Oh yes.

As I mentioned in my January 52 Frames post, I finally caught that dastardly coronavirus.

Fortunately, it was a mild case of the Omicron variant, and with time and social distancing, I recovered quite quickly. I am very grateful to have been vaccinated and boosted, which I believe helped my symptoms be as mild as they were.

One of the questions I got asked a fair amount was, “where did you catch it?” Given the nature of the ultra-contagious virus that may or may not show its symptoms for days… who’s to say?

My best guess is a coffee shop in Tilamook, Oregon, where I may have sipped a beverage whilst admiring a blackboard, home to cafe goers’ communal musings.

The topic: your New Year’s Resolution.

The answers: generally a range from “put myself out there more,” “support indigenous/black/trans voices,” and “more Jesus.”

Mine was probably, “to continue being COVID free,” but alas…

I returned from Oregon, a bit tired from the drive and decided to have a lazy day, and avoid going out or seeing people face-to-face. I lounged around, and shortly started feeling more and more under the weather.

The following day, I felt some aches and chills, but no fever. I kept feeling like I had one, though, so I’d pull out the old electric thermometer, and go, hmmm.. normal.

I developed a wicked sore throat, and I started to feel a fair bit fatigued.

My first self-test was negative, but it was most certainly either a false negative or the result of user error. (Some users may be more initially reticent to stick a swab an inch up their own nostrils than others.)

I had the tell-tale Omicron symptoms and I was not leaving my apartment…

As the week wore on, I felt a bit of what I assume is “brain fog.” I had no desire to think. I had no desire to do anything.

I felt like I would be content to stare at a wall, my mind empty. People meditate to reach this state, but all I had to do was grab a disease. Of course, given that I was busy battling a disease, I wasn’t really able to appreciate the stillness in my mind, no longer brimming with racing thoughts.

I did a mix of work and time off. When I wasn’t staring at walls or computer code, I was watching a fair number of episodes of the second season of Twin Peaks. I think I watched all of the ones that Tim Brayton gave a C to.

I don’t typically binge watch, and I certainly didn’t watch all of these episodes back-to-back. So, it’s kind of funny that I most quickly and eagerly watched… all the episodes after the show’s main driving plot point is revealed and nothing seems to have any momentum anymore.

After that, I was a BIT more eager to do some work, though I was still low-energy.

I spent part of one Saturday or Sunday disassembling my Nintendo Gamecube and replacing the optical disk drive. It was basically just some unscrewing and re-screwing, but it took all my energy for the day.

Gradually, gradually, I came back. I started feeling quite a lot more energy, and then I knew I had mostly recovered.

I did not lose my sense of taste or smell, and to my knowledge I do not have any lasting side effects.

It sucks that I caught the virus despite avoiding people to the best of my ability. It sucks that I spent nearly two weeks inside my own apartment.

What doesn’t suck is that I avoided passing it along to my friends. If my masks worked, and if my effort worked, I should have avoided passing it along to any strangers too.

That I had a mild case. And that two friends of mine were kind enough to drop some stuff by my door, with nary an ask from me was such a blessing.

These days, they say that Omicron is receding.

New York is planning to open indoor dining and such again. Vaccine checks and mask mandates are set to expire all over the US.

I hope that they are right.