Today marks the fifth full day since I tested positive for Covid. I’ve actually felt pretty good the past few days. My wife tested positive a couple of days ago and since I’m further along with the virus, I’ve had to step up and walk our beagle, keep the household running, and take care of her. She (and Amstel) did a great job of nursing me on my worst days. As luck would have it the Twin Cities got struck by one of the biggest snowstorms we’ve seen in years the past couple of days (as the pictures below will attest to).
It’s been an interesting journey so far. My energy levels are great during the day, stamina not so much. When the sun goes down the symptoms intensify fivefold. This is definitely like no other illness I’ve ever had. Certainly, very odd symptoms, like intense stabbing pains that appear in various places throughout the body (then go as quickly as they come) make you really wonder about the origins of this virus.
Another weird thing, I’m craving sweets! For my entire life, I’ve always been partial to savory foods and never craved sweets. These past few days it’s taken willpower not to shovel fistfulls of Christmas cookies into my mouth. This makes me wonder if the virus has altered my blood sugar.
I saved the most bizarre thing for last, for whatever reason I’ve also noticed that colors seem much more vibrant. I’ve never heard of this symptom from anyone else but I’m certain colors are popping like they didn’t before. It's actually quite cool and hope it continues after I recover. I’ve heard of psychedelics having this effect but never a virus. Aside from those oddities Covid, for me, has been a very similar experience to a mid-level influenza.
I got out into the world for the first time today (masked up in public, of course) – charging the car and picking up a grocery order we placed online. After so many days of isolation this one hour away and to actually being able to drive my car felt like a vacation, that’s no exaggeration.
I’ll be testing again on Saturday, hopefully I’ll be negative by then, my wife will be negative within the next few days and normal life will resume. Until then I’ll be taking baby steps back to my normal routine. Tonight, I'm going to try a little cardio and half of my normal kettlebell exercise routine and we'll see how that sits.
More than anything, the things this virus has taken from me these past few days have made me appreciate my health, freedom, and blessings all the more. I'm an extremely lucky man.
By all means, take any precaution you can to avoid catching this virus, despite what you might hear it's no joke.
Attached below are a few photos from our recent “Snowpocalypse”.
All for now. Trust your instincts, invest in you, live boldly, and take chances.
~Eric Vance Walton~
(Gifs sourced from Giphy.com. Photos are original.)
Poetry should move us, it should change us, it should glitch our brains, shift our moods to another frequency. Poetry should evoke feelings of melancholy, whimsy, it should remind us what it feels like to be in love, or cause us to think about something in a completely different way. I view poetry, and all art really, as a temporary and fragile bridge between our world and a more pure and refined one. This is a world we could bring into creation if enough of us believed in it. This book is ephemera, destined to end up forgotten, lingering on some dusty shelf or tucked away in a dark attic. Yet the words, they will live on in memory. I hope these words become a part of you, bubble up into your memory when you least expect them to and make you feel a little more alive.
Pick up a copy of Ephemera today on Amazon.
Most of us have experienced a moment of perfect peace at least once in our lives. In these moments we lose ourselves and feel connected to everything. I call these mindful moments. Words can’t describe how complete they make us feel.
These moments are usually fragile, evaporating in seconds. What if there was a way to train your mind to experience more of them? It’s deceptively easy and requires nothing more than a subtle shift in mindset. My new book, Mindful Moments, will teach you to be much more content despite the chaos and imperfect circumstances continuing to unfold around you. Upgrade your life experience today for only $15.99 on Amazon.com.
