Well by Christmas!

     "Well by Christmas!" my doctor declared, setting our goal. 

    Three days and counting. Bronchitis. What a bear. 

    Bronchitis was the doctor's diagnosis when, since my violent fits of coughing weren't responding to cough drops, water, hot tea, herbs, juices, and spoonfuls of honey, I decided I ought to see him. That was a Sunday (of course). I called first thing Monday, and typical of this, the best doctor's office in Southern Oregon, he saw me that same day, at 3:00. 

    By 4:30 I was driving home with medications in my pocket and "well by Christmas" in my ears.

    Certainly I'm better. I no longer spend the night sitting upright on the couch, as I did for days, since I couldn't lie prone without being thrown into a coughing fit. My route through the house has expanded from the few steps between the couch and the bathroom. Yesterday I even took an hour-and-half walk up the mountain. (Never mind that the same walk used to take an hour.) My throat doesn't hurt any more, and when my son called me yesterday, he said my voice was stronger. Although a few days ago I couldn't eat the zucchini soup I made (one of my usual favorites) or, the next night, my curried yam soup, a never-fail pleaser, or even, the next night, the butternut squash soup a friend made and sent up to me, I have found that, actually, now that I try them again, the butternut soup is delicious and the other two as good as usual. I knew how sick I was when I didn't want to eat.

    My doctor, whom I really, really like, told me that one of the best things I could do was to bundle up and sit outside. "This cold, moist air is good for bronchitis," he told me. "Don't get cold," he cautioned. "Bundle up." 

    So for the past few days I have been bundling up in a coat, a wool hat, a wool scarf, fuzzy slippers, and my lovely warm gloves and sitting on the back porch with a blanket wrapped around my legs. I sit there for about an hour, reading or just watching the rain in the trees, breathing the cold moist air, loving the freshness, thinking, "Well by Christmas!"

    I'm not out of the woods yet, but the trees are thinning. This morning I spent hours planning a Christmas menu: salmon with mushroom orzo and red wine sauce, a green bean and feta salad, and Kahlua-and-chocolate pecan pie for dessert—a real meal, with fresh food and good tastes. Because, after all, I will be well by Christmas.

    Here's to a happy and healthy Christmas and holiday season for you, too.