WordSisters

Chemical Factory Body

cmkraack

February 7, 2018
Influenza B beat out my early season flu shot. The fourth day of a common cold morphed into a significant fever and body aches between morning coffee with a friend and dinner. The doctor’s nurse suggested I come in the next day to rule out a recurrence of walking pneumonia.

Results of a nasty nasal swab changed the visit to treatment planning for flu and asthma management. On the way home prescriptions were picked up at the drug store along with creature comforts such as soft tissues, flavored water and ice cream. Not many creature comforts because the cost of these meds, even with insurance, was triple our weekly grocery bill.

Instructions on the boxes for taking the medications are clear. The patient information booklets packed inside suggested I was doomed to suffer whether I used the meds or just muddled through the flu with the generic acetaminophen, cool drinks and a few good movies. With the expense of hundreds of dollars in meds on my conscience I behaved like a good patient.

It is now one in the morning. All the steroids in the asthma meds are doing a nice job of easing my breathing and the flu med must be starting its work. The garbage basket next to me is filling with used tissues; there are a number of empty water glasses or teacups on the bathroom counter. Unfortunately all these miracle cures list sleeplessness as a possible reaction and that is my fate.

Sleep is a treasured state because I’m not always successful in claiming six successive hours. An old IT band injury occasionally flares. I didn’t outgrow a childhood pattern of nightmares. My brain can get busy, but when do you need sleep more than when sick?

Which makes me think of how my brother and I would tease my parents that their teams of doctors kept them healthy by turning their bodies into perfect chemical factories. At one in the morning with two inhaled meds and four pills fighting the bad flu stuff I wonder how many nights they dealt with similar internal disruptions. The joke isn’t quite as light when the medical arsenal is lined up on your bedside table.
Share this:
Facebook
X
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Email
Print
Like Loading…
aging, Baby Boomers, Family, Illness- Flu, Uncategorized
2 responses to “Chemical Factory Body”
1. Eliza Waters
  
  February 8, 2018
  
  Wishing you a very speedy recovery!
2. Ann Coleman
  
  February 8, 2018
  
  So sorry you are sick, and I hope you are better soon. As for the medicines, yes they do have some side effects that are annoying. I’m sorry you are finding that one out the hard way!
Looking for a Pretty Good Book?

Ellen Shriner

February 1, 2018
The Book – Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

What attracted me? I loved her debut novel, Everything I Never Told You. Celeste Ng writes skillfully about troubled family dynamics and the subtleties of racial tension—themes that appeared in her first book. That book balances the central mystery (How and why did 16-year-old Lydia Lee die?) with character studies of her family members and boyfriend. Ng’s writing is insightful and poetic.

For me, there was the added bonus of learning about Shaker Heights, Ohio, a planned community in northeastern Ohio. Although I grew up in Toledo, Ohio, at the western edge of Lake Erie, I know very little about the Cleveland area.

The premise? Little Fires Everywhere also opens with a mystery. The Richardson house, home to well-to-do parents Elena and Bill Richardson and their four teenaged kids: Lexie, Trip, Moody, and Izzy, has been nearly demolished by fire, but no one was hurt. The family is fairly sure that rebellious Izzy set the fire, so the question is why. While Elena is watching her house smolder, her starving artist tenant, Mia Warren, and her teenaged daughter, Pearl, abruptly leave the small house Elena had rented to them.

What appealed to me? Ng does an excellent job of re-creating the idealistic, but claustrophobic, culture of Shaker Heights in the 1990s, a pre-digital age. Pagers were more common than cell phones and research was done the hard way—without the Internet—a fact that allows Mia to pull up stakes and move without a trace every 10-12 months in pursuit of Mia’s art.

Because she’s always lived a vagabond lifestyle, Pearl relishes being swept into the lives of the Richardson kids. None of the kids is aware of how Pearl interacts with the other siblings, which heightens family tensions.

Privilege and class undermine the relationships. Elena, intending to be generous, bullies Mia into cleaning house for the Richardsons, in addition to her job at a Chinese restaurant. Lexie gives Mia castoff clothes, which Pearl is happy to have, but Mia resents.

Race becomes a central issue when Mia’s friend and coworker Bebe, an impoverished Chinese immigrant, seeks to regain custody of her daughter Mei Ling, who has been adopted by the Richardson’s wealthy, childless white friends.

