I woke up Tuesday morning with the beginnings of a little cold. I had felt it coming on Monday afternoon with a scratchy throat and a bit of pressure on my sinuses. I rationalized to myself…it’s just the cold and dry weather. It’s just the season. I had taken care of the 17 month old all day on Friday but that is the only person besides Ana that I have come into contact with. He is in kita (kind of daycare and preschool combined). It is less kids but because his parents are essential he gets to still go. Could it be?

I had my weekly zoom call with my friend Daniel Tuesday morning and I assured him it was probably just something in the air. He suggested a humidifier…oh yeah, good idea! Or even just a bowl of steaming hot water to help. Keep the liquids coming.

By Tuesday afternoon and as I got to kita to pick up the 17 month old, many kleenexes were needed. Here it was. This cold I was denying. I picked up the kiddo and as he leapt into my arms I could see the snot from miles away. We got to his home, we called Luna (a now needed ritual for all the littles I am in contact with), and I texted his parents. Did anyone else have this snot running out of their face? Oh yes, you should see the other babysitter and mom wasn’t feeling quite right. We found patient zero. Because of their professions they are tested each week for COVID. They are negative. If I want a test, we could arrange it but with snot, a snotty kiddo, and pressure in sinuses, I think we have our answer.

Yesterday the beast of the cold toppled me to the couch for the day with tea and water and puppy snuggles all day. I woke up exhausted and feeling a bit beaten up but cozy and glad for this flexibility. I did school work and church work. I watched a little tv and hung out with Ana. I walked the dogs minimally and made dinner as we watched a movie. I talked to my mom for a while in which she said, “how did you get a cold in a pandemic??” I told her about the culprit, a small one who is basically a petri dish, most small ones are.

Today is about the same with a hint of getting better. One more day of tending to whatever is happening in my body. Today as I reflect on where we are at….chaotic vaccination promises and little return, more and more lockdown, a yearning for something other than this and a hope that this will soon be a memory, a bit of anxiety and a whole lot of antsiness, a little dip in numbers that we hope will keep up, a want to see family so much it hurts, an anger at those who don’t care for others during this time, constant finding copes to keep up the self care, and a gratefulness for each other even now and a patience with zoom as the major form of contact…tending seems to strike me as just the right word. There is a constant maintenance to keeping healthy and making choices. There is a tending to the soul that is necessary because of the ebbs and flows of pandemic life. There is a need to tend to the grief that comes and a tending to allow the hope that bubbles up to thrive.

Today I will tend to my body as it continues to heal and observe and pray.