This has been the coldest January in my neck of the woods for so many decades that not even the record-keepers can recall a colder one. Despite what we considered very clever precautions in the week before last’s super cold snap (negative temps), we ended up with a busted pipe in the basement wall anyway, forgot to drain out the exterior faucet pipe after we’d turned it off and drained the hose, then filled the tub and jugs and bottles, turned off the pump from the cistern and opened all (but that one) faucet to give the water room to expand as it froze in the incoming underground pipe. Ah, well. Needed to re-solder that darned thing anyway, I guess.
Back to single digits tonight as I type this, going to remember to drain that one this time too. Then we’ll use the tub water to flush and the bottled water to drink and cook and wait for the ground to unfreeze again. Which, if it doesn’t warm up significantly, may be quite awhile. Sigh.
Meanwhile, the family has managed to escape various winter bugs, viruses and even flu this year (knock on wood), thanks to the ample happy elderberry harvest this past summer. Unfortunately, one of the grandsons thinks he has developed walking pneumonia – and has the chest rattles to place it well below bronchia – but won’t have the money to get it diagnosed or buy the prescription until next month when his student loan finally gets credited. We can’t afford to cover him up front either, though I did get a $5 “raise” on my Social Security check this month. Big Whoop. Now I can get the ‘better’ cat food… (another grumble, for another time).
What is “Walking Pneumonia,” you may ask, and what does it mean? First, pneumonia is an inflammation of the lungs, and its pathology no matter what qualifier you put on it is just that simple. The complications come from the various causes, the multiplex of symptoms, and variety of treatments. Millions of Americans get pneumonia every year, and not all of them have the flu. Cough, fever, chills, difficulty breathing, general weakness, light-headedness with activity, skin rashes… the symptoms are myriad.
