Doctor My Throat

I took a mental note of March 13 last week.  It was on March 13, 2020, that I left my classroom on what was supposed to be a two-week break.

Of course, that didn't quite happen. Besides cleaning up and collecting supplies, I didn't step back into my classroom for almost a year.

Last week, I took time to recognize how nice it is to know that Covid is mostly in the rearview mirror. Or so I thought.

Yesterday afternoon, I noted my 6th-grade teammate, Alex, was wearing a mask. At first, I thought she was just taking precautions because she was heading to Colorado this weekend for a short ski vacation with her family. 

"What's with the mask?" I asked.

"Kaiser just called. I've got f****** Covid!"

She felt absolutely fine. Her home test from the day before was negative, but her PCR test was positive.

Suddenly, my stuffy nose felt stuffier, and my scratchy throat felt scratchier.

I was supposed to meet with my writing group that night. What should I do?

In an instant, it was Covid times again, and we were all trying to figure out how best to keep from getting it.

In the end, my home test was negative. Even so, the writing group decided it was best to wait a week before we got together.

I looked up the pollen count. Tree pollen, my archenemy, was through the roof.  I quickly closed every window in my house. They'll stay that way until June or July.

This morning I felt so much better.