The best place I can be with a sinus infection...out on my front porch swing with a good book!
Once the cotton flies from the cottonwood trees in Cody, my allergies kick in...usually resulting in a sinus infection. And, as usual, I try every home remedy and am miserable for a week before I finally break down and go to the Urgent Care Clinic and get an antibiotic...which is where I sat yesterday waiting to see the doctor instead of being at church. But, as miserable as a sinus infection is, I was secretly delighted at having an excuse to do nothing more than immerse myself in a good book and spend the weekend reading on my front porch swing. Rocking and reading and ice tea...what a treat!
One of my summer goals this year was to go back and reread books that brought me joy at one time or other in my life. Some classics, some Christian, and some just plain old fun. Under the fun category I have been reading "Under the Tuscan Sun" by Frances Mayes this weekend, and when I finished that I read the followup "Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy". I had read both of those books a few years ago, but I was at a really busy time in my life and must have just skimmed through them, because I enjoyed them more this time. I love books about life in other countries, restoration of old houses, cooking and gardening...but I also like Christian biographies, classics, books on decorating... Actually, I like any kind of book that I can get my hands on, which brings me to the point of this post.
When I had a full time job, one of my favorite treats was to hit the bookstore the weekend of payday and buy enough books to last the month. But now finances are much tighter...and this is an extravagence that I can no longer afford. BUT my local librarian came to the rescue and introduced me to something called the 'Interlibrary Loan', which is not exclusive to Cody but available at all libraries in the U.S.
I have a running list of all the books that sound interesting or that I might want to look into. Instead of hitting the bookstore I can go to my computer and look the book up in the card catalogue that is posted on line. If they don't have the book (as our library is quite small that is usually the case) I can order it from anywhere using interlibrary loan. I simply locate the book, order it, and have it mailed to my local library. The librarian will call me when it is in. There is a charge of $2.00 a book if they have to go out of Park County, and I pay that when I pick up the book. So much cheaper when you consider the cost of books these days. Then, if it is a book that I really like and want to add it to my library, I can go and purchase it. This way my personal library is filled with only books that I treasure and will reread, instead of books that I will never touch again.
My husband has begun to use interlibrary loan too...I think he had read every western in our local library, so now he can order new westerns to his heart's content, all from our home computer. Once we became familiar with the library, we found that there is also a selection of DVD's that we can check out for free. For those winter evenings when there was nothing on television but the same old junk, we hit the jackpot with both new and old movies, and also a lot of educational documentries on western history, Thomas Jefferson, the Lewis and Clark expedition and all the Ken Burns documentries, to name a few. As my husband put it, "We can get entertained and educated, all for free".
If you are interested, check out your local library. Ours is small, but entertaining...especially in the summer. Last week all the teenage tourists from France were in there waiting to use the computers to check their email from back home, standing beside old men in cowboy hats and harried mothers with small children trying to herd them downstairs for Story Hour. Get to know your librarian, who can show you how to order books from your home computer, or the computer at the library. (I have gotten to know my librarian so well that I added her to my Christmas Card list!).
Most importantly, set aside time in your life to read. Reading takes you to places that you have never been, makes you laugh or cry...entertains and educates you.
And you don't even need a sinus infection to do it! DLB