Much good material. But despite intriguing characters and set-up, the book strained credibility. Even allowing for being set in a pre-digital age, could Mia really disappear so completely every year or so? While the Richardson kids are more than character sketches, none of them feels fully realized. Interestingly, Izzy, who sets the novel in motion, is the least developed.

Sometimes in her effort to contrast Elena and Mia, along with the life choices they’ve made, Ng drifts into stereotyping. The book is a pretty good read but not as believable or affecting as Everything I Never Told You.

What books do YOU recommend?
Share this:
Facebook
X
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Email
Print
Like Loading…
authors, Books, Good books, Reading
5 responses to “Looking for a Pretty Good Book?”
1. Bev Bachel
  
  February 4, 2018
  
  I just heard someone say that H is for Hawk was one of her book club’s best reads. I haven’t yet read it. Did read Ng’s first book and have heard even better things about this one. Look forward to reading both.
  1. Ellen Shriner
    
    February 4, 2018
    
    I liked a lot of things about H is for Hawk, but eventually bogged down. However, I know a lot of people who really loved it. If you wind up reading it, we should compared notes!
2. Eliza Waters
  
  February 1, 2018
  
  I do love a good novel, but few really stay with me. ‘H is for Hawk’ by Helen MacDonald is a memoir that I really loved. Did you ever read it?
  1. Ellen Shriner
    
    February 3, 2018
    
    MacDonald’s story about her father’s death and grief were very affecting. Initially I was interested in the falconry/hawk lore, but it began to pall after a while, so I set the book aside. But in general, I like memoirs.
    
    Eliza Waters
    
    February 3, 2018
    
    As a naturalist, of course, I’d love those parts! I liked the way she wove her story, her father’s and White’s together.
Dormant

Ellen Shriner

January 24, 2018
Usually I’m philosophical about the below zero temperatures and snow we have every winter in Minnesota. The deep freeze is a time to stay indoors, be less social, and avoid unnecessary errands. Mother Nature pushes me to slow down, maybe be more introspective, read more. It can also be a time of creative planning (gardens, vacations, workouts), organizing or clearing out (closets, photos, files) and tackling household projects I wouldn’t bother with when the weather is nice.

For a little while that feels OK, maybe even good, as if I’m in tune with a natural rhythm, akin to a Circadian rhythm. This is what I’m supposed to be doing now. It feels good to wear wooly socks, make soups and stews, and settle in to watch movies or stream new TV series.

But with the persistent, longer-than-usual spell of extreme cold weather this winter, I feel as if I’ve shifted from slowing down in a pleasant, restorative way to being dormant. On pause. Hiding, like a tulip bulb buried deep in the ground. Waiting for enough time to pass so I can come back to life again. Hunkered down. I’ve been getting restless with so much reading and TV, and I’m trying hard not to register the waiting, which makes it worse.

I’ve lived in Minnesota long enough to know this spell will pass. The temperatures are already moderating. The days are getting longer. The torpor of these frozen days will dim so much that by August I’ll wonder if I imagined the feeling. But I didn’t.
Share this:
Facebook
X
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Email
Print
Like Loading…
Living, Perspective, seasons, winter
6 responses to “Dormant”
1. Brenda’s Thoughts
  
  January 25, 2018
  
  Take heart, winter will pass. I’m in this mode too…”It can also be a time of creative planning (gardens, vacations, workouts), organizing or clearing out (closets, photos, files) and tackling household projects.” Nice post, with good reminders!
  1. Ellen Shriner
    
    January 25, 2018
    
    Thanks for your comments! I do relish the time to dig in on projects. MLK weekend I avoided bogging down in bizzywork and chores so I could focus on reviewing older writing files — vignettes and notes from 2003-2005.
2. Eliza Waters
  
  January 25, 2018
  
  Sounds familiar, Ellen! I have to break it up with trips out to lunch or dinner, a movie or the greenhouse, which is like a mini-vacation to the tropics. The longer days are making it easier to bear. Hang in there!
  1. Ellen Shriner
    
    January 25, 2018
    
    Thanks!
3. Bev Bachel
  
  January 25, 2018
  
  Thanks for sharing. I feel like I’ve done the opposite. Trying not to let the extreme cold hold me back by finding places in my hood I can walk to…the bank, the post office, the library…and then venturing out once a day. It helps that i have a goal of getting 10,000 steps a day for a year. Still have close to five months left to go.
  1. Ellen Shriner
    
    January 25, 2018
    
    Glad you’re energized! I’ve been keeping busy (and I really do go out often) and yet . . .