Yup it has arrived at Project 851 “THE VID” has dared to cross the threshold of our compound. How did it arrive you ask? Hmmmm, well let’s just say Dinka was the Covid container that shared the love to me; even though I thought I could dodge that bullet. What was I thinking?

I left her alone for one Saturday afternoon as I jaunted off to art gallery openings and what does she do? She goes out and scores “THE VID”. Thought it appeared to be just a cold on Sunday / Monday when she said hmmmm I’m not feeling so good. As any good daughter, I reprimanded her for going out not dressed warmly enough so as to get a cold. She responded with “oh, maybe I have Covid and now will die”. “Sure Mom, no exaggeration there! You’ve just got a cold”. Then Tuesday night she says “oh now I have a headache”. “Oh shit,” I thought now I’m going to have to break into that rapid test kit box. Wednesday morning we did the test and yup, yup, yup hmmmmmm two lines = positive shows up. Next steps were “oh my god, stay away from me” a line to be repeated for 4 more days.

Why 4 more days? That’s how long it took for me to test positive as well. Ites, the bullet hit me right in the throat. Now we travel down the rabbit hole of symptoms. Mom’s were different than mine and from exposure to finally testing negative again it was 2 weeks. She got the cough, the headache, the body aches, the sniffles, drippy nose, fatigue and dove into the sleep zone. Treatment plan for her was neo citran and tea along with cough syrup. Like the wild cat she is it was very difficult to maintain order in herding her and hence how the bullet hit me. My cries of “get away from me” while serving her meals and or setting up her Netfilx fell on deaf ears, even though she has hearing aids.

When I retraced her steps trying to figure out how this happened the closest I could come up with was a sneaking suspicion that some young construction worker she hung out with gave it to her accidentally. Dollars to doughnuts she was chatting him up and they just weren’t far enough apart. Distance, distance distance people!!! Mask no mask just stay away from me is my new mantra. It was a good thing I was negative for those 4 days as I was able to get the extra free kits, stock up on food and organize things before it became a complete lock down.

I was thinking I was sooooooo smart until Saturday night when the bullet hit! It lodged into my throat and bloomed into what felt like a razor blade in my esophagus. Oh my, this feels not so good. Sunday morning double trouble registers on the rapid test. Ites, full lockdown. Thanks Mom. She was so happy to have company. I then took advantage and went into a coma for 4 days; neo citran and sleep came so easy to me. Triple vaxed, like Mom, I made note of what felt like a body inventory going on as all unwelcome cels were attacked. It wasn’t too bad, truth be told. Sneezing was more my main reaction and hence blowing it out of the system through the nose. If I had any body aches, headaches and or other problems I wouldn’t know as I slept right through it all.

The coma days as I call them were actually quite enjoyable. When you’re lucky enough to see your home as your castle it provides great opportunity to enjoy the simple things. Looking out the window. Grateful you’re inside while the rain comes down. Appreciating the garden views, looking at your art, savouring cooking time and just chatting from a distance with the Covid container who contaminated you — just to name a few.

As true Balkans we did not loose any sense of taste or smell; not that either of us couldn’t afford to drop a few (or more than a few) pounds. The best part was the access to survival that came so easily. Two friends came by with soup; one chicken, one “love” soup. As always this hood is fantastic as Union Market was there to the rescue delivering what we needed at a moments notice. My recuperation was quicker than Mom’s thankfully as someone had to make sure she not using her new superhuman situation for anything too troublesome.

As we’ve learned over the years Balkans don’t die easily we have to be killed. Our Balkan shields protected us and ‘THE VID” didn’t stand a chance on this compound.