Sniffing, sneezing, coughing, aching, and overall yucky feeling

Sniffing, sneezing, coughing, aching, and overall yucky feeling

Since Christmas I have been feeling under the weather so other than a few trips to the store and the RV show in Atlanta last weekend I have stayed around the house resting and trying to get rid of a nasty bout of sneezing, wheezing, and coughing.  They call it the nighttime sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so you can rest medicine and oddly it’s true.  I’ve felt like crap, take some Nyquil and hopefully feel better.  It may have taken a few days but at least it seems to work.  This cold & flu has lasted over two weeks but finally I’m starting to feel better.  I also burnt my left hand pouring hot coffee but it has finally blistered and started healing so I’m ready to get back into the swing of things.

During this down time I haven’t felt like working on a couple of projects I have going on right now but I did get in a few hours here and there.  I do feed the birds and deer every day (there need to eat too plus they are great to watch) and have hung out watching movies or tv shows on Roku.  Between my sneezing attacks making for some funny noises and the constant coughing it has been a mostly miserable couple weeks. Some of the shows watched were: Killing Fields, Gold Rush, and Night Shift.

Over the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas I was able to write the stories of my Adventures with Johnny and it’s been nice having those ready to post during this time I haven’t felt great.

One of the movies I searched for this weekend was Secondhand Lions, a movie I have seen over and over that is rich in storytelling and flair.  I could not find it “On Demand” and I do not know where my DVD copy of it is at the moment so I was disappointed I could not see it once again.  This movie is about a boy whose irresponsible mother drops him off at his uncle’s ranch in rural Texas where the boy learns about life and what it is like to be a man.  This movie inspires me, and the two characters Garth and Hub played by Michael Caine and Robert Duvall respectively give some of their best performances.  All three actors have won or been nominated for an Oscar.

Our lives are immeasurably enriched by larger-than-life eccentrics who seem to burn more brightly than the rest of us.  They stand before us with stories that take us in and spin us around.  They amaze us with antics that continually surprise us.  They engender within us a fresh appreciation for the deep mysteries of the human personality.  They stretch us with all the wild possibilities inherent in every situation, no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential.  When we are in their presence, we feel that anything is possible, & that life is an adventure that deserves our intense participation.

Many of us know people like these two and hang onto their stories and presence.  It may be an uncle, grandfather or parent who has over the years provided us with a commonplace attitude that life is to be lived, experienced to the fullest possible extent.

One of my favorite scenes and speeches is given by Robert Duvall who is giving advice to Haley Joel Osment’s character Walter about life and people.

Duvall as Uncle Hub to Osment’s character Walter: “Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most.  That people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; and I want you to remember this . . . that love . . . true love never dies.  You remember that, boy.  You remember that.  Doesn't matter if it's true or not.  You see, a man should believe in those things, because those are the things worth believing in.”

There is power in that statement.  What a positive message to give our youth, things to believe in besides their video games, phones, and mechanical possibilities.

Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow but these last few days were relaxing just doing nothing planned at all.

Ice

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