Holidays and the Flu

Hello, my friends.  I'm back in the saddle after a very long semi-hiatus.  I now not only have my computer up and running, I have almost reliable internet service, and I've come through on the other end of a very nasty flu bug.  I still have the cold that accompanied it but in comparison to how I was feeling for the past several days, I'm in the pink of health.

There's are several things I like about small towns and a few I don't particularly care for.  One of the things that can be a bit of a challenge is the rumor mill.  One of the great things is the rumor mill.  There I was, sick as a dog, and I called a woman with whom I had an appointment and told her I couldn't come because I was sick.  The next thing I know, she's delivering soup and tea to me.  She brought it the next day as well.  Then I get a call from another friend telling me "the word on the street" is that I'm down with the flu.  She helped tell me what is good to do for it to help it get better faster.  Then I got a call from another friend.  All three of these women asked if there was anything they could do or could they bring me anything?

It occurred to me that this outpouring of aid and offers of aid wouldn't have been forthcoming in the States.  I know it would have for some people--my sister, for example--but not for me.  I didn't have that kind of support system there.  I lived in my last apartment for over two years and I've lived here less than 10 months and have people coming to help and offering more help.  I also know that with a phone call I could have had help from many other sources if I had needed them.  I'm not saying there weren't people in Minneapolis who would have helped me--there were.  I could have picked up the phone there and gotten two or three people to help out but here it's more like a dozen or more.  It's a good place to live.

As for the holidays, there was much activity here.  Unfortunately I missed quite a bit of it because I was so sick but there's always next year and I still have lots of photos for you.  Since I'm still a little under the weather today I think it might be a day or two before I get around to doing a post with photos and information about what's happening here but they're coming.