Superficial foreign body, without major open wound.

I'm just lucky to be alive!

Actually, that's doctorspeak for "splinter." I had a checkup last week and as it happened, I was rearranging furniture in preparation for a holiday party. Rubbing my hands along the frame of a bench, I picked up a nasty splinter in one finger. Knowing I was about to see my doctor, my attempts at removing it were limited to a couple feeble attempts. First I had to find tweezers. Then, reading glasses. Then, adequate lighting. . . . I gave up quickly and left it to the professionals.

aka, a splinter

Extraction completed, I was bandaged and sent home with instructions to keep the area clean and to watch for infection. I wonder how the insurance company will be billed for this.

Today, I am in a fog - literally and figuratively. Current visibility is about 300 feet, we cannot see the sun, and I feel like I'm sleepwalking. We had plenty of sunshine last week but the weather has turned and it has become dark and wet.

I can't concentrate or get motivated to do much. This morning, I left the shower having forgotten to wash my hair.

Good thing we have a trip planned for southern California for next week. It'll be 30 degrees warmer and 100 percent sunnier. In fact, we will get an hour more of daylight every day as we will be closer to the eastern edge of the Pacific time zone.

A neighbor has come and gone, interrupting any semblance of rhythm and flow. Me, in my dirty hair and foggy existence. He, bearing homemade brownies.

Perhaps more coffee. Or, perhaps, I should just go back to bed and start over. Will someone please wake me up when it's March?