Lonely Cottage

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  “Among the few features of agricultural England which retain an appearance but little modified by the lapse of centuries, may be reckoned the high, grassy and furzy downs, coombs, or ewe-leases, as they are indifferently called, that fill a large area of certain counties in the south and south-west. If any mark of human occupation is met with hereon, it usually takes the form of the solitary cottage of some shepherd. Fifty years ago such a lonely cottage stood on such a down, and may possibly be standing there now. In spite of its loneliness, however, the spot, by actual measurement, was not more than five miles from a county-town. Yet that affected it little. Five miles of irregular upland, during the long inimical seasons, with their sleets, snows, rains, and mists, afford withdrawing space enough to isolate a Timon or a Nebuchadnezzar; much less, in fair weather, to please that less repellent tribe, the poets, philosophers, artists, and others who “conceive and meditate of ple...

Oops!

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 I had an accident last week. Actually I had three. I’ve been dealing with a persistent cough since September. The other night I came home and before I could get to the front door, started coughing and could not stop. Next thing I know, I’m on my back, watching the front porch light come into view. How did I get here, flat on the ground? Am I bleeding? Did I hit my head?


Turns out I started a spasmodic cough that exhausted my oxygen (I already battle asthma) and I passed out, scraping my arm on the brick wall as I went down. No, I didn’t hit my head as I collapsed down onto my knees then drifted over backwards, my legs folded underneath me. I was unconscious about 30 seconds. I recovered but was not feeling well for a while. 


The next night it happened again. I got out of the car, approached the door and started coughing and blacked out, but only for a few seconds. I did not collapse but was unconscious for a few seconds. 


The next day, it happened again, on my day off. I woke from a nap, and started coughing. This time I grabbed the back of the couch and lowered myself to the ground as the lights turned out. I went to the doctor the very next day. 


Apparently I may have had RSV a couple of months ago, as the cough indicated. So after an intense round of steroids and an albuterol nebulizer, am breathing much better now. No more passing out. My elbow just hurts, that’s all.

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