Sitting in the sunshine with a runny nose. The sunshine makes my stuffy head feel a little warmer. The wool socks on my feet, and wool hat on my head, feel better when heated by sunshine.

The pretty flowers growing out of the warm Californian soil look lovely, one might say glowing, in this 75° heat. My stuffy nose prevents me from smelling them though. I’m glad that eyesight is not affected  by the stuffiness.

The fact is I’m under the weather. I’m sick. I’m indisposed. I’m peaked, unwell, infected, frail, green, not so hot, in a bad way.

Feeling poorly. Lousy. Qualmish.

Defective.

Ill.

Ikcy. Uucky.

Green at the gills.

In short, I have a cold. I have a method to make myself feel better, though; tea and new shoes.

See, nice shiny shoes. This is the only time they will be that pure and monochromatic so I felt I had to mark the occasion.

I’m working here in Berkley California so I could afford these bad boys. Because I’m a small individual I have the extreme inconvenience of not being able to wear women’s shoes. Well, I can, but stores hardly ever stock my size, which means I also have the great advantage of being able to purchase kids shoes shoes for much cheaper. I have a selection of glittery pink girl ones, red and neon green boy ones, or the nice black and white flat soled Converse which are generally sold in the boy’s section. It might seem like a hard decision, but it is actually quite simple.

I now have a nice pair of new shoes, I’m sipping on some tea, and life is absolutely grand. Being under the weather in California is much better than being under the weather in my home state of Minnesota. Despite my intial impulse to whine about the inconvenience of my cold I have been counting the blessings, something I hardly ever do when I’m sick.

Blessing no. 1: I am in California. I know I said that already, but it never hurts to rub it in more than once … wait, wait, no I mean reiterate it (sorry Midwesterners, I love you! Drive safely).

Blessing no. 2: This is the first cold I have hosted in over a year. I am fortunate to be getting my immunity built up now, because seriously, what doesn’t kill a person generally makes them stronger.

Blessing no. 3: I am in a house. I am being hosted by lovely individuals who have heat and a hot shower. They have tea and honey to offer me , not to mention the fresh Vitamin C that surrounds us. This means I’m not having to tent it somewhere and rest up. It also means I’m off my bike, and a chilly ride on a bike while infected with a cold is a great way to get pneumonia. I am grateful to have the time to get well instead of wasting time getting more sick.

Blessing no. 4: Little Wing. When I finish with this cold I get to hop on that bike and ride. That is one of the things I look forward to most.

I am so super grateful for the amazing hospitality of my new friends. I am grateful for the time I have had in the bay area, and I am grateful for a Thanksgiving invite, from a new friend, which I will be riding towards come this weekend. Little Wing though, that bike takes a large piece of that cake, or pumpkin pie, or whatever.

If it weren’t for Little Wing I wouldn’t be meeting these wonderful humans and I wouldn’t currently be in California. The weather has been doing a wonderful job of chasing us here , and Little Wing has proven himself gracefully, so being under the weather now is not something to whine about too much. Plus, I have new shoes.

New shoes means dancing in Berkley without getting a blister in my motorcycle boots. Dancing! That actually leads to

Blessing no. 5: Dancing! I am going to go dancing when this stuffiness is gone. I have been dancing even with stuffiness, cause thats just the type of gal I am. However, this dancing has occurred in the privacy pf a kitchen while waiting for the tea kettle to whistle, and not i the wilds of the Berkley, CA live music scene. There are a few song that are perfect for when one is sick, only a few of those songs are also perfect for dancing. So here, I leave you tonight/ this morning (whatever time of day you happen to be reading this), with a song to dance to. If you are sick think healthy thoughts and do a healthy dance. If you aren’t sick just dance for the pure joy of dancing. And, if you don’t dance (I know some of you don’t) no worries, there are no dancing requirements that come with this blog.

Have fun, count your blessings, and love.