It is Monday evening. The sky is gray. And the siren song of a soft rain lulls me to sleep.
I have invested most of the day drifting in and out of consciousnesses.
Despite what you might think, I have not joined a peyote ceremonial lodge. It is something far more prosaic -- and legal.
I simply have a head cold. Probably, as my Mexican friends would contend, from drinking a glass of fruit juice with ice -- or from sleeping with the window open.
So, I indulged in the only remedy that seems to help a head cold. Bed rest and chicken soup.
And company.
My hostess cooked up a great dinner. Yucatan pork. Tortillas. A green salad fresh from her garden. Hummus from soybeans shelled by yours truly. Frijoles. Pickled onions. And a blackberry crisp.
Our dining companions were a former Oregonian and his Colombian wife, and a couple from Germany. A group just the right size for cosmopolitan conversation.
It was well worth climbing out of my sick bed to enjoy company and food. But I now find myself back under the covers.
Enjoying the air-cooled evening. And dreaming the dreams of a sinus-stuffed head.
21 comments:
Undoubtedly you drank a cold beverage, sir. In Honduras, one can catch cold by drinking cold water. Strangely enough, cold Coca Cola doesn't make one sick. Besides the point. Feel better soon. And when you stand up, don't walk around without your sandals, or you will develop pain in your feet and legs. Then, take your medicine with a large glass of chilled Coca Cola, as it has been documented by countless Honduran mothers as the best way to hasten healing.
It was the open window, I assure you.
If you sleep with an open window in the mountains in South America, you not only end up with a cold but a possible stiff neck. And if you have a cold drink while already sick you might end up with bronchitis, you must warm up your naranjada o limonada, the best remedy, according to moms there. And barefoot, out of the question, it will only make your cold much worse. Wool socks.
Not going to speculate on how or why you are under the weather - just hope it ends soon Amigo.
MUCH better hostess then in San Miguel, for sure!
My hostess is San Miguel was practically perfect in every way.
I see the same health logic is at work in both countries. I drink a good deal of Coke Zero. My first maid concluded I must be in very ill health to drink that amount of health tonic.
More of those magical spirits in the air we hear so much about.
Thanks for the kind wishes. Colds pass rather quickly for me.
Well, I am a dead man by local lore, then. If I am going to send time
on top of the bed covers (it is too warm to be under them), there will
be no wool socks involved. Or other clothing for that matter.
Now that I think about it, I wear socks when I'm sick...
I also have chicken soup...
Whatever makes the body good, I say.
Of course, that feeds into my belief that most of our physical ailments are simply in our head.
Good grief! Now, I am starting to sound like Richard Bach.
And you did say it was a "head cold".
Pobrecito! I hope you are up and around and enjoying you holiday soon.
Nothing will make me miss the Independence Day celebration in Morelia.
Just one word, Steve: MENUDO.
Saludos, Don Cuevas
I like menudo. But there is none in my kitchen.
It was, I admit, 7 years ago, but every morning in the plaza area of Santa María del Guido was a menudo stand run by a woman.
Ask around. Don't spare the chiles, onions and the lime juice.
Burn, baby, BURN!
Saludos, Don Cuevas
I am now up and about. The cold is under control. I will check on the menudo stand.
I have a daughter who is a nurse. She will tell you right off that a cold can't be caused by anything but a germ. Takes all the fun out!!
I am with your daughter on this point. But anything that will get me a big bowl of chicken soup also has my full support.
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