I’m near the end of my two-week bachelor stint as Donna will return from her visit with family and friends in Vermont tomorrow night. My bachelor time has been mostly uneventful as I settled into a routine. I would check my e-mail and waste some time on the Internet while having breakfast, then go to one of the recreation centers to play pickleball for a couple of hours. After lunch I attended to domestic chores – dishes, cleaning Ozark’s litter box and sweeping. I even figured out how to use the Splendide washer/dryer combo and did a few loads of laundry.

The rest of the afternoons were spent mostly relaxing and reading a book, then going for a cold one with the guys. After dinner, I usually watched TV outside and puffed a cigar. This changed last Friday.

We’ve been fortunate in that we’ve only had a couple of minor medical issues and I’ve only been sick once in the last six or seven years. I fell ill in August of 2017 in Iowa and was down for several days. On Friday, illness struck again. I felt out of sorts all day and had a cough that worsened as the day went on. By dinner time, I had no appetite, I skipped happy hour and a cigar was out of the question. I went to bed early and tossed and turned all night.

Saturday I was much worse. The cough became an unproductive dry hack like a child with croup. You know how it is when a song gets in your head and you can’t get rid of it? Well, I had the song by The Band Chest Fever in my head all day. It was apropos – by the afternoon I was running a fever and my ailment seemed like it centered in my  upper respiratory system and sinuses.

By the way – an interesting thought on the song. The intro to Chest Fever features fantastic work on the organ by band member Garth Hudson. He based it on Bach’s Tocatta and Fugue in D minor. Back in the day, The Band drummer Levon Helm used this song to illustrate the unfair music industry practice of awarding a larger percentage of the royalties to the author of song lyrics. The lyrics in Chest Fever are mostly nonsensical and I couldn’t even recite them. That’s Levon’s point – do you think of the lyrics or Garth’s fantastic organ playing when you hear this song? Garth should have earned a greater royalty. But I digress.

I spent most of Saturday reading and napping. At one point in the morning, I had to go out and get a few groceries – the refrigerator was empty and the pantry low. I would read for 45 minutes to an hour, then doze off for 30 or 45 minutes throughout the day.

Saturday night I tried to watch the Moto GP coverage from Philip Island, Australia. The coverage started at 7:30pm, but the premier class was set to race at 1pm local time on Sunday. Due to Australia being halfway around the world across the International Date Line, that put the start of the race at 10pm Saturday PDT. I couldn’t stay up so I set the DVR and went to bed.

Sunday morning I felt better – my head was clearer, the fever broke and the cough not as severe. But I hadn’t slept all that well and I was lethargic. I watched the Moto GP race I recorded, then turned on football and kicked back on the couch. There were three good games televised on Sunday plus the Formula One race from Mexico City. Then there was the World Series game as well. I did a lot of channel surfing. I dozed at times through all of it. All this time in bed, on the couch and in my recliner has left me with a sore lower back. As usual – one thing leads to another.

This morning, I mustered enough ambition to make myself a ham and cheese omelette. I used to be a pretty good omelette maker but haven’t done it in ages.

Not up to Donna’s standards

Of course Donna would never have served it without a side of fruit and a garnish. She has much higher standards than me.

So, life on the road isn’t always sweet sunsets and spectacular views. But, we’re in a great location and I can’t complain about the weather!