Finding Hope At Home

And a recipe for no-churn roasted sesame ice cream.

Greetings from my ninth, and hopefully last, sick day. 

Pneumonia felled me last week. Like, in a WOW! HOW DARE YOU? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? sort of way I never could have imagined.  I am one of those I-never-get-sick types; I can distinctly remember my eight-year-old self rubbing the mercury thermometer between my hands to artificially elevate my temperature in the hopes I could hoodwink my parents into letting me stay home sick for once, like all the other kids occasionally did. I knew the odds were slim because my sister, Sharon, was already in the seventh grade and had never missed a day. My mother took one look at my freakish 107-plus temperature, burst out laughing, and handed me my lunchbox. 

So when, last Friday, teeth chattering, I turned off all the air conditioners in the house and slept on the outdoor furniture in the 90-degree weather for a few hours, I knew something was seriously amiss. Eventually there were doctors, chest X-Rays, a diagnosis, and a prescription for knockout-strength penicillin. 

And rest. Lots and lots of rest.