I have been in bed for the last two days with some kind of bronchitis; feeling alternately exhausted and self-pitying during coughing periods and bored and uncomfortable the rest of the time. My muscles ached so holding a Kindle was much kinder than holding a paperback [and you can wipe off the viruses with anti viral cleaner afterwards]. So when my brain was working I read China Mieville’s The City & The City. A clever and hallucinatory book, but sometimes my befuddled and beflu’ed brain just got me lost in between the twin cities Besźel and Ul Qoma. Then I gave up reading and did the thing that most of us can do even when befuddled. I went internet shopping.
I lay feeling weak and feeble and bad temperedly demanding attention, tea and ‘something nice to go with it’ from my partner. But in my head I imagined the super healthy me striding the Lake district on a Wainwright walk in a couple of weeks. So now I am expecting the delivery of a new pair of lined walking trousers, a new running vest and a special belt for my iPod and water [with whisky] bottle. Even bronchitis can’t keep me away from a bit of retail therapy
