getting over.

Ugh.

That pretty much sums up my feelings on the passage of time between the middle of last week and the tail end of this one.  A sickness of some sort that had trickled down from Piper Bea through Lindsay and into me laid waste to my energy and enthusiasm for doing much of anything, be that going to work, sneaking in a run or simply remaining awake.  Grieving the death of my grandfather, juggling work demands and managing to shovel out a driveway that I've firmly decided is too long made things that much heavier.

Lily diligently prompted me each morning with a "better today, Dad?" and was repeatedly disappointed by my listless responses or grunts of negativity.  She did her best to remain positive, offering me this hope to cling to:

"Maybe by Summer you'll be better."

Oh, how I hoped I could beat that prediction.

The work week drew to a close without my having managed even a single run.  After punching the clock and before heading home, I found myself with a short window of time to see what my legs could muster.  In the first mile I lived with dread over what may have become of my cardio in the last 10 days, but after a few minutes I realized that little lasting harm had been done. 

Relieved, I picked up the pace slightly to see if I had any kick at all.  I didn't have much, but things could have been far worse.  I settled into a comfortable pace and marveled at the beauty of darkness stacked upon the shimmer of snow-blanketed farmland.  Periodic black ice demanded my attention, but otherwise my mind was free to wander and feel thankful for the blessing of relative good health that may not be strong enough to fend off every virus but at least allows me to recuperate fairly quickly afterwards.

I eked out 5 miles in just over 40 minutes which mattered only in that it meant I'd still be punctual for the Ethiopian meal that Lindsay had promised to pick up.  I arrived home just moments after the food did.

Lily was quite pleased to find that I'd snapped out of my lethargy and Piper was excited to see Lily excited.  We decided to mark the occasion by taking photos of us taking photos of each other.

Mom and Pipe had a look at Lil's photographic evidence...

...that Dad was no longer in a prone position.

I feel certain that even better days are ahead even though Summer is still a long way off.