Wednesday, July 27, 2016

So Where Have I Been


Laid low, y'all.  Laid low.

I got some sort of evil virus, or flu, or demonic infestation, which made me sicker than I have been in year. For a few days there I did almost nothing but sleep. Seriously, at once point, clawing my way to consciousness, I googled sleeping sickness to see if, you know, maybe....

It's not endemic in Arkansas, though.

I went back to school on Monday, which was probably a mistake, even though all I had to do was meet students for conferences over their papers; and on Tuesday, which was definitely a mistake. I taught for about forty minutes (I do not remember most of what I said -- I vaguely remember going off on a rant about Plato), realized I was very close to passing out, and sent them home.

Today, like a miracle, I am all but well.

Lying there on the sofa at my sickest, though, racked with misery, fever, and pain, I thought about Elizabeth Barrett Browning -- who lived for years like that, in pain like that, unable to move from a sofa, and all the while managed to write poetry*.

A better man than I am.




*I couldn't write. I read, during the hours I managed to stay away, straight through Kage Baker's Company series. The entire thing.

2 comments:

Nicoleandmaggie said...

But now you know what happened to Mendoza! I don't think I could have gotten through that while sick. I had to take a long break after reading about the breeding project and abuse.

Didn't feel as into the computer genius dude later. But now that real life is more surreal, maybe the kind of magical realism in those layer books would work better.

delagar said...

Aw, I really like Alec. And I love how the series ends. It's a little sweet, but still. Mendoza needs her happy ending.