It's March. It's cold... and I have a cold. Two weeks ago we were having the most beautiful "spring" in years. It was 50-degrees. It was warm. I was walking around in a sweater and my cute "spring" boots.
What a difference two weeks can make.
We have snow. Lots of snow. Again. While I'd like to say, "hey it's awesome! I love all this cold and white stuff (crap) on the ground." I can't. The weather changed and my poor system could not keep up. I tried. I drank white wine with girlfriends. I ate tacos and salads. (Okay. The tacos aren't necessarily 'spring' or 'winter' but they are yummy.) I did what I could. ;)
So. My first clue that I might be sick was sitting at my favorite coffee shop. Trying to do some editing to get a book ready for the publisher...and each time I read a sentence? It seemed like it was really, really hard to understand. And then my coffee tasted funny. My favorite barista re-made my drink. Still tasted icky... (damn it auto correct I want to write u-c-k-y). I put my head down and took deep breaths. Lifting head brought a bit of dizziness. I straggled home, went to bed - sure a nap would fix me, got up coughing, my throat sore, and me thinking, uh-oh.
For the next four-days I spent most of my days getting up, doing what sick people do in the bathroom (never pretty), going back to bed, sleeping for hours, getting up, drinking Campbell's chicken noodle soup (childhood flavor of "get well!"), and after an hour or two, going back to bed. Then after three days I thought I'd turned the corner. Even managed to make the monthly girl's night!! Definitely on the way to recovery.
But that was five days ago.
Since then? I've tried to write. Tried to edit someone else's book. Tried to think beyond the thick in my skull.
Not. Going. To. Happen.
Honest to god. What do you do when you have work to do and you just can't think? I have three books waiting for final approval on my covers and they all look...blah. Oy.
So what do writers do when they can't write? Well let's see...
I get up. Drink hot black tea. Binge watch so far: Monk, The Office, Legion, and Altered Carbon. Nothing like watching brilliant actors creating the words of brilliant, creative writers to make me feel a bit better.
And aside from that? I mope. Not reading makes me feel dumb. Not writing feels odd. Not writing feels like my brain is going to atrophy.
So. All-in-all? I need doctors to get it done! Cure the common cold for goodness sake! If a writer can't write, then the people curing the world of ills and accidents sure aren't getting it done.
Now. My tired brain needs a nap. This took five minutes to write and I'm exhausted. Cheers to all you healthy darlings.
IMAGE: igor-starkov-563977-unsplash.jpg