ROUND TWO, RED HOTS + RESERVATION DOGS
Round Two of Covid, The Super Powers of The Original Red Hots, Standing Rock Meets Reservation Dogs, What I Watched/What I Slept To, and More...
Hi, Y’all:
I had planned to write Part Three of my Living School Symposium experience but I have been sick with “the Covid” for the last week and I would not do it justice.
My husband Ron likes to put the word “the” in front of nouns, like when he says, “the Walmart” or “the Covid” because he knows it makes me laugh, and it’s kind of a nod to our southern roots. You don’t just have Covid, you have The Covid.
Ron and I both got The Covid for the first time in 2020 and have managed not to get it again until now.
So this week’s newsletter might be, ok, will be, a hodgepodge of random thoughts written to you from the comfort of my (thankfully) cozy bed. The three pups are keeping me company and have each chosen to anchor themselves to a corner of the bed as if it might somehow float off without them being there. Imagine them nodding along in agreement like those bobbing-head toys on the dashboards of 1950’s cars, but nodding off is more accurate. They sleep more than I do these days.
So let me catch you up.
Before The Covid, and just after I’d returned from Albuquerque + The Living School, our youngest daughter Aiyana came up from Austin to spend a week with us. She did NOT bring us the Covid. We went on hikes, paddle-boarded on Horsetooth Reservoir, wandered Boulder and Estes Park, and had a wonderful family time together. She created a cozy-vibe youtube video of her time with us if you’d like to see it for yourself HERE or click below. She did a great job capturing the sweetness of our adventures.
While Aiyana was here, we also had a visit from some dear friends who stayed with us for one night. That night, Will, the son of our friends Mary and John, didn’t feel well. While we do not hold this against him, ( we don’t Will, we really don’t) he was indeed the one who brought us the Covid. A few days later Mary texted with the news that he had tested positive and shortly thereafter, we all ( Mary, Ron, and then me) started dropping like dominos. Ron and I were in Breckenridge on a little getaway when Ron started feeling puny. He had a fever and chills that evening, tested negative that night but then positive in the morning, and we turned around and headed home.
We called our doctors and got on the new oral antiviral drug, Paxlovid, which is supposed to help reduce the symptoms and duration of Covid. Have you heard of Paxlovid? The Paxlovid? Sweet baby Jesu’.
It was a miserable three-day experience for me on that drug. Paxlovid began to form a nonstop -bitter -metallic-soapy-sickly-sweet taste that was relentless. I’m not the only one…check this article in the Atlantic.
It doesn’t go away. With every breath, every swallow, there it is. You cant get rid of it. I tried brushing my tongue. Multiple times. Nope. It gets in your system and it builds with each dose. Your pores ooze Paxlovid. I should write a haiku… ok… wait….
You promised relief
instead you brought wretchedness
Paxlovid, you pill!
Ha! A terrible haiku for an equally terrible side effect.
Before someone comments that I will scare people away from taking Paxlovid, remember that Ron took it with zero issues. It can help reduce the effects of Covid, and maybe like Ron, you won’t have any issues. But if you’re like me and have this kind of reaction to it, be forewarned. And stock up on Red Hots.
SWEET RELIEF
By my third dose of the stuff, I was wrung out and weepy. Ron did some online research and discovered that one woman said that the only way she could get through the 5-day/2 dose a day regimen was by eating Red Hots, the OG cinnamon candy because it masked the taste.
So, Ron made a run to THE Walmart for THE Red Hots.
RON’ S WORLD:
You should know this about Ron. If I ask for one thing from the store, he comes home with 5 variations on a theme. (Anyone else?) So let’s say I ask for some Ramen soup. He’ll come home with five different brands of Ramen. So Ron walked in with two large boxes of Red Hots, Trident Cinnamon gum, Icebreaker’s cinnamon gum, and some Delsym cough syrup I had also requested. Ron’s World often works in my favor.
The Red Hots immediately helped and I felt ( and tasted) sweet relief. And hey, I thought to myself, there are 250 red hots in a box, I’ve got two boxes of these bad boys, maybe I can do this! Maybe I can survive the final days of Paxlovid. But let me tell you, every time I took even a minute or two off from my Red Hot Regimen, there it was, that sickly sweet taste and impending nausea. After six hours of non-stop red hots, cinnamon gum, and hourly applications of peppermint oil for nausea, I couldn’t do it any longer. I called my doctor’s office.
