A COVID Lament, 2025 Edition

A column I ran here just about three years ago (unfortunately) needed an update. So, as a creature of habit...

1. Losing your sense of smell isn’t so bad…I may even clean those poop-encrusted Ugg boots sitting by the back door.

2. If you are sick in bed with a splitting headache, your neighbor will pick that day to take down their tree. 

3. Low energy activity: sort through unwanted jewelry to make a nice donation.

4. Your pickleball friends might not wish you a speedy recovery as your absence means more open spots for them.

5. Better than any cream, the best way to help that rash you get from taking too-hot showers in winter is simply not to shower at all.

6. On that note, if I ever wanted to go Rasta, this would be the time to do it.

7. Doing google searches on this--or any other--topic has really deteriorated during these three years. You can not trust absolutely anything you get as a response and have to triple check all info.

8. DO NOT look at your step count. On several days, even adding a zero to the end of the daily tally technically is not enough.

9. If you aren’t a Keurig aficionado and still brew your coffee, keep some concentrate in the house for emergencies like this. I didn’t have the energy it took to make a pot, so I was glad to have my Javy concentrate on hand.

10. “Shrinking” loved; “Bad Sisters” loving; “It Ends With Us” hated the book, why did I think the movie would be good sick fare? We also started “Lioness”; it’s engaging. And “Little Fires Everywhere” is just about as good as the book, and rarely do I say that.

11. When you let yourself slip down the TikTok/X/Facebook rabbit hole, read the comments, they are so much more entertaining than the original posts. Although there are people who will take offense at the most innocuous statement, there are more people out there who are quick-witted and smart. Humor always rises, as it should.

12. Rid your house of all the magnifying mirrors before you have lots of time to gaze into them.

I hope you don’t have to use any of this knowledge. Stay healthy!