After one week, gallons of Gatorade, and plenty of couch
time, I’m finally over the flu. This is the first year in ages that I didn’t
get my flu shot, so in addition to having to go through a week of illness I
also get to beat myself up for not getting vaccinated. What was I thinking?
Turns out I had Flu A, which is widespread in the US right
now. If you also have it, you have my condolences.
There are plenty of reasons to dislike the flu, but there is
one thing about the flu that I can honestly say I look forward to. Couch time.
Couch time – that time when you feel awful but are conscious
enough to enjoy a movie or television show – is the only good thing about having
the flu.
My illness coincided with Turner Classic Movies Thirty Days
of Oscar celebration. For the month of February, their programming has been
Oscar nominated films from A to Z, so I was able to watch some of my favorites (“The
Maltese Falcon”) and some films I’ve always wanted to watch (“The Quiet Man”)
and some I’d never heard of but decided looked interesting.
“The Razor’s Edge” starring Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney
was the latter. This 1946 film based on the blockbuster novel by W. Somerset
Maugham was gripping for several reasons, some unintentional. It was probably
the fever talking but some parts of this very serious film struck me as
hilarious.
The film follows an American pilot, Larry Darrell, who has
just returned from serving in World War I. His best friend sacrificed himself
so Larry could live, and Larry is overwhelmed by emotions he cannot put into
words. He turns down a lucrative job offer, pushes aside his fiancé, and
decides to travel.
Nowadays we would say that he goes to “find himself” but at
the time of the movie, that phrase didn’t exist. So Larry tells his gorgeous fiancé
that he is going “to loaf.” And those questions he has? The only place he
thinks he’ll find the answers is Paris.
“So you’re going to loaf in Paris?” the shocked fiancé says.
As far as I'm concerned, this is as good a life plan as you’re going to find.
So Larry goes to Paris and eventually finds himself on a
mountaintop in India with a holy man played by Cecil Humphreys. This is only
the midpoint of the film. In part two the unenlightened decisions of Larry’s
friends lead them to tragedy and unhappiness.
His impoverished childhood friend loses her husband and
child in a car crash and decides to move from Ohio to Paris to become a dance
hall floozie. Larry and Somerset Maugham (yes, he is a character in the film) both
just happen to be staying on the Riviera when this friend’s body washes up on
the beach.
Did Part Two really occur or was it the fever talking? You
decide.
How do you cope when you are ill?
I have a shelf of tattered yellowing paperbacks I re-read, and some more recent complete series (GM Malliet, Louise Penny, Deborah Crombie, Ann Cleeves, Julia Spencer-Fleming).
ReplyDeleteGlad you're feeling better!
People used to "Go to seek his (her) fortune" instead of "finding him (her) self," but I don't know if that was relative to someone whose intended purpose is to "loaf."
ReplyDeleteAfter I had a few procedures that left me off my feet for a while, I discovered that I can read my Kindle while lying flat on my back. That was a great discovery! While in general I prefer paper books, I can't manage them well when I'm lying on my back (I have limited use of one hand, and without something on which to prop a book, it keeps falling. But a Kindle I can handle with one hand.)
I've never been much of a TV or movie fan, and the TV is down in the family room, where I can't go if I can't do stairs, so I never really tried watching much.
I got the flu shot last year and this year, and I haven't gotten sick, at least not yet. I'm pretty much sold on getting those shots. About fifteen years ago, I was flatten by the flu in bed. By the end, I had read through the entire Cat Who series by Lillian Jackson Braun and about an inch taller.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry you've been ill, Shari. But it sounds like you made good use of your "couch" time. Your blog brought back memories of being bedridden, not with flu, but Norovirus, which I contracted on a ship. Fortunately, the ship had an excellent library, and I think I went through a good portion of their collection (both paper books and recorded books). When at home, if I have couch time, I go through my collection of favorites, sometime reading them for the third or fourth time. Good books are always worth rereading and become like old friends when you need them
ReplyDeleteThank you, Margaret! Revisiting favorite books is the only other upside of being sick.
ReplyDeleteKM, I may have to get that Kindle one of these days. It is hard to read on one's back.
EB, The Cat Who is one of my favorites. I only own two however, and made quick work of them. I'll have to check to see if I am taller!
Grace, Norovirus is awful! Did that happen on your big cruise? Being ill on a ship must be awful. I'm going to start keeping a shelf of "old friends" for when I need them.
Shari, I haven't had he flu in so many years that I can't remember when I had it. I did get something like it about five years ago when I was visiting my daughter, but it only lasted about 24 hours so I think it might have been something I ate. Yes, I do get the flu shot every year, but I also think I've built up a resistance to just about anything from teaching third grade for 20 years, and also because I don't have a germ phobia and need to use sanitary wipes all the time. Of course, now that I'm writing this, I may come down with something as soon as I log off. :-) I have to admit that I do have sinus problems that don't seem to go away, but it's nothing catching. The few times I've been laid up in the past with a broken toe or minor surgery on my knee, I read, read, read. I have to admit that I would enjoy watching old movies, though.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I'll let you know if I come down with a cold as I seem to be doing.
ReplyDeleteHi Gloria, I think teachers get to be immune to everything!
ReplyDeleteHi Warren, be sure you stock up on good reads or good movies before it hits you!