I just want to warn everyone right off the bat that this is not a metaphor or something. I actually like the smell of boogers. I suspect it comes from the same place where you like your own farts, but not those of others - but I don't hear people talking about this as much, so maybe not.
I am currently entering about day 6 of a cold/flu - it started off weak, but then gathered strength over the weekend, much like the Nor'easter that dropped two feet of snow on my parents' (and my childhood) home. Every time I get sick, I make the same observations about being sick, but I'm too sick to write them down. Soon, I forget them and then rediscover them when I get re-sick. It's my own personal Memento.
One of the most exhilarating parts of being sick is that moment - it comes every two hours or so - that you're not expecting. It sneaks up on you and seconds before it happens you realize it is happening and all is good - until you realize what actually just took place.
The most annoying part of a cold/flu is not being able to breathe out of your nose (and dry-coughing. Don't forget how much dry-coughing sucks). At times, both nostrils are clogged and breathing out of your mouth just makes you more uncomfortable and dehydrated. Most of the time, however, you can breathe out of one nostril. You get used to it and you forget what life was like with two working nostrils. Then IT happens.
There is a slight bubbling of the nose in the clogged nostril. Oh my God! Is it possible? May the clogged nostril be opening up? You can blow it or sniffle - it doesn't matter because either way this puppy is going to be free!
Right then - the smell of boogers. Oh, it is all that it ever could be. You can breathe, and with every inhallation you get the smell of boogers to fill your lungs. It is so perfect, yet confusing. How could something that tastes so bad dripping down the back of your throat smell so good in your nose?
But as soon as you are no longer distracted by the wonderful odor in your nose, you notice that the previously free nostril is now closed. No matter the euphoria of freedom just seconds ago, you are still running at 50% of honking capacity. So, you go back and sit on the couch, get under a blanket and watch more TV you would never watch if you weren't sick. Like the Olympics.
