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Veteran journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall riffs on life as she knows it.

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I’m Calling In Sick Today and Putting My Feet Up

October 7, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 9 Comments

I'm-calling-in-sick-today-and-putting-my-feet-up
I’m calling in sick today and putting my feet up. The Covid booster shot I got the other day has left me feeling blah. Photo and feet by Barbara Newhall

I’m calling in sick today. I’m not really sick, actually. I’ve just been a little under the weather from the Covid booster I got the other day. My brain has been fuzzed. So no post today.

But! I have to post something so the Search Engine Gods don’t frown down upon me: In determining which websites to send new readers to, they favor sites with regular posts, so in recent years I’ve given myself a weekly writing deadline of midnight Friday, come hell or high water.

It’s Friday now and I’m not up to the task. This photo of me with my feet up will have to do.

(Not to worry. My knees are creaky, but otherwise I’m in great health.)

Thanks for being there. See you next week.

More about the microbes that beset us, young and old, at “How the Mother of Preschool Kids Outsmarts the Mighty Microbe.”  And here’s one from the Sheltering at Home archives written during the worst of the Covid pandemic:  “I Need a Haircut. Or Do I?”

One of the reasons I continue to be more careful than most about wearing masks and avoiding movie theaters and crowded restaurants is the encounter I had a few years ago with the Epstein-Barr virus (AKA mono!). It left me with long-lasting symptoms reminiscent of long Covid. More about that at “Mono: It’s Never Too Late to Come Down With the Cool Kids Disease.”

Filed Under: The Writing Room

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Comments

  1. Sharie McNamee says

    October 9, 2023 at 8:45 am

    I hope you feel better soon. You never let anything get you down, so have a good rest.

    Reply
    • Barbara Falconer Newhall says

      October 12, 2023 at 9:24 pm

      I had a very nice day off, thank you!

      Reply
  2. Kathleen Baer says

    October 8, 2023 at 6:21 pm

    Dear Barbara, I hope you are feeling better.
    I read your Donne-Cohen piece a moment ago and wanted to tell you that [when speaking about] my husband was at his honoring, I quoted 3 stanzas from “Dance Me to the End of Love” because that song/poem best represents the feeling of my marriage with Wolfgang. I wish I could have sung the whole song but my vocal abilities were not up to it.
    I love Leonard Cohen’s works and I appreciate the poem you shared of John Donne’s. (I was not an English Lit. Major and am acquainted with only a small number of his poems).
    Thank you, Kathleen Baer

    Reply
    • Barbara Falconer Newhall says

      October 12, 2023 at 9:19 pm

      Well, I have to say, you must have loved Wolfgang a lot to sing for him in front of a bunch of people!

      Reply
    • Barbara Falconer Newhall says

      October 12, 2023 at 9:24 pm

      The piece Kathleen is referring to is “John Donne, Meet Leonard Cohen — And Send Us a Song From the Mystery Beyond.”

      Reply
  3. Ginger+Rothé says

    October 8, 2023 at 3:53 pm

    hope you are feeling much better by now. i also had a stronger reaction to this covid vaccine and hope that means we are better protected. great socks, too.

    Reply
    • Barbara Falconer Newhall says

      October 12, 2023 at 9:14 pm

      Right. Great socks in a fine old SF Chronicle People Dept. tradition!

      Reply
  4. Ellen Becherer says

    October 8, 2023 at 8:11 am

    Quite all right to put your feet up. You will be back. xx eb

    Reply
    • Barbara Falconer Newhall says

      October 12, 2023 at 9:13 pm

      I’m feeling good! Thx.

      Reply

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