Listening

I was supposed to be returning today from a short trip to Oklahoma City.

Instead I am at home, listening to my body say ‘slow down.’

The phenomenon is well-documented: right after a particularly challenging, stress-laden week or month, you get sick.

Well, I ended my time as university administrator with increasing back pain, and a few days later an onset of seasonal allergies that has now devolved to too much coughing and too little expectorating.

And the back pain has progressed to back spasms.

So I’m on muscle relaxers, and as a dear friend wrote the other day, YES to relaxers and to relaxing.

I’ve spent the weekend laying low, walking with a cane because it helps steady me, praying that the rain that is forecast for the next few days will wash the air even as it brings humidity, and generally decompressing.

Funny enough, I had filled my first of eight weeks of summer holiday with loads of activity!

So I have missed my wonderful Sydney Jones in her big professional debut in OKC, and I’ve missed some tourist time, and I’ve missed spending some time with a beloved second family of choice. But I’ve also avoided 7+ hours in a Southwest Airlines aluminum tube, and the unpredictability of what might set allergies off even more in Oklahoma.

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And life is abrupt and full of reversals. Perhaps this interrupted weekend will lead to a healthier summer?

Here’s a photo of what I would have seen, with Sydney in the role of Sandy in Grease at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma:

And as it turns out, the Saturday performances of Grease were canceled by the theatre because of threats of rain at the outdoor venue. I made the right call in listening to that little inner voice.