Mining Nuggets: Wheezles and sneezles

Wheezles and sneezles

Sneezles by A.A. Milne

Christopher Robin
Had wheezles
And sneezles,
They bundled him
Into
His bed.
They gave him what goes
With a cold in the nose,
And some more for a cold
In the head.
They wondered
If wheezles
Could turn
Into measles,
If sneezles
Would turn
Into mumps;
They examined his chest
For a rash,
And the rest
Of his body for swellings and lumps.
They sent for some doctors
In sneezles
And wheezles
To tell them what ought
To be done.
All sorts and conditions
Of famous physicians
Came hurrying round
At a run.
They all made a note
Of the state of his throat,
They asked if he suffered from thirst;
They asked if the sneezles
Came after the wheezles,
Or if the first sneezle
Came first.
They said, "If you teazle
A sneezle
Or wheezle,
A measle
May easily grow.
But humour or pleazle
The wheezle
Or sneezle,
The measle
Will certainly go."
They expounded the reazles
For sneezles
And wheezles,
The manner of measles
When new.
They said "If he freezles
In draughts and in breezles,
Then PHTHEEZLES
May even ensue."

Christopher Robin
Got up in the morning,
The sneezles had vanished away.
And the look in his eye
Seemed to say to the sky,
"Now, how to amuse them to-day?"

This New Year's Day I rang in accompanied by Vicks Vapor Rub and a bottle of Advil. As the rain came pouring down during the night so did my sniffles. I am wondering at which stage of the travels did I manage to catch this bug. Or perhaps it is just my body's way of saying, "slow down, kid." In any event here I am blogging and sniffling, sneezing and wheezing, coughing and spluttering even as I type these words. Hold on ... I reach for yet another tissue.

The best thing for it after my umpteenth cup of Tazo Chai is to probably take in a movie. I've seen The Holiday, Infamous, For Your Consideration, Babel, The Queen, Dream Girls, Volver, and Casino Royale. Looks like I might try The Good Shepherd ... because tomorrow it is back to work for me: courses to prepare, chapters to write, and treadmills to tread.