Sick day garlic

I am standing in the kitchen squeezing mushy brown cloves of garlic from their papery caccoons into my mouth. Eyes heavily drooping, sinuses aching, I lean against the counter and decide to finish the whole bulb. Why not? What harm could it do.

I'm already sick.

At least the garlic is roasted- sweet and lightly pungent with a consistency of pureed parsnips doused in olive oil. When I'm well it is a taste I crave. Right now I can't taste much at all. I did the raw garlic thing last night and while I can down a half clove or two at a time (next time I'll remember to freeze them), I'm pretty sure that eating a whole head of roasted garlic has the same immune enhancing effect as one raw, stomach-clenching clove.

I make some tea. Green tea, cinnamon tea, lemon tea. I have several cups going at once because I feel like the more I drink the faster this- whatever it is- cold, allergy attack, sinus infection- will dissipate under the increased vapors.

Being sick sucks.

The idea of it seems great when I'm healthy: time to lay on the couch and drink tea and read and snooze. Like a perfect Sunday right? But with the added bonus of people feeling sorry for you and asking if they can bring you chicken soup or soda crackers or a towel for your forehead. And you can get away with acting like a five year old for the day (late in day two or early in three the gig is up and whining just gets a roll of the eyes and a damp cloth thrown at your head).

Reality: you wake up with a dry throat and swollen eyes and a body aching from temples to toes. There are classes to attend and chickens to feed and people to hang out with and very important emails to write and now you are not in the state to do anything. On the couch you stare up at the ceiling, out the window, you try to read but the words leap before fuzzy eyes and you doze for a few hours. You wake up sweaty and smelly late afternoon and you still feel like shit. You're not really hungry but your stomach is growling so you contemplate ordering pizza but that would make things worse so you cook up whatever half wilted veggies are in the fridge hoping their life-force will enliven yours and later deal with the ramifications of ill-digested cabbage under two sheets and a comforter.

Stare at the ceiling, try to read, email close friends nonsensical reports on your ill health, try to blog and give up, stare out the window. Now you're up at 2am because you slept all day and all you want to do is go to sleep and wake up well.

You promise god you will never wish to be sick and have the "day off" again.

I would tell you how it ends but I'm still swollen faced and achy hence the garlic slurping episode in the kitchen not too long ago.
At least I'm too the point where I am attempting to blog even if this too is nonsensical.

Oh virus/bacteria in my blood, begone! Let the couch be free of me! Garlic, go get em!

Roasted garlic recipe:
One head of garlic
Olive oil

Slice the pointy top off of the garlic. Douse with a glug of olive oil. Wrap in foil and bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes. You'll be able to smell the deliciousness and neighbors may come over to share but only let them in if you're no longer contagious or they offer to re-dampen your forehead cloth. Spread on crackers, toss cloves into stir frys or soups, or stand barefoot in your kitchen squishing the whole thing niblet by garlicky niblet into your mouth.