Cold Fury

I have been laid low by a vicious head cold on our return from the south coast. It became worse during our final day at Murramurang and during the drive back to the northern beaches my sinuses had become so impacted that I have had trouble sleeping. I hope to be back in trim by the time I am scheduled to speak at the conference on Thursday.

We have relocated to a really cute little backyard cabin in North Manly which is conveniently located near nothing. All of the commercial development of Manly lays far to the south of us and the closest grocery store, which only sells fruit, veg, seafood, and meat is nearly a full kilometer away. Even though I awoke groggy and stuffy this morning I braved that walk to get us something to eat for a continental breakfast. For the remainder of the day I intend to rest and try to beat this wretched virus.

The ride back yesterday was uneventful except for the fact that it took all day in traffic conditions that would have tried the patience of the Buddha. Ironic, since that is exactly why it took all day to get back here; we stopped at the Buddhist temple at Wollongong for lunch.

What a beautiful, spiritual place, and what a reasonably priced and delicious vegetarian lunch. We did a quick look around, during which I attempted a prayer at whatever Deity might be listening, and then resumed our battle with a line of slow moving cars that would maddeningly space out a times before bunching up again. My sincere admiration to both Ronald and Jane for their skill in dueling with this mechanized mess cannot be adequately expressed.