Lift Adventures

Dear Diary,

I'm still in the grip of the Cold, and reality still feels a bit blurry. 

Yesterday I might possibly have managed to pass the virus on to strangers myself. (Hopefully neither they nor I will ever know.) 

When stepping into the lift to go down to the laundry room in the basement, instead of taking me straight down there, the lift (very confusingly) took me UP to the 3rd floor - where I was joined by a youngish couple whom I can't recall ever having seen before. Presumably living here, though, as they weren't dressed to go outdoors. Their destination was the basement as well. (The ride down only takes half a minute, which did not really allow for more conversation than to establish that fact.) 

Down there, our ways parted. The couple disappeared down the corridor towards some storage space. I had the laundry room to myself; and over the next 2-3 hours also managed to go up/down in the lift on my own a few more times without interference... Until finally I was going back up with my last bag of dry clothes...

When the lift came down, and the door opened, it was empty of people - but its floor covered with Stuff. I could also hear voices from the entrance floor above. Obviously someone was in the process of moving things (perhaps also themselves?) either in or out of the building.

Not yet having walked the whole set of stairs up to my flat since before my knee accident, I really did not want my first attempt to be with the extra burden of a heavy bag - and who knows, maybe even encountering other people carrying things or furniture as well... 

On the other hand: Stepping into a lift half full of someone else's stuff didn't seem like a super idea either. So I didn't. But left the lift go back up without me.

There's a door to the stairwell next to the lift. I opened that; and caught sight of a couple of people handling more "stuff" up at the entrance. One of them was (I think) the same man who had been in the lift with me when I first went down. Luckily it seemed they were moving things out of the lift rather than into it. I called their attention; and soon the man said that the lift had been emptied now so that I could use it.

Looking out of my window when I got back up to my flat, there was no removal van parked outside, though. Only an ordinary car. Not having known for quite a while now who lives in one of the flats upstairs, I'm still not sure if anyone was really moving out (or in). Perhaps they were just having a bit of a clearout. 

It did strike me that it was the 31st of the month, though. So note to self for the future: Avoid booking laundry room on the last (or first) day (or weekend) of the month... 

Cold

 

The cold incubation period is the time from catching a cold virus to the first symptoms, typically 1 to 3 days, though it can range from 12 hours to a week. (Google AI)  

Yesterday, I started to feel like I had a cold coming on: I had a couple of violent sneeze attacks, and felt a bit congested and generally "weird". I dismissed the idea, though - because where (or who) on earth would I have caught it from?? I haven't been anywhere recently, nor had any vistitors. Could it perhaps be an allergic reaction rather than a cold? But since January has been such a chilly month here (temperatures below zero), that didn't make sense either. I know pollen can drift  with the winds from further south in Europe even before the season really starts here, but still... 

Today, no doubt any more: However I managed to catch it, it is definitely a cold. It's kept me in bed most of the day, half-slumbering to an audio book - and falling properly asleep for a couple of hours in the afternoon. (Just now trying to keep myself sitting upright at the computer for a while, though.) 

This is the extent of my off-line human interaction over the past week: 

Last Thursday I had groceries delievered. I went down to open the entrance door for the delivery girl (it was a young woman this time), and we rode up in the lift together. I live on the 2nd floor, so that only takes seconds. She then put the bags down in the hall just inside my front door and left. We exchanged one or two sentences, no more. She seemed healthy to me - and it also really seems a bit too long ago to be of relevance. 

On Saturday, I spoke to a neighbour in the basement corridor outside the laundry room (looking at the booking board). But we probably stood like two meters apart and only exchanged a few words. (She had booked the slot after me, and I told her that as it seemed like I'd able to start an hour early, she could count on doing the same. We did not meet again.) 

I have gone up and down in the lift a few more times during the past week, but then without meeting anyone. I can't think where else I might have come across some lingering virus though! (The laundry room, possibly - but it's rather "airy" down there, and I wear rubber gloves most of the time, and always start by wiping the surfaces...)

I can't actually recall when I last had a winter cold. Having had flu and covid shots every autumn has in later years seemed to protect me fairly well throughout the winters!

No doubt I'll survive this one too - it just still puzzles me when/where/how I picked it up!

The Grass Is Always Greener on the Other Side

 

"Suddenly I'm having a strange feeling of being watched..."

Looking out of my kitchen window in the middle of the day, I saw the two hares "from the cemetery" out on adventures in among our human habitations again. (More often I see them in the cemetery, which is why I think of them as living there.)

 

"The grass is always greener on the other side" originates from the ancient Roman poet Ovid (43 BC – 17 AD), who wrote in Ars Amatoria (1 BC), "Fertilior seges est alienis semper in agris"—meaning "the harvest is always more fruitful in another man's fields". It highlights the human tendency to envy others' situations, believing them to be better than one's own. 
(Google AI)  

Apparently this does not apply only to humans, but to other creatures as well! ;)

Step By Step

 

Today the clouds seemed less "compact" than they've been lately, and before lunch I decided to go for a short walk over to the old cemetery. Almost a week since last time, but the weather and snow conditions are still pretty much the same. The temperature has steadily kept below zero even in the daytime, and the nearby streets and the major cemetery paths are for the most part dry and clear of snow and ice.

In the cemetery, I practiced a bit of walking without actively using my walking pole with every step. (I.e. from time to time I just held it hovering a few cm above ground for a while, without setting it down - but ready to do so if needed.) I also made mental note that my knee still does not like the slightest downhill tilt - while slightly uphill doesn't seem to bother it as much. (Worth remembering when choosing where to walk...) 

 "Mirror, mirror on the wall..."
Mirror portrait from the lift back home 
- me dressed in full winter gear...

Packing Up Christmas

 

Bedroom - Kitchen - Living Room

It hit me this morning that a whole month has gone by since Christmas, and as I had no special plans for the day, and the Great Outdoors was not looking very inviting (just grey and cold), I decided that it might be a good day to say thanks and goodbye (for this season) to the electric candle holders and stars in my windows; and put my regular window lamps back up instead. This has always been a job that takes some time - and now at age 70, it seems to have expanded to fill "a whole day". (How on earth back in a distant past I ever managed a full time job + a fairly active social life besides all the to-do's at home has long seemed a mystery!) 

 

I'm keeping some red textiles (table runners etc) for a while longer (as it's still very much winter here); and ended up moving the big poinsettia from the living room window to the kitchen to match the red ribbons around the curtains, and kind of make up for the "loss" of the red wooden candle holder. In the living room I'm also keeping some battery candles, as it still gets dark early and the evenings are long. 

 

 

I asked Google for some quotes about "old age and time": 

 

"Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. 
If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." 
— Mark Twain 

 

 "It's important to have a twinkle in your wrinkle." 
— Unknown 

  

 "You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely." 
— Unknown

 

 "To me, old age is always 15 years older than I am." 
— Francis Bacon