COVID – no matter how you feel about it, whether you think it’s real or not, whether you think it’s no more than a cold or once (or is) a major health threat to the entire world, can be a real pain in the backside.
I’ve been blessed with having it twice, once during what is now called the ‘Delta surge’ in Knoxville, Tennessee, which really knocked me on my behind, where even getting up to use the washroom was a monumental task akin to running a twenty mile marathon, and once this past week, for which I just took a negative test and am in the clear.
This time it was more like a cold than anything else, although because of my underlying conditions of asthma, high blood pressure, and perhaps liking food a bit too much (something I am currently working on) I was given the antiviral drug Paxlovid.
First of all let me tell you about Paxlovid, especially as I still have two days to go on it, and the first thing you should know is it leaves a taste in your mouth that could be described as a mixture of metal, Lysol, and old sweat, like you gargled with Listerine from 1985.
Still I suppose I should be grateful it exists, from all I’ve read it apparently keeps you from any of the worse effects of this blighted virus, brought to you by the same people that brought you the flu and the common cold.
Having seen my own father pass from it in early 2021 which also started a new and challenging chapter in my own life I can tell you I have a history with this disease that is not too pleasant, which again, despite your personal feelings on the subject makes me one of millions affected by it, like any global event, be it war, sickness, or inflation.
Is there such a thing as survivor’s guilt for things of that nature?
Surely the soldiers in those wars with boots on the ground could have it, seeing fields of men wearing the same gear and colors swallowed whole like Geppetto being swallowed by the whale.
Because no matter what you think is happening out there or who you think is to blame, something shifted in 2020, something shook the world like a Christmas snow globe and for everyone, be they young or old, rich or poor, in or out, the world changed forever, even if they don’t know it.
Someone out there was playing Carly Simon’s These Are The Good Old Days in a bar somewhere on December, 31st, 2019 and did not realize they were becoming a jukebox prophet.
The thing about prophecy is that you have to heed the warnings they give, you have to listen to the lessons they teach, you have to really hear not just with the ears but the soul…
And the message is to enjoy each breath, to love while you can, to just be everything you really want in your heart and relish the stability of the ground under your feet.
Because tides can rise quickly.
