Remedies

Gosh, a whole week since I posted! Well, I have been busy drawing, my course has begun and it´s challenging and interesting and all that.

Winter took us by surprise at the beginning of the week. In one swift afternoon, temperatures dove from a comfy light-jacket-fifteen to the point of freezing. I had to go dig out the old winter jacket, longjohns, and knit hat and gloves. It is also very very dark; with another month of this, snow will be welcomed to brighten things up a bit.

The husband has caught the autumn cold, naturally - he works in a school, after all - but so far I have been lucky not to get it myself. We both have our remedies that we believe in wholeheartedly, and I have taken this snap to illustrate:

That´s his stuff to the left:pills and potions. His collegues in the nursing department swear by them, apparently, but they are shock full of flowers and things that I might be allergic to, so I´m going nowhere near them, instead relying on the germ-killing powers of garlic, which I press into glasses of orange juice (the expensive, freshly pressed kind, full of vitamins), and the soothing properties of ginger tea. I stink, that´s true, but if no one comes near me, they will not infect me either, so I don´t see that as a bad thing. The husband is already sick and can´t smell a thing, so he doesn´t care.

I also swear by the Philips Energylight, an amazing lamp/erzatz sun in front of which I sit and meditate (and stare into) for about 20 minutes every day. This really is a lifesaver during the dark season. I got it a few years ago when I found myself permanently fatigued to the point where I had become a Very Dangerous Driver, careering with no stops through a couple of red lights. Thank god for cautious fellow road users... and the mum-in-law, who was with me, was already so blind (and deaf when she is talking, which she does All the time) she didn´t notice. The lamp really works, as getting those eight or ten hours of sleep is not enough when the daylight hours are limited to one or two and you´re lucky to catch them due to work and severe cold.

A cup of coffee is also indispensable to keep spirits up, and last week I realized that my tastebuds have been spoiled by that new discovery: the cold-brewed coffee. I was at a café with a friend and complained that the coffee was unbelievably bitter. I tried to put some hot water in it, but that didn´t help much. My friend said she found it perfectly normal. I am going to become one of those annoying people who carry my own coffee gear around wherever I go. I just don´t know how to fit a microwave into my carry-on...

And a link that may cheer you up, if you need it. I laughed so hard at this...