I’ve been sick for about a week: a bad cold, but just a cold nonetheless. A couple days of swollen glands and tonsils, a couple days of fluid-filled chest cavity, a couple days of feeling like I could almost scrape up the energy to walk the dog if I concentrated. Over the weekend I slept. Woke up to greet the morning with Becky, kissed her as she left for her errands, and went back to bed to sleep until three.
Last night walking home from BART I noticed in the cool night that I felt energetic and fully oxygenated. How wonderful that feels.
I am going to hike on Diablo again this weekend. Probably not to the summit: perhaps another visit to Eagle Peak. I didn’t get nearly enough hiking in in the Mojave to suit me, a mere thirteen miles or so over the week. Call it thirteen, and include the night walk at Mesquite Spring, five miles over the floor of Death Valley under the moon. The payphone was up the road at the ranger station, and I wanted to call Becky. The quarter moon was bright enough that I needed no flashlight, though the verge between pavement and gravel blurred amusingly at times. Creosote by moonlight is a lovely thing. I reached the phone after an hour and called just as Becky walked in the door. An hour later I walked back. That night I camped at the lip of Death Valley Wash, a ten-foot cliff a short stumble from my tent. At half past asleep two coyotes sang not more than a dozen feet away. I lay frozen in my sleeping bag.
I have felt more energetic and oxygenated too. I have wondered if it’s related to the fact that so much stuff is starting to bloom, and the nights are noticeably warmer ...
Is it spring here already? This is my first February in the bay area; I’m incredulous about the fact that winter (if it even happened!) might be over.
Diablo this weekend sounds lovely. Don’t go if your throat’s not up to it, though: if you’ve been battling the germies for that long, you might need a little more R&R than you think. (My mum tried hard to instill in me her belief that intense physical exertion will cure any illness, but I’m still skeptical. The Farland School of Medicine is a mite too Darwinian for my tastes.)
Hey, I’m glad you’re feeling better. I agree with Siona, though — don’t overdo it. (I’ve found the relapses typically worse than the original go-round.)
It’s not yet spring here in So. Cal., but it’s getting there. :)
Glad you’re feeling better Chris.
Ah Spring! It was actually above freezing today for the first time in 3 weeks (-2 last night). Those coyotes are feeling “mating time” just around the corner as they are even here in upstate NY. All this canid February mating is reminding me of how cold it is alone.
glad you’re back among the living, my friend. it’s a fair trade, freezing in a tent for coyote fire song!