Sweating in Place

Our county is now under a shelter in place order--it doesn't seem very different than the earlier order that had a similar name.  The order comes with a list of essential services that are allowed to remain open.  The list is 7 pages long.

I can still go to the office--I'm part of a private college staff who is facilitating online and distance learning.  Of course, I may get to the office today to find one of our bosses has decided to send us all home to work.

For the past several mornings (by which I mean when I wake up, usually around 2 a.m., until when I go for a walk), I've felt unusually sweaty.  In the past, I might not have thought much about it--we have record breaking heat for the month of March, after all, and we keep our AC set at 77 degrees.  But with this new virus, I have felt increasingly uneasy when sweaty.

This morning, I decided to take my temperature.  As I sat with the thermometer under my tongue, I thought about sweats and fevers and what they signify.  I thought of Beth in Little Women, feverish and sweaty.  In the 80's, night sweats would signify AIDS.  These days, I'm often thinking about menopause and hot flashes.

My temperature is 96 degrees.  No other symptoms of a virus or infection of any kind.  So that's good.

I tried to write a poem about it all, but I wasn't successful--or was I?  After a few attempts, I wrote this haiku-like thing:

Night sweats, 3 a.m.
Symptom, seasonal, or worse?
No fever, no calm