A Series of Unfortunate Events
It’s been ten days since I arrived home. Two years seemed nothing. There’s not much changes except I don’t recognized many people anymore, especially children. I can’t tell whose kid is who.
But more than the confusion, I experienced a lot of setbacks. I was expecting a jolly, merry holidays but I got a folly, sickly days instead.
First, after about 2 days of my stay, my allergy kicked in. Maybe the air is different. I am allergic to house dust, animal hair and pollen. The house has all of them!
My body clock is terrible. I am basically a nocturnal; active at night, dead by morning. I wanted to adjust this biological clock but to no avail. My itchy nose and throat just won’t let me doze off. Even the medicine isn’t working that hard. My watery eyes prevent me from watching or reading even.
I managed to prepare for Christmas dinner, albeit really simple, because I only had nieces and nephews around. Most family members went to their respective in-law’s and will spend the new year with us.
I had visitors on the 26th of the month, soon after Christmas . My university friends came over to see me. I couldn’t prepare any. I was a terrible host. My allergy still bad. But since we’ve known each other for over a decade, they didn’t mind. I just let them raid the fridge and use the kitchen as if it’s their own. I couldn’t even show them how much I’ve improved in cooking.
We caught up with the lost times but with depleted energy, my mind was fuzzy and couldn’t really focus. They noticed it and went home prematurely. Only God knows when we’re going to meet like that again. It took two years and a pandemic to bring us back together.
After a week and still haven’t gone outside, literally. I might scare people due to my condition so better not alarm anyone and put their minds at ease.
I was still struggling with the house dust and pet hairs when I decided to take a really cold shower one evening. It didn’t do any good. The water was ice cold and my aging body couldn’t take it. I caught a cold.
My nose was runny and itchy, throat was scratchy and I had dry cough as well while my eyes still watery and itchy as well. I had to stay in bed. Good thing I was already off work. I took vitamins and ate despite the loss of appetite. I asked my kids to keep distance. I still haven’t shared a bed with them of bedtime stories or movie nights, which I have imagined my vacation would be.
I felt a bit better few days later, so I decided to go to the supermarket for the holiday shopping. During new year, we have the custom to replenish everything in the kitchen, all containers to manifest abundance the whole year. I put everything I could remember to be essential in our cart, two carts to be specific. It took a while to reach the counter and much longer checking all out. But then, when I gave my card, they told me the system was down and they can only process cash. I didn’t have cash with me because while in Metro Manila, I rarely used them. I forgot I wasn’t in the Metro anymore.
I asked my sister to go around and withdraw some money instead. The people behind me in the queue must have been annoyed. Should there had been an announcement about the system being down, people would’ve prepared better.
Nonetheless, we were able to purchase the goods and headed home. It usually takes 30 minutes. But the eventful day wasn’t finished yet. Maybe the gods of misfortune was playing with us. It chose this day, when we have a ton of groceries, to flat a tire in the middle of nowhere!
It took about two hours before we were back on the road. Good thing some others from home can drive so they came to the rescue. The only silver-lining to this day was that I had the spare time to meet an old friend. I so wanted to have a cup of coffee but there was literally no coffee shops around. Milk tea is such a craze but not my thing.
So for the first ten days, I’ve met a couple of friends but still haven’t been somewhere significant. I think i made a promise to show our place around when I have time but maybe it’s not anytime soon. I am still coughing my lung out and still feeling drowsy from the meds. And oh, it’s also rainy almost every day.
Nevertheless, I am looking forward to the biggest holidays every year. Being able to spend it with the entire family after two years is already an achievement. How about you jolly folks, how are you spending your holiday break? Will you be able to visit the church or the temple on the first day of 2022? Will you prepare a new year feast or go with a simple, intimate dinner with loved ones for media noche? Are you spending that day in the comfort of your homes or somewhere else?
However you celebrate, please stay healthy and safe. May 2022 be a bountiful year and the year your wishes be answered. Manigong Bagong Taon!