Yes, the body is definitely fighting a cold/flu bug. After some improvement when the day began, the throat is increasing it's soreness (with each swallow, put it at a 4 on a scale from 1-10), the nose is increasing it's running (near constant), a cough is developing (mild and sporadic for the moment), and the body is not feeling any better than the last time we checked in (though fatigue must be playing a roll there as awake time is now going on 20 consecutive hours). A full day out with different people, moving a friend with several different a large groups of strangers and some friends I do not see often - lifting and exerting myself (didn't the doctor say don't do that?... well... what am I supposed to do, sit around and die? without some exercise and without pushing the heart past 130 and giving the muscles a work out at least three times a week muscles atrophy, including the heart, and aging wins. I am not ready to give up living and die, so not exerting myself is not gonna happen. I know I should have told the doctor that, but I was not feeling well or positive the last visit and the intake Nurse did not help that mood at all, so communication broke down. Try again next time, next year. It's free health care, so I am not complaining. Just reviewing the missed communications and recording the realities).
Anyway, the move went well with a bit of a push to get it started and keep it moving. There was a lot of awkward standing around at first and throughout the day. I may have offended one or two of the helpers by telling them they were not packing the truck well and I took over packing the truck. The stuff barely fit with precise packing. Packing a truck is a puzzle, literally putting each piece in place to maximize the space used while also providing support for the pieces that could break or be damaged if not held still or prevented from being crushed during the move. Unfortunately, many of the boxes were not sealed (top nor bottom) so care and greater strength was needed to carry them sideways while holding the top and bottom flaps clothes. There was also not enough blankets to protect the furniture and alas, I let two scratches happen to two pieces. A furniture touch up pen will fix both, but being the perfectionist I am and knowing both could have been avoided left some frustration in my mouth. Still, the move went smoothly otherwise and a fully packed 12 foot truck was loaded and unloaded in less than 3 hours including a 40 minute drive.
After the move I headed back here to clean up and change clothes (and clean up a few more roaches). I headed to Jane's to pick her up for dinner and the show. Dinner was in a close-quartered restaurant in another town, more challenges for the immune system, but so worth it. Dinner was absolutely surprisingly delicious. The town, Mt. Dora, was celebrating the lighting of it's town Xmas tree and the downtown area was packed so we turned away from there. The internet connection failed there (dam ATT) so finding a place to eat electronically was not happening. The darkness of a small town made randomly driving around searching an unpleasant choice. Luck prevailed as we stumbled upon a place called Pizzamore within a block of our first turn off from the main drag and it was, as I said, absolutely surprisingly delicious (yes, I said it twice). Jane ordered the antipasta salad, healthy decadent girl that she is, and I ordered my usual test of a new Italian restaurant, eggplant parmesean and a side of meatballs. It was not until I was almost done that I noticed they did not bring any bread and I did not miss it at all, that's how yummy my food was. The eggplant was cooked perfectly, yes perfectly. The spaghetti was tossed in an extra virgin olive oil, fresh diced tomatoes, basil and garlic (you could smell the basil and taste the garlic and oh, how I love garlic) that was amazingly compatible and complementary to the eggplant, marinara, and cheese baked just right on time of it.
I definitely want to go back there and try other things, but also want that eggplant parm again.
Dinner was followed by the play, Man of La Mancha, in a small crowded theater (where the body was exposed to another large group of strangers and again, very worth the risk). The casting was excellent and the acting was surprising well done given the small town theatre troupe, relatively small stage space, and the challenge of the material. Sitting in the front row center was exciting and intense and though we missed the full stage nuances of the middle theatre seats that most plays are staged for, the intensity, focus, and dedication of the actors to their respective roles made it worth sitting, at times, two feet from the action. Jane had never seen the show, which made it even more exciting. Tears freely dropped from the corner of my right eye. If only I was understood.
I must accept my mistakes during this evening. My personalizing of the meal and the show caused me to be a very insensitive companion for Jane in that I did not ask how she liked her antipasta and I did not ask her what she thought of the story she neither read nor saw before. Such a self-centered fool I can be at times. So starving for the rush of theatre and the memory of the quest to dream the impossible dream... that I neglected respecting Jane's presence and opinion (even if she might not have noticed, but I sense she is aware enough to have noticed and I must apologize and learn from this - starvation and desperation is not excuse for being so self-centered and uninterested - and I am very much interested in knowing Jane better and engaging her mind more deeply). Learn. Remember. Do not repeat.
We drove home and I went on about the show and do not feel I inquired or ascertained Jane's perspective nearly enough (at least not enough to satisfy me now... will I ever be satisfied?... to dream... sigh). It is my own fault for not asking. Time passes so quickly when such intensity of emotional connection to ideas is experienced and this show reaches deep into my core in more than a few ways. We believe what we choose to believe and the intensity of our believe and how we act upon (or out) our belief determines our reality. How much energy do you put into actualizing your belief, not merely in words, but in your actions. How true do you truly demonstrate you are to yourself, your core beliefs, ideals, and presence. Most don't even know themselves well enough to know what this might mean.
Philosophy, not just another cereal box.
I was ten minutes from home when Harpo called. He needed to talk and I was wired from the theatre experience and delicious dinner and beautiful company so I drove around a bit talking and then pulled into a 7-11 parking lot and spent several hours on the phone with Harpo while sitting in the car with the windows rolled down (because I did not want the conversation to wake The Maharajah and it did start after midnight and end near four am). Amy I sick because of all these exposures and energy drains? Whatever, it all likely played a role in presenting more challenges that the immune system could handle. So the body is fighting and the symptoms say it needs more rest, fluids, and TLC. I suppose this means we shall also test whether this environment is a death trap for the body in this state.
Criminal, this aging process.
Today was a wonderful day otherwise. It started with a pleasant intellectual discussion with The Maharajah and ended with a silly and sentimental discussion with Harpo. The rest of the day was full of various minds and levels and types of stimulation.
I wish for more days like these.
Narf :)
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