Quarantine Day 15: Hours in a Coffee Shop

Since I was a kid I've had a pretty good track record of remembering my dreams. So much so that in my teens, I started to dream stories. I'd go to bed each night remembering where I left off then drift to sleep with the hopes of continuing the story. The stories run the gamut of topics - as a kid they were Star Wars inspired. I've had a lot of historic dreams, since my historic sweet spots are Plantagenet/Tudor England and Revolutionary America.

Over the last year, it has been a modern-day Italian-inspired town. This one started with a dream about a building and detailed island location (this happened before with a detailed, long-lasting story too). But since I've been quarantined, I haven't been able to move the story forward. My main character has been stuck in a packed coffee shop, enjoying a morning pick-me-up with a table strewn with paperwork and a cell phone. Every night as I sleep,  there she sits. Sun shining through the windows.

Maybe its the comfort of the booth she sits in. Maybe it represents some sort of calm space, although the papers in front of her belie that feeling. She seems to be searching for something but also feels purpose and a sense of peace about the search.

I'm taking it as a sign that this is how I should feel. Earlier this week, as tree pollen amped up with Elm and Maple blooming (my worst tree enemies) and the addition of mold, which causes major issues for me each fall, I've felt under the weather. My asthma has kicked up which means a cough and lungs feeling tight. My throat has been dry and I actually sneezed twice this week (I don't ever sneeze, which I know seems weird for someone with severe allergies but my allergies manifest in itchy eyes and immediate sinus infections rather than a sneeze reaction). I'm also allergic to weather. Yeah, it's a thing. It is called a leukotriene reaction and your body can produce an allergic response when the temps vary wildly or pressure changes occur.

When you live with chronic illness, you know your body really, really well. I'm 80% confident that all I'm battling is weather, allergies and asthma. But with the unknowns of covid-19, and the fact that symptoms are so stinking the same, I worry.

I've stopped watching the news except 1-2 half hours each day. I've stayed off social media more, except to participate in the Turn: Washington Spies watch party which wrapped up a review of Season 1 tonight. I've nearly completed a puzzle. And I've upped my Vitamin D and am using my inhalers (yes, plural) on a regular schedule so that I'm doing all I can to stay healthy.

I'm going to head to bed in a bit, and I'll see if my woman in the coffee shop does anything.