Return To Simple
The thousands of times I coughed this week shredded my throat, disrupted my sleep, and sapped my energy. This left me feeling behind on my work, with no chance for a super-heroic push to catch up on everything.
This cold is passing through me like a slow-moving weather pattern. It’s going to be cloudy for a while longer. I can control it no more than I could control the high winds that whipped through our community on Friday. Yet I am responsible for cleaning up the aftermath of both.
That’s how it works. We do our best, then the universe throws us random extra challenges and we handle them as best we can.
It forces us to drop the less essential things. This week I dropped the notion of having a full-blown essay. One less thing to worry about today. When I look at my list of responsibilities, it strikes me that in 100 years, no one will know or care whether I do any of these. Probably not a fair standard for stack-ranking one’s priorities, but it is sobering. And it highlights that everything will be just fine regardless of when I can get these things done.
I’m feeling better than I felt last week, but it will be many days before I feel like this illness has completely left my system. Like a bad roommate, I can’t wait for it to move out. It’s nice to hear the birds sing. Spring is here.
Sunday Supper
Sweet Lori cooked a lot of my get-well-soon meal ideas in last week’s post. It was all delicious, and as healing as I expected. My cold imposes a tax on her, too, in terms of having less help walking the dog, cooking our food and generally getting things done around here. I’m going to stick with simple and comforting recipes this week. Like this Paprika Chicken & Potatoes. Dill Pickle Salt & Vinegar Salad sounds bright and interesting. Roasted Sweet Potatoes Topped w/ Spiced Ground Beef & Pine Nuts. Sausage & Leek Casserole.
Sunday Music
I once fell asleep at an Alan Holdsworth concert. Sensory overload? Perhaps, but I was also tired…it was a weeknight show and I had a full day at the office. This uniquely talented British musician passed away nine years ago, but here is a set he delivered 20 years ago at Yoshi’s Jazz Club. Here Steve Earle performs a brief set at Lucinda’s in NYC. Madi Diaz recently appeared at the NPR Tiny Desk. Jennifer Hudson recently performed A Change Is Gonna Come at the celebration of life for the recently departed Reverend Jesse Jackson. Who can forget this truly amusing cameo of Reverend Jackson’s on Saturday Night Live so many years ago? Enjoy!
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Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,