medicare woes

been feeling under the weather. almost a week and my body still feels as if it is suppressing a virus from breaking forth. to see a doctor over here is crazy. first you have to make an appointment, then bring your insurance card, and obtain the prescription from some chemist. 3 potential trips in all. i shall spare my bike.

i will self-medicate. these are the stuff i bought today. fresh pots of mint (wind in tummy) and thyme (food seasoning mah) and a bottle of manuka honey (boost body immunity and removes phlegm), chrysanthemum flowers (cuts down 'heat') and liang teh packets from good old viet haunt, richmond. where did all that knowledge of herbs and self-care come from? i have a sense of the primordial too. the body seeks names to restore its balance.

rather delighted by the presence of something live, green and leafy in my room. i need something alive. if not for the space, i would have restored my kingdom menagerie of aquatic pets like what i did in singapore (and even in the staff room!!!). the airplant got glued with wax days ago and it is doing well. so is the succulent which accompanied me from last year...it is sprouting new leaves again. probably in kind response to care and water. now that autumn is here and winter looms in the distance, you wonder why its leaves are showing.

my cupboard bears a symbolic inner
space where people near and far are brought forth each day. russian orthodox spirituality terms it as a pomyanik (shakey spelling but it means a prayer-corner, i think), where you create sacramentals out of ordinary materials, reminding you of Christ's love and presence...a little 'altar' you bring from church to home. placed on my study table- an icon, the bible and a simple cruxifix...signs pointing to something deeper; never as mere table-decor or worse, superstitious objects.

incomplete as they are, frail symbols of faith, relationship and unconditional love...a soul's anchor against the uncertain tides of a changing world.