Repose

As much as it was a lovely day today, I was catching up on my sleep… it’s still fairly warm, and it’s sunny, which is nice.  I had a few moments on the balcony this morning, but then returned indoors.  Jerry has been my constant companion all day, so much so that he lay beside me hugging me until I said it was time to get up, and then he spent every possible moment either on my feet or on my lap.  I’ve returned to my regular routine of being a dog bed and cushion!  He’s temporarily lost his chew toy, so instead he’s chewing on his blanket, keeping an eye on me to see if I’m noticing what he’s doing.  I only tell him to drop it if it looks like he’s about to bite a hole in it.  Don is still not feeling good, although he’s in a little less pain (judging from the moans when he moves) than yesterday.  As it’s Sunday, once I finished watching the Mass the TV has been showing a cycle of sports.  I look up, it’s baseball; blink, and there’s a an NFL team on the screen… so I’ve been losing myself in some old books that I’m rereading for the 10,000th time and searching for ballerina crochet appliqués to fill my niece’s commands.

I didn’t sleep particularly well last night, as I was again in that half-awake state for several hours.  I woke up desperately craving a tea, and around noon I gave up the struggle to be alert and productive and crawled back into bed for an hour’s rest before my support worker arrived.  That helped tremendously.  For some reason, I’ve had a dreadful cough all day — sounds like I’m trying to hack up a lung, but it’s non-productive.  It did, though, make me vomit because I’d been coughing so hard.  Luckily, nothing to bring up, but I buried myself under a blanket and got some sleep.  It’s eased up a lot, thankfully, and I hope that’s the last of it.  I cooked mashed potatoes and fried pork chops for dinner… I was craving the potatoes, and I knew Don would like the pork, so we had that with some tomatoes and peaches.  (To be strictly honest, I had a half a chop, about a 1/2 cup of potatoes, one slice of tomato and no peach.)  Happily there are 2 empty plates and a sulky dog who was unable to beg a bone…

On the illness front, my friend has received clearance to move around and go out, and went to church and to a wedding this weekend, plus they report no pain, for which I am extremely grateful.  My nephew is at home, getting into the occasional bit of mischief and coping with his pneumonia (poor baby) while my niece sadly spent today in the Emergency Department as she’s also not feeling well.  As I type, she’s not back home yet and we’re waiting for news.  I hope they both recover quickly with no more need for hospital stays until they’re back out to school and their regular activities.  I’m also hoping that my sister and her spouse stay healthy — dealing with sick pre-schoolers is much more difficult with sick parents!  So fingers crossed that things go well.

Trinidad is currently under a heat warning, for the next 2 weeks.  I saw that from the meteorological department and I was gobsmacked, as I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.  Everyone tells me that it’s brutally hot, and the notification says that daytime highs in urban areas can exceed 40C, while in beachfront or rural areas, it can exceed 37C.  That’s a fairly clear indication of the effect of buildings on the ambient temperature.  I always advocate for more trees and shade, less concrete and asphalt, as it’s much more comfortable.  Just thinking about the temperature is making my skin prickle… worse, the thought of getting into a car that’s been parked at the supermarket for over an hour 🤯  It’s really possible to cook on the car hood or the sidewalk in those temperatures, and I don’t even want to think of walking a block in that!  To my Trini family and friends, please stay hydrated and do your best to be indoors, with a fan or AC during the hot part of the day.  Let’s reinstate the glorious tradition of the siesta so people don’t need to be out in the heat. 

I’m just waiting for a call from a friend that I haven’t seen in a few years, and then I’ll be off to bed.  I can feel my eyes starting to shut (as one friend calls it, “my curtain is falling”) and I’m thinking warm and loving thoughts of my pillows and mattress.  The boys are both asleep — sorry, I mean that Don is watching baseball 🙄 — and it’s otherwise a quiet evening.  Good night!