Another damn cold?

Three weeks ago when I visited my sis at her new digs in Nashville I had a bad cold. Stuffed head, runny nose, coughing, the usual messy thing. It was a joy flying that way. A few nights ago my throat started getting sore, and now my head's stuffed, nose runny, I'm coughing, the same thing all over again. Maybe it's because of those 2 long runs effecting my immune system. Naw, maybe it's just allergies. Yeah, I'll go with that one. Sniff!

Pam and I ran our short short route last night. It was pretty cool out but at least the air was clear. I came THIS close to canceling because of my cold -- er, allergies -- but I was really glad afterward that I didn't. I don't think my sinuses or lungs are any worse because of the run, and the rest of my body was pretty happy to get out and move.

I started on another Brangelina hat last night. This one's for my brother-in-law who's weathering his last winter in Pittsburgh. I had made him one over the summer and he's wearing it out! The first was in Malabrigo Stonechat, which I had ordered because it looked red and black in the picture on the website. It turned out to be more orangish, brick-ish, brown-ish in color. The new one is in Azul Profundo, a deep blue. In addition to being a beautiful shade it was one of the more masculine colors in my stash. I didn't think any of my pinks or light reds would have worked. Of course, if it got cold enough I don't think he'd care. This time I remembered to double strand the yarn. The single strand one is softer, and I'm thinking at some point of playing around with the pattern so I can make one with a single strand that will fit. It couldn't be that difficult, could it??

There's a front page story today in our local Times about a move to ban wood fires on Spare the Air nights. I get a bit tired of the Big Brother over-regulation of our lives (see: light bulb ban) but that's a law I could get behind. This has been one of the most polluted winters that I can remember. Of course, I'm not sure that 15 years ago I would have noticed any pollutants in the air since I was smoking like a chimney myself. But it's probably just that damage to my lungs from smoking that's making this winter's air so breath-taking (in a literal way) to me. I have a better idea: let people have their wood fires, they just have to vent the damn things into their own house, instead of outside where everyone else has to breathe it. That'll cut down on outdoor pollution!