It’s hard to believe that of all the years spent growing up in this house, not once do I recall noticing how pretty the wintertime sunset it. Our view is not a wide open vista overlooking a valley, but it has the ability to conjure deep gratitude at the end of each day just the same. On this particular day, I sat for a few minutes with a mug of soup, trying to draw a good dose of oxygen into my lungs as I am currently doing my best to stay healthy and not succumb to the sickness that seems to have entered our house.
It’s petri dish basketball season. Need I say more?
I’m not sure if there is a more “handsy” sport out there. A constant passing of balls and germs, followed by a hand to the face to wipe a sweaty brow… touching the eyes, nose and mouth without realizing. There is a pretty awful something going around at basketball and debate, and it finally made its way here. Based on the experience of others, it appears to be a respiratory illness which is turning into pneumonia for many. Not my idea of fun. So far it’s really just Emily that’s managing the cough and fever, but she’s upright today so hopefully things are moving in the right direction.
Whenever an illness of any kind enters our home, I immediately start behaving as if I am next. I take all of the precautionary and nourishing measures in hopes of preventing coming down with it, of course, but also to make an honest effort at shortening the severity and duration should I indeed become inflicted. For instance, if the stomach bug shows up here, I stop eating and begin fasting for a few days. I’ll sip on fresh pressed juices, herbal tea, and maybe clear broth soups. I figure why poke the beast. I’m not sure if it’s coincidence or otherwise, but I have not experienced any type of stomach bug in over 16 years. (Yes, I just knocked on wood.)
Likewise, when something such as this current yuck is hanging around, I jack myself up on almost everything that I would take if I actually came down with the infection – save for a couple of remedies that are reserved for when truly symptomatic. A couple of days ago I thought for sure I was feeling the first few twinges of what Emily was coming down with, the very afternoon that she was feeling it, too. And so began the Fire Cider, extra D3, elderberry zinc lozenges, ginger honey tea, green juices, fresh pressed apple and orange juice, homemade chicken soup, oregano oil on my feet, removal of any inflammatory foods, and so on. I believe I have officially pickled myself to the point of (hopefully) dodging this one. (Again, knocking on wood.) As for Emily, she is not interested in Fire Cider or green juice, but she’s a pretty good sport about most of the other medicinals. We’ll keep at it and continue to try and decrease the duration and severity of this infection for her, and do our best to prevent it from overtaking the rest of us as well. None of us have ever experienced pneumonia and it sure doesn’t sound like a good time. 
To sum it up… basically, a few days ago I thought I was getting sick, and so I acted like I was sick (treating myself accordingly), and wouldn’t you know, whatever was lurking has yet to fully materialize. An ounce of prevention and all that. This has been my standard “mom” protocol for as long as I can remember. When someone is sick in the house, I power up on nourishment (or fast on green juice, depending on the illness that’s around), as if I am sick. Nine times out of ten I stay healthy, so I'd say this plan is a definite keeper for me.
That's about it from me right now, sorry it's been a little quiet. Seeing as we're laying low right now I had some time to flip open the laptop and visit the blog. I'm here, just kind of feeling quiet as I focus on staying healthy and loving winter.