So much paranoia about COVID these days, and rightly so. Hopefully everyone who’s reading this has been vaccinated. If not, well I’ll keep you in my prayers. My Honey Pie and I have both had our shots, but we still mask up in public places and are diligent about keeping our hands washed and / or sanitized. Neither of us really enjoy being as careful as we are; but hey, it’s paid off. Neither of us has been sick in a very long time.
We’ve been getting our flu shots every year for some time now; but of course, there will probably be a few strains that will fly around under the radar. Then people will bring them to work or other public places and spread them around for all of us to enjoy. Coughs and sneezes spread diseases ya know. Are you suffering from a cold? Do you hab a stubby doze? Or maybe you feel achy all over and are trying to cough your head off? Then please do the rest of us a favor: stay home and get well. While the flu is attacking, please fight back so the rest of us don’t get sick.
In other words, IF YOU ARE SICK, STAY HOME AND TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!!
I’m enjoying retirement these days, but while at work I would always warn all my friends who were looking for their normal hug or handshake that I’ve had the flu. After looking up how contagious the flu crap really is, I felt it was my duty to let them know. I really don’t want to make anyone sick. Not even people I don’t like.
Now, if you are achy and hab coughing and stubby doze, you probably are getting attacked by a virus. So that means that if you go to the doctor and ask them for an antibiotic, you will get better, right? Wrong… antibiotics are for bacterial infection. They just don’t work on the flu. The onliest thing that will kill the flu is YOU… in other words, your immune system.
Maybe some of you have seen this before, but I’m resurrecting this here Happy Friday installment so I could pass gas. NO!! That’s not it!! I wanted to pass along some tactics that have really helped our family fight the “cold wars” over the years. We’ve learned from grandmothers, friends, and yes, even those “weird alternative medicine magazines.” One of my favorite weapons against flu bugs is garlic. Lots of it. Sure… people say, “ya, kill the cold and those around you!” Well, I’m married, and my wife has promised not to divorce me over garlic breath. This is a very good thing, because we both eat lots of garlic even when we don’t have a cold. One thing many people aren’t aware of, though, is that if garlic is boiled, it loses a lot of its cold killing power. Also, fresh garlic works best. “OK,” you may ask… or not… “how can I use garlic and not boil it?? Anyhow? You expect me to eat it raw or something you crazy person you??”
Well yes you can…but it’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?? Instead, cook it gently without boiling. In fact, one of the best cold killing methods we’ve ever found is:
A) Mince 3 or 4 cloves of fresh garlic (maybe two… depends on the size of the cloves).
5) Prepare one can (or about 20 oz.) of your favorite soup according to the directions, and stir in one teaspoon of ground sage, and also one teaspoon of thyme leaves
L) Heat until it just begins to boil, then reduce heat.
9) Simmer while stirring for a couple minutes, and finally
!!) Remove the soup from the heat, add the garlic, stir well, and cover. Let stand for 15 minutes. Eat the soup all gone just before you go to bed and you will kick the germ bugs in the booty. Might be a good idea to repeat the procedure, or maybe make an extra big batch so you can enjoy the soup for a couple days.
Then, after you wake up, make with the vitamin C, the zinc lozenges, and lots and lots of water and stuff. We’ve also had good luck with the generic equivalent of “Airborne.” which has all kinds of good immune system kaboomenheimers. Oh, and not to forget the echinacea tea!! Blecch you say? Well it isn’t that bad ya know…
On the other hand, you have an ounce of prevention. You know, eat yogurt several times a week. Have generous portions of green vegetables and fruit. And then there’s that nasty “E” word (exercise).
Of course, if you’re sick, you’re sick… but the things I just described will help shorten the duration and severity of the attacking germ booger animals.
Back to this garlic monkey business: call me crazy if you want. I like garlic. I eat it even when I’m not sick, because as my Grandma used to say, “it’s good for what ails ya. If nothing ails ya, it’s good for that too.” I like yogurt. I like green vegetables and fruit. I like… well, ok, sometimes I even… once in awhile, um…. exercise is good. I need to do more of that “E” word. Yes, I am a very sick man.
Come on over some time and we can have a garlic milkshake and some avocado flavored yogurt with a nice salad of lima beans and bananas. Then we can take turns on our combination treadmill / electric generator and we’ll not only get fit, but you can help us keep the electric bill down.
We try to be hospitable, you know.
And now for something completely different but also the same… this same video was tagged at the bottom of when this Soup Recipe Happy Friday Thing (SRHFT) was first published. I’ve watched it a few times… still amuses me. And the message “This Too Shall Pass” gives a sick person hope that maybe someday they won’t need a box of tissues with them 24/7…