as I do, one is constantly on the lookout for good snack foods. Well, at least I am. Yesterday I drove over to Whole Foods on Thomasville Road to buy bananas and foil. I was pleased to see that all but one or two shoppers were wearing masks and gloves. That’s not always the case at the Publix grocery store nearest Doright Manor where I’m often the only one in PPE besides the employees.
So, feeling like I didn’t have to run in and out of the store as I do at Publix, I went to the snack foods aisle where I found these cookies:
Uncle Eddie’s Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts. They are incredibly good. In fact, these might just be the best cookies I’ve ever had—and that includes homemade cookies. I promise even if I weren’t vegan I’d be singing their praises.
No one paid me to say this. Uncle Eddie doesn’t even know I exist, but if he wanted to adopt me I’d be all in.
Typically I’ve only worn hats while at the beach or when I’m suffering from a bad case of helmet head after riding my motorcycle. I look like a doofus in a hat. But finally my hair has completely gotten out of control, so today I donned a hat.
You have no idea how many pictures I had to take before I didn’t look like a crazy woman. Oh, and I couldn’t find my regular mask, so I had to take the souvenir Luckenbach, Texas bandana from its frame in my Texas bedroom for a face covering.
The ghost of Billy the Kid called. He thinks I’d make a fine outlaw.
Praying for Eyebrowz 