Vaccine

Pouring rain, for a short while I expect. But we'd gone out for vegetables, and walked back in rain. Lovely. Remembering getting caught out in the North End of Boston during our first few months there, soaked through and with no clear idea of how far we had to walk to be home and dry. The wind made it shiveringly cold, and we were in t-shirts and shorts, no jacket nor umbrella, no break in sight. Taught us to be prepared, and not mind a bit of wet. I knew better, growing up in Michigan, but I'd grown complacent living here, where summer showers are short, the sun after very hot, and the skies are not, as the song goes, cloudy all day. Not in the summer, certainly.

So we enjoyed our short soak, and are now vigorously toweled off and rather cleaner than expected. D has milk, and all is right with the world. Egg drop soup for dinner.

I've been reading through the archives of Letters Of Note, a wonderful site full of snooping through other people's correspondence. Including Kurt Vonnegut's first letter home after his internment (who here mentioned Vonnegut to me? I can't find the comment.) And several by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Also came across a rant about Encyclopedia Brown. Fair, but not entirely to the point. Yes, the solution to the mystery is an obscure, often obsolete, bit of esoterica, but for me that was the reward, the jewel, of the story. I was reminded of another series of books, about a boy much like Young Mr. Brown, but not mysteries, a bit higher reading level, and a Grandfather lived with the family. Once, they'd brought back fireworks, the car caught on fire, and the whole lot went up in spectacular fashion. I can't for the life of me remember the second series of books, but I do conflate them with Encyclopedia B.

Got my flu shot Thursday, and have been, as expected, a bit peaky since, very tired, achy. Given that I tend to be very ill indeed if I do snag a virus, I am very much pro-vaccine, and consider this inflammatory phase a tiny price to pay for the potential protection it affords. Still very confused at trained nurses, who should understand better the mechanism, who think it "gives you the flu." Yes, a vaccine can cause an inflammatory response, that does feel a bit like the flu. And, yes, it is a best guess for what strain will predominate in a particular year, so it's never a guarantee. And some people just don't come down with them that often, or that badly - but they can be carriers, and nurses can easily come in contact with patients with lowered immune systems, and one particular strain might get them this year. I have learned to be silent and let the chips fall where they wilt.


Having lunch at the BBQ place today, I refreshed my realization that meals are a chore. Much as I do enjoy good food, it never balances out the effort put into shopping, cooking, cleaning up, nor even the effort of deciding what to get or make. My Aunt Alma used to say that some people live to eat, and others eat to live. She was the first sort, I am definitely the latter. If I could swallow the promised futuristic pill of nutrition, and everything would still work properly, that would be just fine. I remember Granny seemed to live on tea and toast, seemed perfectly sensible to me, even as a kid.