it really is a bowl of cherries

What could be better? I am recumbent on my bed studying my Spanish while eating cherries I scored at Sam's Club on Monday.

Oh, and I am writing to you on my laptop. But you probably guessed that already.

This recuperation business is not too bad -- even though I doubt I could take more than a week of it. You would know it was a lie if I told you I have been in bed since I received my resting orders on Monday.

That would be impossible. I live alone. If I want to eat, I need to get up to cook. There is food to buy and laundry to deliver. Not to mention my Spanish classes -- where I take a towel to lie on the floor and prop my foot up with pillows.

Living is the art of compromise. After all, learning Spanish is one of my big two projects for the year.

My general compliance with doctor's orders has paid off. The swelling in my leg has decreased and the redness has almost disappeared. That is undoubtedly due to both my rest and the barrage of antibiotics my system has received.

Speaking of antibiotics, I am not certain if I have mentioned this before or not. The most effective antibiotic is delivered by injection over a period of days (five, in my case). In Mexico, you purchase the antibiotics at the pharmacy along with enough hypodermic needles to inject the medicine. The assumption is that you -- or someone in your household -- will do the injecting.

I will say it again. I live alone. The injections are in my butt. That rules me out as the injector -- even though I am not too certain I could do it if it was in my thigh. And, even though Barco would undoubtedly take great pleasure in attacking my butt, his dew claw is not an adequate thumb.

Our local health clinic steps in to fill the gap. I show up there each morning, and the rather sullen woman on the front desk mixes the two vials of medicine and injects me -- without once breaking a smile. And that is fine for me. I am there to receive medical care, not to buy her a drink.

For now, though, I will finish off the cherries and discover what adventures Laura* (who is 24, lives in Buenos Aires, and has blonde hair and blue eyes) is going to experience.

I'll bet Laura thinks life is a bowl of cherries, as well.


* -- Laura is the main character in Laura no está, a novel in Spanish for intermediate students. I am pushing the learning envelope.