I wasn't going to post about this topic. Really, I wasn't, but I can't get it off my mind. Turn on the TV or the radio, look at a newspaper, or spend a few minutes on the internet and you can't get away from it. You know what I'm talking about, The Swine Flu.
My husband said the coverage of the swine flu outbreak made him think of Stephen King's The Stand (and said he was going to start blaring Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear The Reaper). I'm a huge Stephen King fan, so I can't believe I didn't think of the connection myself. If you're not familiar with The Stand, it's about a super flu that wipes out the majority of the population and leaves the survivors to choose between good and evil. I've read the book and seen the mini-series countless times. It's one of my favorite works by Stephen King. I'm not going to say that I believe this flu will mirror the events in Stephen King's story (I don't really think he's a prophet), but it does make you wonder what the world would be like in such extreme circumstances.
I don't want to be an alarmist so I'm trying to keep it in perspective. For a germophobe like me, that's pretty hard to do. There haven't been any reported cases in my state.....yet. Still, I can't help worrying about it, and for good reason. My husband works in a hospital (in a technical capacity, but still, there are sick people coming and going 24/7), my son and his girlfriend go to school with kids who recently came back from spring break in Mexico, and I know that some local families went to Mexico for Easter. Do I think every person who's been to Mexico recently was exposed to the Swine Flu? Of course not. I also know that the majority of the reported cases have not been fatal, but I'm still concerned.
In November, my daughter came down with the flu (non-swine variety) and it took her months to fully recover because she developed some severe side effects to the virus. She came very close to being hospitalized for dehydration and lost quite a bit of weight. She's thin to begin with, so it was scary. I don't want to go through that again with her or anyone else in my family. I don't want anyone, anywhere to go through it. It's miserable.
For now, the best any of us can do is to be cautious. Take care of those you love.
A Shout Out
On a lighter note, I want to give a shout out to Heidi of Tried and True Cooking With Heidi. I bought a huge can of refried beans at Sam's Club so I've been on the lookout for some good recipes. Last night I made the Soft Taco Burgers she had on her blog recently. They were excellent! I did make one small change, I used chipotle peppers in adobo sauce instead of green chilies because I had some I needed to use up.
Thanks, Heidi! Everyone loved them!
My husband said the coverage of the swine flu outbreak made him think of Stephen King's The Stand (and said he was going to start blaring Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear The Reaper). I'm a huge Stephen King fan, so I can't believe I didn't think of the connection myself. If you're not familiar with The Stand, it's about a super flu that wipes out the majority of the population and leaves the survivors to choose between good and evil. I've read the book and seen the mini-series countless times. It's one of my favorite works by Stephen King. I'm not going to say that I believe this flu will mirror the events in Stephen King's story (I don't really think he's a prophet), but it does make you wonder what the world would be like in such extreme circumstances.
I don't want to be an alarmist so I'm trying to keep it in perspective. For a germophobe like me, that's pretty hard to do. There haven't been any reported cases in my state.....yet. Still, I can't help worrying about it, and for good reason. My husband works in a hospital (in a technical capacity, but still, there are sick people coming and going 24/7), my son and his girlfriend go to school with kids who recently came back from spring break in Mexico, and I know that some local families went to Mexico for Easter. Do I think every person who's been to Mexico recently was exposed to the Swine Flu? Of course not. I also know that the majority of the reported cases have not been fatal, but I'm still concerned.
In November, my daughter came down with the flu (non-swine variety) and it took her months to fully recover because she developed some severe side effects to the virus. She came very close to being hospitalized for dehydration and lost quite a bit of weight. She's thin to begin with, so it was scary. I don't want to go through that again with her or anyone else in my family. I don't want anyone, anywhere to go through it. It's miserable.
For now, the best any of us can do is to be cautious. Take care of those you love.
A Shout Out
On a lighter note, I want to give a shout out to Heidi of Tried and True Cooking With Heidi. I bought a huge can of refried beans at Sam's Club so I've been on the lookout for some good recipes. Last night I made the Soft Taco Burgers she had on her blog recently. They were excellent! I did make one small change, I used chipotle peppers in adobo sauce instead of green chilies because I had some I needed to use up.
Thanks, Heidi! Everyone loved them!
~~Note~~ If you haven't seen The Stand and you'd like to, you can watch it here. A word of warning, there is an annoying watermark across the screen. In my opinion, the mini-series was very true to the book. I encourage you to see it or read it if you haven't already.
I'll say it again, I love Stephen King and not because I'm really into the horror genre, but because he has amazing character development. By the time I finish one of his books, I really feel like I know and care about the characters. That's probably why I've read all of his books dozens of times. The Stand and It are my favorites, but for short stories you can't beat Dolan's Cadillac.
Comments
And on a happier note, I'll have to check out the book, thanks for the recommendation!