Cold Jazz

So, I was at a happening party Friday night where me and the boys hung out, listened to 45's (most of them Blues and Jazz), had laughs, snacks (bacon pepper jam on cheese-infused crackers) and drank some beers. Paradise. But, there was chill in Paradise. The floor-based air conditioner blowing cold air on me all night from 7:00 PM to midnight. I had not the sense to sit elsewhere. It was the third floor of my buddy's house so the AC was needed. I just didn't need to be necking it all night.

I am extremely sensitive to the cold. It is why I usually wear a hat year round. I can't stand too cold AC. It is the curse of the age to freeze when it is a hundred degree outside. Correcting one problem by going too far the other way. Idiocy. Wasteful. American profligacy.

Come Saturday, I felt a cold coming on. As typical, I gargled with some whiskey and it seemed like the cold virus was on the defensive. I had coffee with a good friend. Sunday morning I started to feel worse. So, I crawled back into bed, called off of Church, and slept. Then woke up and watched like 5 movies/documentaries on Netflix, finally making the most of my subscription after months of non-use. I have learned to shut down when I am getting sick. Cancel all engagements, stay home, sleep it off.

No cigars on Sunday night with a buddy. Took a rain check for this Sunday....

Except for work. I have an extremely difficult time calling off of work. After 20 years of employment at my high school, I have 200 sick days accrued. I could be sick for an entire school year and still get paid my full salary. This year, I only took three days, and two of them were from my appendix surgery. But, after going to work on Monday and starting to slip into illness again despite the whiskey gargle (done at home), I called off Tuesday. Then, I slept like a dead man all yesterday. I was back today and feeling better.

It is part work ethic and part pride that keeps me coming in when I am ailing. I don't get sick a lot but when I do I downplay it quite a bit. I think I am just getting better of admitting that I am not well. The school runs without me. The kids can wait or my co-workers can help them. Heck, they are "sick days" after all. My typical approach is to minimize how bad I feel, show up, and probably get others' sick too.

My gargling of Jim Beam really cut down on the coughing and sore throat and the runny nose, but the cold virus had still drained me like leeches. I was just achy and tired. Often when I get sick, my bad left knee aches more, then my head hurts because of the knee pain. I was actually crying yesterday because my head hurt so bad. Those tears were hard tears. Not a lot, but heavy.

Jesus said it was the sick who needed a Physician. I freely confessed that I was sick, I was in the throes of it, and I just needed to hold onto the mast, and wait for the storm to cease. Does not Jesus just want us to admit our condition so that He can heal us? It does little good, and actually a lot of harm, to not come clean. When we admit how messed up we are, then God can begin His healing work.