BATTlinG BAcK

Alexa’s 7:30 a.m.

musical alarm awakened me in what could only be described as a morning fog. I lifted my head slowly to see the time. What? My eyes were glued semi-shut. Something my kids used to call “gookie eye.” Well, it was “gookie eye” and all it portended. I had a cold … or did I? One never knows these days.

That was the first question that came to mind - did I have Covid? If I did it was probably too soon to tell. My next step was to remedy up. Wiping away the exudate that had fastened my lashes together, I perused the first shelf in the medicine cabinet where I kept the nostrums for colds and such. I found a lot of tubes of antibiotic creams, a giant box of band aids, some baby nail scissors and finally a container of my “go to” for upper respiratory infections, AlkaSeltzer Plus.

“Voila,” I thought.

I had to put that voila away, since this particular box held the variety of Alka-Seltzer plus that contained aspirin. Another medicine that I take eschews the consumption of any NSAIDS. The only analgesic that is available to me is acetaminophen or Tylenol. As I told the doctor, I might as well eat a cupcake.

So downstairs I stumbled, and I should accent that last word since all my joints had joined the constellation of awfulness so that moving was an act of heroism. I was heading to the kitchen, where I could at least have a cup of coffee… and a cupcake if there were one. There wasn’t.

I thought, “I’ll get through this in 10 days to two weeks.”

That afternoon, I called my spouse at work at told him to pick up some Chinese for dinner. I went back to bed and slept on and off for four days. In the off times, I took three Covid tests, all of which were negative. I clearly remember Sr. Sulik telling me that negative didn’t mean negative. So, what to do? Back to bed. I think I ate about four pieces of bread and some Chinese during that first week, thinking with my failing appetite that I might be losing weight. Not a chance.

I had to call my dentist to reschedule my appointment, allowed the work that I was doing on the income tax to pile up undone, which was also the situation for laundry and vacuuming. Now, to my credit, I did get dressed on several of those 10 to 14 days, as an attempt at fooling the offending virus and trying to put mind over matter. Matter won.

I didn’t often comb my hair, but I did shower every night, even on those when I was so wiped out that I thought I might drown.

The days passed and I had to call the dentist again to reschedule, apologizing for my inability to get better. The gal on the other end of the phone commiserated with me, telling me that her daughter had been sick for three weeks. I was coming up on the three week mark. Ten to fourteen days?

Then I began to cough

- just a little, dry cough. My house, by this time, looked like dust was invented there and I thought my cough was the response to dust. It wasn’t. The little cough became bigger and looser, very much looser. I coughed, seemingly all the time. My head started to hurt and then my sinuses joined the chorus of complainants. I had bronchitis. More Covid testing to tell me that I was negative … or was I? I kept my spouse up at night as well as the four cats who sleep on our bed.

After a week of staying on the sofa with a box of tissues and some Tylenol, I began to try to concoct some cough medicine out of honey and lemon juice. You have to imagine this. There I was standing in front of the stove where I was heating the bottle of honey in some water. The honey had solidified in its plastic jar and refused to melt when standing in a cup of hot water. I was taking it to the next level.

While I was carefully watching the bottle of honey in the simmering water, I was rolling a lemon to extract the juice. The honey never really returned to its original state but it was loose enough to scoop some into the cup to

Ramblings from the empty nest ann Ferro join the lemon juice. I had to add hot water and stir to make something drinkable. Honey and lemon have been touted as a great cough medicine. I must have gotten the proportions wrong because I coughed on for hours.

The cough continued for two weeks until a friend took pity on me and made me a cup of tea with her homemade concoction of Mullen, rose hips and spearmint. Amazingly, that worked. I was cough free for two hours. What a blessing.

I am back to standing up with washed and combed hair, clean clothes and an almost dust-free house. Lots to catch up on, though. I took another Covid test to be sure and I tested negative. I thought that I should have suffered through something with a name for all the distasteful symptoms I and my spouse endured. I have had all my vaccines including the flu, but, alas, there is no vaccine for the common cold.

I fully intend to restock my medicine cabinet just in case and I am scheduled to get my dental work done next week. Just wanted you to know. Today I left the house for the first time in a month.

Ann Ferro is a mother, a grandmother and a retired social studies teacher. While still figuring out what she wants to be when she grows up, she lives in Marcellus with lots of books, a spouse and a large orange cat.

