Interior Designs – Erich

First, an apology. We have not been adding posts to the blog in some time. Sorry.

But, here is the reason for that: Germs. Yes, even if you take a couple years out of your life to see the world, the microbes don't leave you be. In fact, you get to meet microbes you've rarely, if ever, encountered before. And we have had a run of sickness go through the family.

It turns out that we have is called coxsackie virus. In plainer terms, we have been dealing with Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease. I know, it sounds like Hoof and Mouth disease found in livestock, but the two are unrelated.

Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease is most often found in very young children, younger than mine. But alas, mine got it. First it was Syarra, though we didn't know exactly what it was then. Just as she got better, Carver got sick. Then we discovered the tiny red spots on his hands and feet, and we knew what we were dealing with.

Now, the good news is that most adults have had some exposure to coxsackie virus or others similar enough that they have an immunity to it. The bad news, apparently that doesn't include me.

So it has gone from one to another to another, and we are very hopeful that it ends with me and spares Alrica the annoyance of it. Not just because we love Alrica, which is plenty of good reason. But next Monday, we have our next travel day. And being sick is bad enough. But being sick when you can't just lie in bed and you have no stable place to live, that's terrible.

This has been a mostly indoor series of days for us. But we have gotten to use the time for some other pursuits. The kids are getting a lot of work for homeschool done. We learned a new card game. And best of all, we finished a novel.

Yes, Carver and I have been collaborating on a novel in the fantasy genre for some time now. And just before I came down with the fever, we finished our first draft. I mean that literally, it was about an hour before I got feverish.

Of course, a first draft doesn't mean you're done. Writing is rewriting. But it feels great to finish a draft. Usually when I finish a project of creation I have a “King of World” feeling. This time coxsackie kind of knocked that out of me, but intellectually it was still pleasing.

For Carver it has been bittersweet. He is proud to have finished a novel. But he said, “I'm going to miss writing about Blat.” (Blat is one of the characters, of course.)

At this point, we are rereading the novel and making notes of things we want to rewrite. The kids have been great about this. While I have been stuck with barely any energy, they have sat in the bedroom with me and read chapters. And then when a note needs to be written, they have captured it.

Sickness is everywhere, at home and abroad. But when it strikes, you can still, sometimes, get some good things done.

Though apparently not blogging. Yeah, sorry again.