The Winter of My Discontent

 It seems I've been sick absolutely all winter. I've finally conquered that bout of long-lasting flu. But I still have lots of congestion and sinus pain. (Also a strange thing with my ears, which I'll get to later.)

So I ventured out for a doctor visit yesterday--actually a visit to the nearby urgent-care clinic as I am currently at odds with my primary care doc. Diagnosis: sinus infection. So I'm now on amoxycillin, hoping to clear things up. 

Meanwhile, I finished another book: The Stillwater Girls by Minna Kent.  It's basically a good book that held my interest throughout. It's about three girls who have spent most of their lives with their mother in an isolated cabin in the woods, without modern conveniences and no knowledge of them or the outside world. When the youngest girl becomes ill, the mother leaves the other two at home and takes her for medical help. That's the last the two older girls see of their mom and little sister. After months alone and running out of food, a strange man breaks into their cabin and refuses to leave. The girls feel threatened and decide to escape while the man is asleep. The remainder of the story deals with what the girls discover about their past, which is not at all what they had been lead to believe. Yes, generally this is a very good book. But I had trouble with he girls' ages and the timeline. This could have been just me, as I was dealing with a pretty discomforting sinus condition the entire time I was reading it. But for anyone who likes a good thriller, with no blood and gore and only one instance of violence at the end (which was much deserved, I would recommend this story.

Now for the strange thing with my ears. About a year ago, maybe a little more, I went deaf, well practically. I mean instantly, like overnight. I couldn't hear the tv sufficiently, even turned to its highest volume. People who talked to me had to literally scream. I was freakin' deaf.

So I went to my doctor. He looked in my ears and announced that he didn't see anything wrong with them. He prescribed hearing aids. So I got hearing aids, to the tune of more than $1,000. (Hey, it could have been much worse. But I refused to spring for the more expensive models.)

The aids worked pretty well. I mean I could now hear people talking and the tv and stuff. But everything sounded so weird. And some sounds were like bombs exploding. When the doorbell rang or the timer on the stove went off, I'd jump in fright. (I guess I should have sprung for the more expensive model.)

OK, so a couple of days ago, I was standing at the stove cooking. All of a sudden, my ears started popping. I mean big, loud pops. (I had the hearing aids in, which probably explained some to the bigness and loudness.) That went on for maybe five or ten minutes, just kept on popping. When the popping stopped, every sound around me was so loud I couldn't take it, so I turned the aids way down. 

The next morning, things seemed strange. Before I had put in the hearing aids for the day, Bella came into my bedroom and meowed for me to get up. And by jingles, I could hear her meow! The first time I had heard a cat meow without hearing aids in months and months.

This tweaked my interest, so I left off the hearing aids and got up. After making coffee, I started some investigating. I could hear videos on the computer. I could hear the tv. I could hear cars going by on the street. Somebody outside was running a lawnmower, and I could hear it fine. 

Hmmm, I thought. But the real test is going to be if I can hear people talk. I could hear myself, but that had been true even when I was deaf to other sounds. About then, Jesse came in and we held a whole conversation. I didn't have to ask, "What?" once. Something had definitely changed.

So yesterday, when I visited the urgent care doc about the sinuses, I told her my whole sordid hearing story. She looked amazed and then looked in my ears. (BTW, this conversation with the doc went down sans hearing aids.) Her diagnosis: wax. (I know: eeewww). She prescribed Debrox, which is an earwax cleaning solution. I haven't used it yet, but I will. I'm just not sure yet that this is the problem. I mean, why would that make my ears pop? I don't know, but I'm going to give it a try.

I would be interested if anyone else has ever had the instant-deafness thing happen. And if so, what was your story?

Stay well, everyone. As my mother-in-law used to say, that old stuff's going around.

In Powder Blue

If you're a fan of crime novels, you know the names Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, Mario Puzo, Gillian Flynn, Nicholas Pileggi, and others. If you're not yet familiar with the name Nikolas Pleiadi, you probably will be soon. 

