Friday

Shana tova to all who are celebrating Rosh Hashanah. The weather is typical beautiful early fall style.  It’s been in the low 20s/upper teens, lots of sun but not especially hot.  Overnight is skimming the edge of frost warnings, so mornings are brisk (to be polite) as are late evenings.  Looking at the weather, it seems set to continue this sunny, cool break for a few more days, then rain is expected.  Glad I’m not in the Maritimes, where they’re expecting to be hit by a hurricane that hasn’t worked itself out yet.  If it continues, the UK might get a little drenched early next week.  Don continues to feel ill and has also been suffering bouts of nausea, shaking and weakness.  Poor guy’s been complaining of pain, also; he’s been keeping Jerry away, as his jumping and play attacks are quite painful.  Jerry was going through a phase of insane zoomies, racing around, tossing his toy and barking for attention when my support worker came over.  He jumped into her arms as soon as she opened the door, and wouldn’t leave her voluntarily.  It’s lucky that she likes him, as he was really quite noisy this afternoon!

I don’t know what caused it, but yesterday I was suffering severe bouts of nausea which just didn’t want to subside.  It meant that my appetite was pathetic and I didn’t want to eat anything at all.  It’s strange, since I haven’t had this issue for a while, and I thought it was a thing of the past… apparently not.  I’m better today, and had a small meal; I’m in the “fasting” phase of the day as I’m waiting for my meds before I have supper, but I’ve got a few ideas of what to eat.  It’s probably related, but I also didn’t sleep last night — I was in that half-asleep state where you know you’re not fully asleep but you’re also not awake enough to react — until almost 6am when I fell into a deep sleep until 9.  I think there’s likely to be an early night tonight!

I got a text last night, saying that my little nephew was in the hospital with pneumonia.  He was given meds and oxygen and released when his levels were back to normal.  Tests today show that he has rhino/enterovirus, which is the bug behind a number of respiratory infections including the common cold, hand-foot-and-mouth disease, among others.  He’ll be off daycare for a while until he’s better (and hopefully the other affected kids will also stay home until they’re better!)  My niece is OK, though, and is at school for the moment.  Hopefully she remains healthy.

I’ve been getting a number of nostalgic posts lately; they seem to multiply at this time of year, for some reason.  Many of the items that people remember seemingly fondly mean nothing to me.  Yes, I remember some games and activities, but many of the ones that appear are from a generation or more before me.  Some of them are country-specific, so the “these were the best of times” appeals are completely alien.  Kids who grew up in the US or Canada seem to have fond memories of Mr. Rogers’ Neighbourhood or Mr.  Dress Up and other such… I never saw either, and was immersed in Sesame Street.  I remember playing games like jacks, hopscotch, rounders, etc, but not on city streets.  I’ve heard of playing games in the street — mainly cricket or football — but wasn’t allowed to do those.  I never had ham boiled in a pitch oil tin, either, but I don’t think that my Christmas dinner was lacking as a result.  The shared memories are bittersweet, as there’s likely quite a few people who are no longer with us, but the common laughs are valuable.  Are there any memories that are particularly sweet to you, and are there any of the “you’re part of the best generation if…” lists that are meaningless to you personally?

I’ve had moments of thinking, “it’s a pity that kids will never know about…” but most of them are just vague thoughts, like not knowing a TV show, or a game, or have a particular experience.  I do wish, though, that kids and their parents would have more discipline and respect for others.  I’m not in favour of beating children but like many others of my generation I had a dread of upsetting adults.  I am one of those who will say, “if I’d talked back to my parents/aunts/uncles/grandparents/neighbours like that I wouldn’t be here now,” because I honestly find it offensive when a child/teenager tells me to F—- off, or is rude or pushes themselves ahead of others… I blame the parents for failing to help their children be aware of the feelings of others.  I’ll stop my rant now; it’s a sign of my encroaching curmudgeonliness and elderly crank!  

The boys are both napping on the sofa, I need my meds and I’m beginning to get hungry!  So off I go to swallow a handful of pills and set a timer to be able to eat later.  Good night!