Thankful to be Back

Tea: Berry Blush herbal

Music: Vince Guaraldi, "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving"

Time: Night.

For the past week, Blogger has been telling me my browser's cookie functionality was disabled. It wasn't.

Oh, well. I'm back -- and on Thanksgiving day, no less.

So, before my cookies disable themselves again, here's my trio of immediate gratitudes:

1. I and mine ate well today, and we have leftovers. So many in this world didn't and don't.

2. I have been able to renew several connections that had lapsed through no one's fault. Life just gets in the way sometimes -- but it's good to be back in touch.

3. I am not alone in the world -- and I have a chance every day to reach out to others so that they know they aren't, either.

I know that's four out of three. I can be greedy about gratitudes if I want.

Another Dollop of Catch-up

Tea: Blueberry

Music: Metallica, "Enter Sandman"

Time: Night.

My computer has gotten over its latest bout of being stupid. My brain's still fogged, but it's a start and I'll take it.

So, recapping (because I'm vagueing too much to reconstitute three days' worth of posts):

1. This week's forage: Apples from a tree in front of the high school. (I see this as an extra yield on my tax dollars.) Stewed six of them tonight with honey, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of ancho pepper. This would be good alongside roast pork, ham or even sausages.

2. The chipmunk needed to be rescued again, this time by my son. He came home from school and found it trapped in the drainpipe, squeaking frantically. He helped it out and it scampered away. My guess is that it thinks if it keeps getting rescued, we'll keep giving it acorns. Sorry, only the first release comes with free food.

3. Speaking of acorns and foraged apples ... I'm thinking that dried apples and acorns would be pretty darn good together in a stuffing (even better if I can get bacon into the mix).

Great. Now I'm hungry again ...

Stuffed

Tea: Lots of kinds, lots of cups.

Music: David Sanborn, "The Dream"

Time: Night.

I had a long, catching-up post written. It's nowhere to be found.

I'm sitting in the driveway, in weather I normally would love (unseasonably cool) but which now aggravates my stuffed head and lungs. Why am I in the driveway? Because the house 'Net is out, and I can't pick up the neighbor's unsecured wireless network from inside.

Oh, and I've been sick, in varying degrees, since late last week, in case I hadn't mentioned that.

Yes, I'm trying to do everything right. I'm drinking tea, eating soup, bundling up and sleeping a lot. I megadosed on Vitamin C, which did interesting things to my insides. I've taken antihistamines, which make me alternately jumpy and stupid but haven't done anything to open me up.

Then again, I'm still out of the hospital, still breathing on my own, still able to sit up and write this. That puts me ahead of a lot of people, and for that I'm grateful.

And I'm wide open to the possibility, the likelihood even, that the antihistamines and the C and the tea/soup/sleep have kept things from getting a lot worse.

And now, if you'll excuse me ... it's time for the pill that makes me stupid.