A TASTELESS BLOG
by Warren Bull
My last blog tells more abut pneumonia http://writerswhokill.blogspot.com/2015/09/pneumonia.html
My last blog tells more abut pneumonia http://writerswhokill.blogspot.com/2015/09/pneumonia.html
When I was told I had
pneumonia I expected coughing, loss of energy and weakness. Climbing one flight of stairs has me coughing
so much I can hardly breathe. I would be no match for a newborn kitten in a
wrestling match. For a more detailed description go to
One of the things I did not know
about pneumonia until I got it is that it would wipe out my sense of
taste. I think my sense of smell
is gone too. I can tell when a
condiment like cinnamon has been added to food but I can’t taste it. I ate a cookie. I could feel the
texture of the dough and the chocolate chips but I tasted nothing. Even chocolate, one of my many
weaknesses, did not have a flavor although I had a brief sensation sort of like
taste.
How odd it is to be able to tell
temperature and texture without taste.
I had a steak. It felt
chewy, not in a bad way. But there
was no payoff at the end of chewing.
Crackers are crunchy. Ice
cream is soft and cool.
So much hospitality and fellowship happens over meals. They provide an opportunity for conversation
and interaction. Often the content
of the conversations are less important than the experience of
communicating. If eating was no
more than refueling when food and drink are needed, when could we share our
sense of belonging and acceptance or separateness and disapproval? What sort of social lubrication could
replace meals? We admit our needs,
meet them together and feel better at the finish than we started. Maybe we could sleep in a pile like
puppies and baby alligators but there would be little chance for extended
communication.
What better time than after the
evening meal is there for telling our young about the flying feathered serpent
or the hero twins? When could we
talk about the Mastodon that got away?
So please, savor your food and drink. Have a chew for me while you’re at it.
Oh Warren, I am so sorry. How awful. I hope you come to your senses soon! Taste and smell are so closely intertwined that it must be hard to do without one, or the other, but both. Yikes! On the flip side, when your senses do return, things will be headier because of the contrast. Best wishes. Speedy recovery.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kait, I'm on the road to recovery.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you are getting better, Warren. It's difficult to imagine a world without taste and smell. I've never lost those senses but I became color blind for about a year when I was in my mid-20s. It was exciting as color gradually returned to my life. Wishing you a quickrecovery!
ReplyDeleteWarren, I hope your taste buds soon wake up so you can savor your food. I hope each day
ReplyDeletebrings a little more ability to taste your food.
I am glad that you are feeling better, Warren. It will probably be a delightful experience as your senses come back and you get reacquainted with things like chocolate, vanilla, peppermint….
ReplyDeleteHope you're feeling better! We really don't appreciate our senses until we don't have them. And then it's often a bit late.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't aware pneumonia stole these senses. Hope you get them back soon. Not being able to taste food is definitely a disability. My paternal grandfather had no sense of taste. My grandmother, in futile hope of countering the problem, over-salted food. It didn't help him and kept others from their table until she agreed to restrict the seasoning to his plate.
ReplyDelete