I went back to Pleiadi's debut novel, In Powder Blue, which I had started and stopped recently. I guess I just wasn't in the mood the first time because it's an excellent story. It follows Vincent LoCicero, who at age 12, after losing his mother in the South Tower on 9/11, is drawn into a world of crime and addiction by his uncle. 

The setting is Levittown, Long Island. And Powder Blue refers to Vincent's father's 1970s powder blue Mercedes Benz. Both the town and the car become, if not actually characters themselves, powerful literary devices that carry the story on their backs.

Levittown is one of the first and largest post WWII mass-produced suburbs. Built during the period between 1947 and 1951, it brought hope of home ownership to many Americans. But by the end of the 20th century, the town and the hope had begun to deteriorate. The Mercedes, a recurring image in the story, represents memory, especially of Vincent's mother, and hope, hope of breaking out of Levittown and the drug/crime culture. 

The novel contains the emotional character development of Mystic River, the violence of The Godfather, and the grittiness of the tv series "The Sopranos." all of which I count myself a huge fan. The writing is flawless, except for the fact that I didn't understand some of the Levittown lingo, but that didn't stop the story.

Pleiadi, who grew up in Levittown, now lives in North Carolina. The novel, while not actually autobiographical, draws on his experiences as a former addict in post 9/11 Levittown. In Powder Blue is his debut novel. I truly hope there's more to come.

“This whole thing (the novel) is for the people who didn’t make it…friends I lost to addiction, grief that never got spoken, families like mine that cracked down the middle and kept going anyway.” Nikolas Pleiadi

Reports of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

 Today marks three weeks that I have been dealing with this flu virus. The good news is that it feels like it's receding. Much less congestion, coughing, and sneezing. But I'm still pretty weak. Jesse is pretty much back to normal and back at work. 

So I haven't done a lick of quilting in these three weeks. But I have done some reading. Below are the books I've read during my lying in.

Revenant by Carolyn Haines When a construction crew uncovers the bones of five women beneath a Biloxi nightclub each missing its ring finger, reporter Carson Lynch sees her chance to resurrect a dying career—and maybe herself. But what begins as an investigation into a forgotten crime soon turns personal. This is a re-release of one of Carolyn's earlier works published under a pen name. Very good murder mystery.

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid It is the early 80s. The main characters, Joan and Vanessa, are two of the first women ever accepted into astronaut training at Johnson Space Center in Houston. The training is rigorous and challenging, and the two women feel pressure to work twice as hard as their male counterparts simply because of their gender.

As if the training program doesn't complicate their lives enough, Joan and Vanessa fall in love, which they must keep secret as gay relationships are strictly unacceptable to NASA and grounds for dismissal in the 80s. It also complicates Joan's family relationships, which have been somewhat shaky already.

Both women finish their training and are assigned to space missions aboard the shuttle. I won't go into this since I wouldn't want to spoil the excitement for anyone who wants to read the book. Suffice to say that no book about ghosts, witches, vampires, or serial killers has had my heart racing like reading about the space travel. I am definitely not astronaut material. The blast off alone would finish me. 

Reid does an excellent job of putting the reader in the hearts and minds of these two characters. I felt like I was right there with them during their space missions. And the complications of their relationship touched my heart. Near the end of the book, their troubles had me reaching for the tissues.

I loved this book, one of the best I've read in a while.

The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose Sarah Morgan is one of the best criminal defense attorneys in Washington, DC. Her husband, Adam, a failed author, has grown to resent his wife's meteoric success.For almost two years, Adam has been having an affair with a young waitress. When her body is discovered at the couple's lake house, Adam is arrested on suspicion of murder. Sarah now finds herself facing her most challenging case yet when she vows to defend her husband--a man accused of murdering his mistress. This twists and turns in this book almost made me dizzy. It kept me reading till 3:00 this morning when I finished the last page. The ending is pretty dark.

I have just started reading In Powder Blue by Nicolas Pleiadi. Reviews have compared it to "Sopranos," "Goodfellas," and The Godfather, all favorites of mine. So far, I'm not seeing it, but I've only just begun. More on this later.

That's it for now. Happy Valentine's Day to all.