Why Colds Can Be Cool

You know how certain smells bring back memories?  I think the lack of smell can do the same.

I'm here to tell you that having a cold makes me feel more organized and puts me in a good mood.  Maybe during the peak of a cold this isn't true, but as it starts to taper off, I find that life is quite lovely.

As a child, my allergies were so bad that I basically had a constant cold or sinus infection.  I had to learn to function while sick and it just became a part of life.  I vividly remember a spring night when I walked outside to get something from our barn -- I breathed in the night air, and in that moment, my nose was clear enough that I could actually smell the air.  I hopped and jumped, it was so delightful to smell.  Most of the time, though, I had to take a "blowing my nose" break and just blow and blow until I could take in a few whiffs (pitiful and gross... sorry).  But this made smells that much more delightful, and the lack of smells that much more memorable.  Congestion slows you down -- it can make you think a little slower.  And somehow I function better when my brain isn't moving 100 miles an hour.  

I'm not the sick kid I once was, and colds have, thankfully, become a rarity.  But when one comes around and I have housework to do, dinner to make, and a baby to take care of, I somehow know exactly how to order my day.  Very little is stressful, and I move at my own pace.  And, to make it even better, a host of childhood memories floods my mind as I go about my daily tasks... my older sister suddenly becoming possessed, and running into our room to throw hangers at me for no reason; filling our tin bucket with water and lugging it to our play cabin; the feel of Skulpy clay as we form cinnamon rolls for our American girl dolls; baby Ethan staying the week with us, and having the time of my life; filling up my Baby Loves to Talk's empty battery box with rocks from our gravel road (so she could feel heavy and real, you know); the feel of my sister's and my matching flannel nightgowns; my pencil against loose leaf, lined paper and staring at a terrible math book; playing the Beauty and the Beast tape on repeat so my sister's and I could perfect our performance for my parents.  Jenny was Belle.  Sally was Gaston.  I was everyone else.  

So, here's to having a cold!  I might hold off on the vitamin C a few days.