Colds

I'm five days into a cold, which has quickly run through the sequence of sore throat, sneezing and a runny nose, thickening catarrh, and now, today, an irritating cough. The cough may linger for a few days more, but I think I'm well past the worst, and feel perfectly well enough to do most of the things I normally do at home.

In fact yesterday I emptied the caravan, which is going to the dealer tomorrow for some necessary remedial work - new window and side-hatch seals to stop damp getting in, and resin treatment to stiffen up the floor in front of the cooker, which has become soft with the pressure of my weight over the years. The caravan floor is a thick sandwich of insulating material and layers of plywood, and it eventually compresses, and then flexes. The resin will stiffen it up again. The work is labour-intensive and takes many hours, so will cost me hundreds. But it'll be worth it, if the caravan can then soldier on for several years longer. It currently costs me about £30 a night to take my holidays in my caravan - split £15 for running costs like bottled gas, insurance, Club membership, servicing, and remedial work like this; £15 a night for site fees. That's cheap for a compact and very comfortable mobile hotel room with a kitchen, bathroom and sunny view front and sideways! So my money is an investment in ongoing holidays, anywhere I fancy taking the caravan to.

But to get the caravan ready for the dealer, it had to be emptied out (yesterday's task), and then (this afternoon) given a bit of a vacuum and general wipe-down. So I'm glad my cold has all but passed. Hopefully the cough will disappear overnight.

I don't get many colds, which at age sixty-six I'm very thankful for. I began to note their duration in my diary a while back, and this is the record since the start of last year:

# A cold lasting six days from 10th to 15th February 2018
# A cold lasting six days from 19th to 24th May 2018
# A cold lasting five days (so far) from 14th to 18th February 2019

I know I did have at least two weekend sniffles during the summer and autumn, but they were quickly shrugged off and didn't make it into the diary. So: in the past year, only those three instances of a proper cold.

That seems to me more than simply good luck. What factors might be at play to keep me so cold-free? I can think of several.

First, I live alone. There's no other person in my home, and therefore nobody constantly near me, in my living space, who can infect me with whatever bug they may pick up.

Second, I generally travel alone. I hate buses, and rarely take trains. I'm nearly always driving my own car, and therefore to a large extent (there are sometimes passengers, of course) insulated from the germ-spreading rife on public transport.

Third, I eat well and wisely. That means a balanced and nutritious diet, with very little in it that could possibly undermine my general health. I am convinced that a good eating and drinking regime builds resilience to infection, and makes it easier for the body to fight off colds, or to recover quickly from them.

Fourth, if I do fall ill, I don't push myself. I do as nature tells me. It's full-on rest and recuperation. If that means things like keeping indoors in the warm, and sleeping much more than usual, and bowing out of social engagements - even postponing a holiday - then I will do it. I won't play ducks and drakes with my well-being. I'm not a superwoman.

Fifth, I've been careful with my general health all of my life. Not to the point of hypocondria, but I never went in for any kind of self-harm such as smoking, drugs or stressful pursuits. It must be paying dividends now.

Sixth, I don't do relationships, and haven't had one for many years. I know that many people need a relationship, and would be utterly lost without their partner. But, with the benefit of hindsight, I think they were all a mistake for me, giving me more stress and frustration than comfort or inspiration. Free of them, I have thrived. I conclude that I am a naturally solitary person, and should always have been left alone to make my way through life in glorious independence. I admit that decades ago I fell victim to the biological clock and sundry social pressures - often ignoring my conscious better judgement - and I reaped the consequences. The lesson has finally been learned, though: and surprise, surprise, my cheerfulness, well-being and state of general health are all very good.

So maybe it's not so much of a mystery why I get off lightly when colds go around. It's a combination of low chance of contact, high personal resistance, and proper recovery management. Nothing magical there.

I just hope that whatever keeps my colds to a minimum is keeping other, more serious, illness at bay as well. I don't fear an old age racked by unending minor but chronic ailments. But I do fear any one of several dire conditions that could strike at any moment. And self-congratulatory analyses won't be any shield against them.