Not living in Florida or on Caribbean ocean, this year’s hurricane season is not too strenuous - other than to produce a lot of intermittent showers and continuous overcast skies. Ivan is pushing all weather systems in SE US ahead of him and instead of them moving in their more usual W-E pattern, they are all moving NE - which means here in the First State we are getting all of the rain. Memories of Isobel are still pretty fresh, so compared to the photos of my friend in Tampa Florida area, there is a lot to be thankful for, even though I used my old umbrella so much it has broken.

I am in a mental funk as I have been sunk into a low barometric period of my health - and although not as constant as before, it is still frustrating. My husband’s return gift from his mini-vacation in Arizona was a wicked flu. I seemed to be doing OK until Saturday around 1 pm. Then it all hit me and I was laid pretty low for a few days. The hard part was missing all that I had planned, my trip to NYC to see Tribute in Light on 9/11 anniversary, the celebration party for my sister , and my dance performance. I have performed as a dancer through a lot of aches, and pains with the help of liniment, NSAIDS, and acupressure. I have sung with pneumonia -it is a lower chest ailment which at the time seemed not to affect the upper respiratory & vocal area too much. However, it is near impossible to dance with a flu that has involved the ears - if the room seems to be spinning when you are not moving, it is a sign that it time to sit down.

I had only 2 class meetings on Monday for a total of 3.5 hours, so I struggled through the day without actually cancelling class, though I was far from tip-top.

Nothing that I have missed is too dreadful in the big picture, but I have spent so much of my life in previous years this way, I get absolutely depressed now when I do get sick. It is time to strategize to rebuilt my internal momentum.

I planted my own 9/11 tribute in light in my yard on saturday, when it became evident that travelling to NYC was not a wise decision. One difference between Newark, DE and Missoula MT - I don’t think anyone would have stolen the candles in Missoula, which happened here on Monday.