Journal, Day 1497

Wednesday, 24 April 2024

Ukraine War: Day 792

Hamas-Israel War: Day 200

Mass shootings in the USA in 2024: 124

Covid day 14

This is getting comical. Every morning I wake up and do a mental inventory of the day’s fresh hell. Today it was outer ear pain, fleeting fevers, chest congestion with a deep cough, and a weird cramp in my left foot instep, of all places.

There’s a tiny mole right at the opening of my right nostril. If you didn’t know it was there, you’d never see it. It feels like it’s been sandblasted. It’s raw and tender and every time I have to blow my nose or stick a swab up there, it screams silently in agony.

Another positive test. This one was called an “IntelliSwab” and a package of two tests was sent to our home by the LA County health department. The swabs are stiff and flat and if you happen to catch the delicate interior of your sinus cavity with an edge, it feels like a paper cut inside your nose.

More importantly, today was Charlie’s second “Gotcha Day.” Two years ago today, we brought a little no-name, four-month-old baby green-cheeked conure home and he immediately wanted to cuddle and play on his back on the sofa with his feet curled around my thumb. He was silent and big-eyed with wonder at all of the new sights and sounds of his new family of humans and two rescued lovebirds.

It was love at first sight.