Running In The Cold... With a Cold.

 

So cold, the bungee cord froze stiff!

As the title would suggest,  the temperature dropped dramatically over the last 24 hours. down to the Teens!   That is pretty cold in these parts... Especially with the wind howling!   The nice thing was that the temps climbed slightly just before dark yesterday; causing the ice sheets to mostly melt and evaporate back to dry roads.  Apparently,  that did not happen much in Iowa city. 

The doors on Subie froze shut!

Don't be fooled!  That is not snow.   It is ice.   The small balls of ice that formed as freezing rain yesterday did not melt in the fields or forests as much and look like a dusting of snow.   But I guess the "Real" snow is supposed to hit us either tonight or tomorrow.   I can hardly wait. 

Regardless,   Cheryl ran anyway.   A full 7 miles again.   The wind dropped the chill into the negatives, so we froze our faces off on the way out.  One of the  acceptable thing about running in the cold, as opposed to running in the snow, is that the sidewalks are passable. With only a few exceptions, if the plow crew is able to clear and salt the trail,  we can navigate the path.   

Ice Sheet on the Path.   Best to walk around.

But if it melts and refreezes.  OR the Parks department skips a day, the water forms these little skating rinks on the path.   Perfect for Cheryl to slip and Ethan to fall and break something.  Usually his bike!

But we Mostly survived.    As something the title also hints at,  I have been wrestling with a cold for the past few days.  I will use the word "wrestle" instead of "Battle" as it sounds more accurate to the situation.   This has not really been a "war" as much as an annoyance.   

The Truth is I have been hesitant to  blog about this little topic.   Normally I love blogging about various ailments because I get to follow a  formula for an entertaining blog post.   It goes something like this:  I feel kind of bad. I start my cold and flu battle plan.   I feel like I'm going to die.   I recover after much exaggeration, and BOOM!  I have a good three days worth of blogging.  Filled with lots of memes and visuals that should make most folks chuckle.... at least a little. 

However!  We live in the new world of the CCP virus.  The Pandemic!  And I now have to understand that my exaggerated musings  about the Common Cold may be used against me in a Covid Court of Covid Law! I'm sure if I post this on Facebook,  Some agency in Australia will have me on a list and issue a man hunt to arrest and imprison me into one of those new Covid Camps. Sounds fun?  I'm sure that is just what the Jews thought on their way to the Auschwitz!

So let me downplay things this time.   (Translation:  Tell the boring truth!)   I got a sore throat...  Kind of annoying.   But it went away.   Then.. Stuffy nose.  Not terrible.   Slightly easier than the sore throat to deal with.    Some chicken soup, Halls, and  lots of hot beverages does the trick.   Then...  Slight cough.  Nothing terrible.   No chest explosions!   But it is annoying.  NOW.... Dr. Fauci Voice.   My head is clear, my throat is normal,  my cough is mostly just little spats. But the voice!   Two days now....   And it seems to be getting worse!  Has someone put a Dr. Fauci curse on me? 

The Cats have the right Idea!

Basically,   I think it is just a cold.   I usually get one at the beginning of the "cold and flu season" anyway.  ( Not last year though...  funny huh?)   My treatments are fairly consistent,   Try to get some rest,  Avoid Kissing Cheryl, drink lots of hot beverages,  bundle up when sleeping.  And eat chicken soup.  Sometimes I eat lots of Halls or put in cough syrup as well.  I'm sure many other people have lots of different variations of this.  

As for Mike and Pam,  I'm hoping I was pretty much over it by the time they arrived. Other than the crazy Fauci voice,   I have no other symptoms.  They were aware of the situation early on and still decided to  join us on the run.  I tried not to breathe on them.

I could read the book to you!

So now, I can safely say that the worst part of this cold is the Dr. Fauci Voice.   Cheryl hates it more than the annoying cough. I can do a really great impression of him though.   I guess it has some perks after all. 

I wanted to throw in a joke here about catching it from Cheryl's family.   They also have been wrestling with colds over the holiday season, even though none of them linked up for any events!  ( not even Christmas!)  AND they live several states away!  Can you give a cold to someone Virtually?   I've got a Theory:  How about the odd weather and the time of year all conspire to make people more susceptible to pathogens.   And sometimes you get lucky and can avoid it....  

But this was not supposed to be a rant on the current state of things. ( But... looks like that is exactly what happened....) It's just an end of year blog post.  The end  will be here in No time!  Of the year.... Not the "End" end... I still have to polish up the Pet photos from the Stocking season.  (We sold another stocking today! ) Looks like I will be busy after all.    Thanks for stopping in.  ( And NO!  You can't catch any disease virtually....  You're safe! And you're Welcome...) Stay warm!