Audobon Society: Onondaga Lake an ‘Important Bird Area’

Since seeing is believing, you can learn about Onondaga Lake and its status as an “Important Bird Area” by viewing the Onondaga Lake Conservation Corps Photography Exhibit.

The 30 selected photographs that feature the birds, wildlife and habitats of Onondaga Lake, will be on display this weekend at the Honeywell Onondaga Lake Visitor Center, on the west side of the lake at 280 Restoration Way.

The photos can bee seen there from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 25 and from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 26. Admission costs $5 per person; for info, call 315365-3588.

National Audubon Society staff and volunteers will be on hand to help you to spot some of these incredible animals in person.

Bald eagles in focus

Last year almost 2,500 photographers from across the United States and Canada submitted some 10,000 photographs and videos to Audubon’s 13th annual

Political maneuver

To the editor: Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once opined, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” Well, if that is true, we here in Onondaga County could all benefit from some more sunlight in our county government, as it’s been operated in darkness for some time now.

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Photography Awards. Reviewing anonymous image and video files, three panels of expert judges identified the 100 best bird shots from among the entries.

One of those 100 best included local photographer Jeff Coulter’s portrait of a pair of bald eagles flying over the lake with their snowy-feathered (not bald) heads and white tails. Coulter was shooting his Canon EOS R6 mirror-less digital camera with an 800mm lens.

He explained the story behind his spectacular shot.

“Every year, bald eagles come to Onondaga Lake in Syracuse,” Coulyer wrote. “The local water treatment plant keeps a small patch of the lake ice-free, attracting more than 50 bald eagles to the surrounding trees. Some eagles catch their own fish while others look for a chance to take an published a story about County Executive Ryan McMahon’s blatant display of partisan patronage in hiring Esteban Gonzales, (who was recently defeated in his election for Onondaga County sheriff) to serve in a specially-created position in county government, using federal pandemic funds. This position comes with a tidy $105,000 salary, and was awarded to Gonzales in an act of unmitigated political

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Creative Director: Gordon bigelow, ext 331, art@eaglenewsonline com easy meal from an unsuspecting neighbor. I captured this scene as one eagle carried her catch toward the trees, the second following close behind. I remember back in the late 1970s when only one pair of nesting eagles remained in Upstate New York. Thanks to ground-breaking conservation efforts, hundreds of pairs now nest here -- and the numbers continue to grow. That nearloss and remarkable recovery of this beautiful species continues to make every sighting feel like a gift.”

Critic Neil Novelli dies at 92 cronyism.

My old friend, theater critic, teacher and musician Neil Novelli died March 3 in Ithaca at age 92. He was a former resident of Syracuse and had moved to Ithaca to be closer to family and receive care for Alzheimer’s disease.

Neil taught at at Le Moyne Collegefor 49 years and retired as professor emeritus of English. Neil was also a theater and music critic for Syracuse. com and The Post-Standard from the 1980s until well into his eighties.

And, to make matters worse, part of Mr. Gonzales’s duties include “public safety,” which would directly involve the man who defeated him last November, Toby Shelley.

The same Toby Shelley that both McMahon and Gonzales froze out of the Jamesville Prison closure process last fall after he was elected. In fact, Ryan McMahon is refusing to provide the sheriff’s

He wrote a series on Shakespeare called “In Rehearsal” that appeared on public access television. While on a sabbatical, he spent his leave at Syracuse Stage, and he wrote a script for “Bill Does Will.” The late Bill Molesky played the title role, and the play won a Syracuse Area Local Theater award.

I often enjoyed picking Neil’s brain about Shakespeare, wondering if the Bard had actually written all those great plays. I also liked listening to Neil play banjo at the jam sessions hosted by the Jazz Appreciation Society of Syracuse.

Not only did he perform the Dixieland jazz, he also served for many year on the JASS Board of Directors. Last word “I’m going home to watch the wallpaper peeling in my kitchen. It’s time for me to re-adjust.” office with Gonzales’s job description. How is this “good government?” We can’t even get a public statement from Mr. Gonzales about his new position. How is this “transparency?”

– The guy holding down that end of the bar, bidding adieu at The Retreat.

But, Ryan McMahon’s most recent political maneuver should come as no surprise to Onondaga County residents. This is the same man who limited public discussion