Bunya-Bunya

Okay, took this photo a longgggggg time ago. Amanda is now almost 25. So, what is it you ask? Is it a pineapple?

Nope! It's a bit bigger than your average pineapple and loads heavier. It's a sort of pine cone. On occasion (only three times in 18 years) these would fall from the tree in our yard. Sounded like you were being bombed when they landed. Never actually saw one still on the tree. The common name for the tree is "Monkey Puzzle". It's real name is "Bunya-Bunya". The "needles" on the tree were strange, too. Dark green elongated triangles on thin branches. They dried to a sienna brown and the little branch would fall to the earth covered in razor sharp "needles". You didn't go barefoot in our yard! I got curious one time and took an ax to one of these "cones". It was white inside, fairly solid, and oozed a white gooey syrup. Glad I was never under one when it fell.

No particular reason for posting the photo at the present. Just decided to.

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Well, nasty week. On Wednesday we got snow and sleet. I got a stomach virus. I could hardly move and had a temp of just over 101. I tried to shovel some of the snow out of the walk and the drive but my body just refused to do it. I gave up and went in knowing that it was going to be a mess when it changed to rain and sleet and then the temps dropped as promised. It was, and still is in some spots. I managed to get my truck backed out. I ended up heading down a different street than I really wanted to but didn't have much choice. The lack of steerage on the ice controlled the direction that I would go. I did get turned around in a neighbor's drive and got my truck back to the house and parked in the "front" driveway at my folk's. Whew. I was totally exhausted by then and it was only 8:30 a.m. I looked at the 100 newspapers waiting to be delivered.......................

I called the newspaper office and asked very nicely if they could have someone fill in and just "drive by" deliver. I was real sick and felt half dead.

"NO"...................I couldn't believe it!

For three years we have been delivering these papers. We have had only one week off (very advanced planned) in three years. Never called because of illness.

Amanda called Stop & Shop and told them she couldn't be in due to lack of transportation (and severely bad road conditions anyway). Then we took our time and slowly folded papers. I had to rest a lot every 10 minutes or so. We loaded them all in my folk's mini-van and drove and threw the entire route. Having the extra weight of the van and the front wheel drive kept us from getting stuck in the mess on the roads. It was all I could do to sit up and drive. When I got home I went to bed fully clothed. I hadn't the energy to even undress.

I know it's wrong to think this but nevertheless.....I sincerely hope that if *that* woman at the Gloucester Daily Times comes down with this virus (it's going around) that she has it a multitude of times worse than me. I'm just so angry.

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Today was the first day I ate something other than saltine crackers and popscicles. I had toast for lunch and mashed potatoes for dinner. So far so good. All being well tomorrow, I might venture with some "baby" rice cereal.

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Of course keywork doesn't know I'm sick. I've forced myself to keep plugging along at it. Two sets this week, two more that I'm aware of for next week. I still feel wiped out but at least not as sick. No more temp. No more disgusting symptoms. Just draggy and weak.

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More news this weekend.