While I waited, I whined to my friend, Darla.
I was DONE. Just like the contestants on the show, who had reached their breaking point, I picked up the phone and said,
“I AM OFFICIALLY TAPPING OUT.”
The doctor confirmed that I could stop taking the meds. The heavens opened, the choirs sang, and I pitched the Paxlovid.
(Listen, I know many, many people are dealing with much worse illnesses for far longer, I’m just venting for a minute here, ok? ) As of this writing, I am getting stronger daily, and this week’s newsletter has helped me to process it all, so I’m good. Thank you for hanging here with me!
ENOUGH OF THAT, IN OTHER NEWS…
Right before I got the you-know-what, I held my monthly Live Circle gathering with the beautiful women in my writing program, Project 444.
It’s hard to believe that we are halfway through this 4 -month program guiding them in writing their narratives and spiritual memoirs in the community. What an honor it continues to be to bear to witness to their stories. I’m seriously considering sharing this program again in the winter. Reach out if you’d like to be on the waiting list. I think the winter months might be the ideal time for this program, don’t you?
And the day before, Ron and I had a great day exploring Breckinridge!
We stayed at a cute little boutique hotel that was comfy-cozy and just a block or so from town. Several trails opened up behind the hotel, we enjoyed the hot tub nestled amongst the mountain flowers and I felt the most relaxed I have felt all summer. Even though our trip was cut short, it was just what I needed for one long, glorious day.
A FEW SHOWS WORTH SHARING:
FAV NEW SERIES: RESERVATION DOGS, Season 1-2. National Public Radio dubs the series “one of the most original shows on television” in this review. “ Reservation Dogs evokes a culture in which age-old tribal curses exist alongside discussions of gender pronouns, and the legacy of Crazy Horse sits side-by-side with hip-hop and references to Star Wars. The show is wised up enough to laugh at classic tropes, like the stoic and taciturn Indian, and to make light of the notion of spirit guides. Yet these are jokes from the inside. Even as the show has fun with Native American tradition, it finds a way of doing it honor, as in this season's beautiful episode when everyone comes together in a death watch for Elora's grandmother.” - NPR
One personal highlight for me was watching the work of comedian Dallas Goldtooth whom I worked alongside during the Standing Rock movement in 2016. He is not only a fantastic comedian but a globally recognized activist and founder of the Indigenous Environmental Network.
FAV NEW TO ME FILM: AND BREATHE NORMALLY. Set in Iceland, it is a story of two women whose lives intersect unexpectedly. Won best directing at Sundance in 2018. Quiet and Powerful. Adored. Writer/Director: Isold Uggadottir
UNCOUPLED with Neil Patrick Harris. He is such a solid comedian and actor and always brings it home. Lots of great characters in this one as well.
ALONE, Season 8. Not a show I would normally gravitate toward but which I enjoyed immensely. It leads contestants into the heart of what matters most to them.
BELFAST - Kevin Branagh’s beautiful memoir of his childhood in Belfast. Gorgeous. Moving. Highly recommend.
THE SANDMAN is a bit gruesome at times but an engaging story.
Need to fall asleep? VIRGIN RIVER is equal parts conversation and cliche. If you fall asleep, you can pick right up again later and not miss much.
I also revisited a few comfort films I hadn’t seen in years: My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Working Girl, and A League Of Their Own.
And lastly, yesterday I read the sad news of Frederick Buechner’s passing.
"Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is. In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace." ~ Frederick Buechner, Now and Then: A Memoir of Vocation
Rest in Peace, Frederick Buechner. Heartbroken but profoundly grateful for your life and work. Thank you.
And remember:
Take good care of yourself, friends. See you next week. Hoping you steer clear of The Covid. Hoping I’ll be back to my old self next week.
The moral of the story? Never discount the power of a tiny Red Hot.
BE the Red Hot, people.
xoxo Mary
I laughed at that text just as much this time! And of course I loved the Haiku : )
I hope you're feeling better! I love Reservation Dogs too, it's so good! So cool that you met Dallas Goldtooth at Standing Rock. My go-to when I don't feel good is Downton Abbey, it's very soothing.