On the wagon

But not necessairly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

That's because, once or twice a year, the Wine Curmudgeon contracts what can only be described as The Rot. For those more medically inclined, it’s a viral infection that includes sinus headaches and blisters on my throat. Which means I feel like hell for a week to 10 days, and even swallowing can be difficult.

So, obviously, no wine during The Rot. I’m dehydrated enough as it is, and given how crappy I feel, I wouldn’t be able to appreciate it anyway. Mostly, I mope around the house and feel sorry for myself between doses of chicken soup and vitamin C.

So how does a wine writer go a week without wine, like I did last week? It’s easier than it seems, mostly because I feel so awful. In fact, one way I know I’m feeling better is that I start to think about wine again.

The real problem, given the demands of the blog, is dragging myself to the keyboard to write. Writing is about focus, and it’s not easy to focus when all I want is Tylenol with codeine to make the pain stop. True story: My doctor was reluctant to prescribe the Tylenol about a year ago until he looked down my throat. “That’s gross,” he said, and reached for the prescription pad.

Fortunately, I’m usually two or three posts ahead, so I don’t have much day-to-day writing to do. What presents difficulties is that I didn’t taste the 10 or 12 wines that I normally taste in a week. Only about a third of the wine I taste is worth writing about, so, given how much I write, I need to taste as much wine as possible.

In other words, if the wines on the blog later this summer seem a little less than usual, blame it on The Rot.

Comments

[bburnsey]

And don't forget, plenty of rest. Get well soon.