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It all began on Friday
with a simple sneeze. Somehow, in blowing my nose at that moment, I
turned on the faucet to my sinuses--running at full flow. By afternoon,
I was burning up, covered in a cold sweat. By evening, I had emptied
every tissue box in the house, and was carrying a roll of toilet paper
with me as I shuffled from here to there. That night, I left the toilet
paper by the couch and went to bed with a towel beneath my nose.
Saturday morning, when I
awoke, I felt like someone had beaten me with a baseball bat. I was
still burning up, but got the chills every five to 10 minutes. My nose
stopped running; in fact, it seemed like everything in my head had
solidified, making it too heavy for my neck. I was awake an hour before
I fell asleep on the couch, and was awake no more than an hour at a time
throughout the entire day.
In less than
36 hours, I was reduced to nothing--by a microscopic creature we can’t
even see.
I missed
covering an event on Sunday, and I feel bad. I spent the day using what
little energy I had disinfecting--washing sheets, door knobs, faucet
handles. Sterilizing toothbrushes, trash cans, my computer keyboard and
mouse, the DVD remote. I was contagious, and I felt like a leper. I
didn’t want to move, much less be around people.
This whole
episode brings two points to my mind.
First,
everyone should understand how important it is to clean and disinfect
during the cold and flu season. Wash your hands frequently during the
day--and disinfect all things your hands touch several times a week.
Think about it. One sick person could come through town to visit the
bank and the post office, touching at least four doors (on both sides)
and perhaps a parking meter dial. If that person used the bank
drive-thru, he touched the pen, the container, and the send button. How
many people touch the post office doors in a day? The drive-thru
containers? How many in an hour? Wash your hands--again and again and
again.
The second
thought that came with my illness this weekend was frustrated by my
fever, and fed by my guilt of missing an event. I hate missing an
event--for many reasons. First, I am flattered when people think to
invite me. To not show up is disrespectful, and I hate to disappoint
anyone. The second reason is because I know, if I’m not there, then
there’s a chance we won’t get the story at all. That bothers me the
most.
Healthy or
sick, it’s hard for me to be everywhere. Time conflicts, personal
moments and simple economics all contribute to a scheduling scramble
that makes it darn near impossible to attend every photo opportunity for
the newspaper. We have such a small staff, but we can schedule a back up
if we know ahead of time that I can’t make it, but when something comes
up at the last minute (like this cold), it becomes an opportunity
missed.
But there’s
still a chance. There’s a chance that there was someone at the event,
someone with a camera, someone who took pictures . . . someone who will,
perhaps, send them in?
This week,
let’s offer our special congratulations to
Ernie
Coffey
of Chloe, who was honored with a retirement party at Upper West Fork
Volunteer Fire Dept. on Sunday. He has been a member for over 10 years
and a board member at
Upper
West
Fork
Park
for three years. He was chosen as parade marshal in last year’s
Octoberfest parade for his contributions to both. His wife Beulah has
also been a long time volunteer for the park and the fire department.
I am sorry that I could
not be there to record the event in our county’s printed historical
memoirs, but I am so pleased that UWF volunteers who were there recorded
the event--and shared their photos with us. Congratulations to Earnie,
and to those who are proud of him enough to share his accomplishments!
The Calhoun
Chronicle welcomes photographs from folks throughout the county. We get
photos and reports from people every day. As much as I hate to admit it,
anyone can be a reporter--seniors, parents, and neighbors--even
Ms.
Harris’
5th grade English students. Anyone of you can do what I do. All you need
is a camera and the ability to ask “who, what, when, where, and why”
about the situation.
Photos can be mailed to
the main office, with a return address for return of the photo, or can
be left and picked up in person. They can be sent as .jpgs or .tifs
attached to an email sent to
contact@calhounchronicle.com. All we ask is that each person is
identified and we are given some hint as to what’s going on in the
photo. We can take it from there.
Let’s hope I
don’t get sick again for a while. Then again, there might be a new virus
on the courthouse door handles this week, you never know . . .
If you don’t see us at
your event, it doesn’t mean we are not interested. You can help us share
good news from your neck of the woods with a simple stamp or a click on
“send.” Consider sharing your photos with us, so we can share them with
the community.
Isn’t that
better than sharing our germs?
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