Damn. It's October again. Don't get me wrong, I love October. I
love it almost as much as I love November. October looks like it's dressed up
for a dance, all beautiful colors and alluring scents. The nights are cooling
off and the days do not act as if the earth has a fever. The wind seems to be
practicing for Halloween. And don't even get me started on Halloween. I adore
it in ways beyond mere nerdy cosplay fanaticism. It's the one night of the year
my crazy family doesn't stand out in some weird, Addam's Family meets Tim Burton
meets nerd kind of way. I just wish we had a different way to celebrate the
Autumn harvest.
Most families do some or all of those cutesy,
wholesome, family values kind of things. They go apple picking. They go to a
pumpkin farm. They have annual cider and donut nights. They may even don comfy
sweaters and roast marshmallows over their backyard firepits. They rake their
leaves and clean up their yards and get ready for winter. And I envy all of
them. The self righteous bastards.
We celebrate fall differently. Oh sure, we argue over
football. (I'm in a mixed marriage- Steelers versus Giants) We try to get to a
pumpkin farm and feed one of the kids to a goat. We argue over yardwork until
its done, usually after I threaten to go on strike and make everyone eat pb and
J sandwiches for dinner for an entire week. But mostly we get sick. Every
frigging year. Like clockwork. It goes a little like this- Hippie Pants (yes,
Hippie Pants) gets good and sick and then gives it to EVERYBODY else. This is
because Hippie Pants, in spite of all my best efforts to raise her properly,
insists on being one those weird people who actually likes, and is affectionate
towards, others. I blame her father. Lord knows I did the best I could. But
still, there that child goes, tripping across the Universe, hugging all and
sundry until OF COURSE she gets whatever virus brews right when kids go back to
school. Which she then shares with everybody. Including, naturally, Feisty
Pants. So we then celebrate October with doctor visits and ER visits and,
sometimes, hospital stays. So this years flavor of yuck is a cold, followed by
an after hours clinic visit (to get an antibiotic) for the secondary sinus
infection. Not a big deal I thought. HA HA HA.
This years cold is the gift that keeps on giving. So
it has turned into bronchitis. And an asthma attack. On a Saturday, thus
precipitating the annual ER dash. So three needle pokes, one iv, two x-rays
later, we were sent home (at least, that went ok...) with prednisone, and
another inhaler, and instructions to stay on the O2 until we decide to cut our
nonsense out and get better already. So we are now stuck at home for the time
being. Just when we figured out how decide which kid to feed to the goat.
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