la gastro

i’ve spent the last few days on my back. there are actually lots of fun ways to spend time on your back, but being flattened by gastro-enteritis is not one of them. here in france they just call it “la gastro,” and when you say it, everyone knows exactly what you mean, and what you are going through, or have gone through. it’s just sort of a wasting stomach flu, with stomach pain, nausea, chills and sweats, lots of trips to the bathroom, and aches of body, head, and soul. i am on a cocktail of medications from the local pharmacy that have managed to pull me out of yesterday’s hopeless despair, and though I wouldn’t say I’m on the mend exactly, today it did not get worse, which feels like a step toward recovery. See you tomorrow (I hope).

winter wildflower stems