The less wonderful time of the year

Yep, you guys know what I'm talkin' about...Cold and Flu Season. I think about this every New Year, not from morbidity but from habit - my mother invariably celebrates the New Year by losing her voice for a few days.

Sure enough, during my recent visit, she decided to honor family tradition by getting an early case of the Perennial Laryngitis.

It's a commonplace, so I noted it and didn't think to include it here, until this recent offering from Jonah Goldberg in the Corner. A reader then followed up a few hours later with his own effort. I'm no great musical shakes, myself, but faced with this sort of convergence, I went off and dug around a bit and found the following. I wrote it in high school, at least 16 years ago.

Oh, I stay home from my job
And I loaf around like a slob
My nose runs and my head throbs
Since I caught the flu

Oh, I can scarcely move
I feel like gum that’s been chewed
There’s nothing left to watch on the tube
Since I caught the flu

It must have been at my family reunion
I won’t be going back again
Aunt Helga sneezed on me
In walked this misery
And it’s been here since then

[key change]

Oh, I’m so tired of bein’ ill
And I’ve had more than my fill
Of Sudafed and Nyquil
Since I caught the flu

And now it's got it's brief glimpse of the winter sun. I like the Web.

And yes, Mom is feeling much better now, thank you.