I have just recovered from flu, which then morphed into a chest infection. It was soul destroying and went on for so long, that at one point I doubted whether I had flu, and thought perhaps that I was inflicted with something more sinister. I've never had real flu before. The thing about flu is that the body and soul is ravaged from all angles. Nothing is left unturned. I was racked with pain and negativity and at moments vaguely high on Syndol painkillers. For the first couple of days I couldn't speak. For the whole ten days I coughed all the time, and woke up with each morning with the mother of all headaches. The worst part was that I was in a foul mood and when I wasn't being foul I was depressed. It was like having severe pmt for 10 days. Can you imagine having to live with someone like that?
It is ironic that I should get so ill, as I no longer smoke and have given up drinking for lent. In fact I have never been so healthy. Now that I have recovered, (well I still have the cough) I am literally so grateful to be alive and not suffering from some terminal illness that I could almost leap through the fields with the new lambs.
On Monday the 23rd I staggered out of my sick bed to join my group of climate activist mothers - WeCan (www.wecan.uk.com). We gathered on St Stephens Green opposite the House of Parliament. Colin Challen MP, Zac Goldsmith, and spokespeople from the Age of Stupid and the UK Youth Climate Coalition - all gave speeches while the children dressed as polar bears and other endangered animals cheered. A whole gang of children from the village of Sipson (which will be wiped out if the third runway at Heathrow goes ahead) came with their mothers. One clever little girl asked me why no one was dressed as a bee and she has a point. Despite the cold we had a great time, face painting and colouring in postcards to deliver to MPS. One Mum I spoke to said living in Sipson was like being in a twilight zone, you don't know whether you will be able to keep your house, your garden, your community. She said her friend couldn't get a new mortgage because of the uncertainty. And the local primary school is apparently outstanding. What a scandal. Professor James Hansen, the director of Nasa's Godard Institute for Space Studies and the world's leading climatologist announced in January that we have four years in which to take urgent action before climate change passes the tipping point and spirals out of control. Think about this. Think hard before it is too late.
This post was written by Kate Morris who lives in West London with two children, Jude 7 and Belle 4 and her husband, Luke, a photographer. She has published one novel and a second, The Seven Year Itch, will be published in Spring 2009. She is currently just starting work on a third novel. Kate blogs at the Easy Living Blog and is know as "The City Wife".
Photo credit: tomscott
Gosh, sometimes all you want to do is snuggle up in a comfy duvet, don't you? That picture of the duvet surely gets that idea of taking care of yourself by getting some good sleep and recuperation...
Posted by: deborah | 10 September 2009 at 02:53 PM