Thursday, 2 January 2025

On the mend at last

I was in bed after ten last night, asleep by eleven and awakened by a bout of violent coughing just after twelve. Half awake, I went to the bathroom to find an ibuprofen to take. On returning to bed, I stepped on an odd shaped paper clip. It threw me off balance, knocking a photo of the wall and I started a nose bleed bending down to retrieve the broken frame. Thankfully Clare heard my wails of woe and came to my aid. This cost me an hour and a half of sleep I needed, but strangely after this my general condition seemed to improve. My head stopped screaming pain every time I coughed and coughing became less frequent. That was a vicious parting gift from the virus. I think I'm now in recovery mode at last. 

Resting in the armchair all morning, getting around to downloading updates to the Llandaff and European Diocese intercession lists, and preparing a sermon for next Sunday at St Paul's Grangetown are things that I couldn't think of doing yesterday. Clare cooked salmon for lunch then I went for a walk. The temperature was around zero all night but with the frost, comes drier air and cold doesn't cling in the same miserable way, but I needed to wrap as warm as possible. Thankfully walking briskly to get warm wasn't a problem after several days of inaction, but I only stayed out for an hour and a quarter, to reserve some energy for the rest of the day. 

Clear blue sky and cold fresh air was a tonic for head and lungs. I realised that when I coughed, my rib cage was painful but my lungs were not sore at all. And I cough far less often in fresh air. At home I think my sensitivity to house dust has risen. Will it stay like that? I hope not. After a lifetime in which 'flu or cold usually led to bronchitis, it's good to find a silver lining in this dark infectious winter. Maybe that RSV vaccination last autumn did make a difference, evening if the new strain of 'flu slipped under infection monitoring radar and threw a curve ball at vaccination research too late for this year's crisis.

Hospitals are overwhelmed at the moment, with ambulances unable to respond to emergencies as they are stuck waiting to deliver patients, with beds full, well patients in heed of home care unable to be discharged as social care people and resources are stretched beyond their limit. A nightmare for medics and those who manage NHS and local government social services.

Sunset ten minutes later than at the solstice now, and the temperature dropped to minus two after dark. I climbed up to the loft, camera in hand hoping to glimpse the promised aurora borealis in the clear night sky, but there's too much light pollution overwhelming natural light in the heavens. I've never seen it in real life, with or without a camera in hand. A night journey out of Cardiff to Gelligaer Common might be revelatory, but it's too far to venture nowadays, especially when I'm not yet fully recovered.

The Archers Christmas podcast I listened to tonight is all about the story behind its theme tune 'Barwick Green' by Arthur Wood. It's been there from the beginning, starting and finishing each episode It highlighted significant moments in its 74 year run when it wasn't played for dramatic reasons. It's the most played piece of theme tune ever, and heard throughout the world. A British cultural landmark, not a fossil, as it's well researched and keeps up to date with current events. I've been a fan since I was a kid and may have heard some of the earliest episodes on the family wireless, listening to the BBC Long Wave Home Service.

Once the heating goes off for the day, It's going to get really chilly indoors as well as outside. so it's time get moving in the general direction of bed.  I understand that battery powered vehicles drain more power, used at low temperatures. I noticed today my TZ95 runs sluggishly at 4C, so I'm not surprised. 



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