Sunday. To bed last night at seven: good. To bed last night because I started experiencing chills and a fever: bad. Up this morning at eight feeling a bit rocky, but not too awful, off and back from breakfast spreading fever and good cheer to my fellow diners. I don't believe that was the case, hence the jocularity, but a relatively normal morning for what it could have been given last night.

I'm not sure if my experience is like the experience of others. Sometimes, if the chills aren't really over the top - yes, you have to hunker down under the covers to trap every bit of warmth - whatever it is will essentially go away by the next morning. More serious chills, well, it could last much longer. I think I'm OK, but I'll blow off going to San Francisco later this morning to photograph an event in front of City Hall. Just in case.

I went on yesterday about gas prices and, after saying it could mean $4.50 a gallon here in the heat of summer, someone on the radio said recent experience had shown the price of regular would peak at $0.92 above the price as it was on January 1st. OK, the price at my station was $3.55 on January 1st, that would make it $4.57 at the height of summer. Bummer. I guess. Nothing to think about now. Who knows if we'll even be around at the lows, let along the highs, of summer?

Don't be morbid.

Yeah. After last night I'm feeling pretty good. Be thankful, take it easy, maybe treat myself to a pint of ice cream later for dinner.

Later. A long hot bath. A very long hot bath. Up now feeling better, had I not had the chills last night, I wouldn't consider how I feel this morning to be any different than many another morning in these last many months. So good. I'm not running any marathons or heading over to San Francisco, we'll keep it cool, but I think I can squeeze out a walk. An amble, a slow, take in the surroundings, take a few pictures, amble to start the afternoon.

Did you get in your guitar practice yesterday?

Some, not enough, you don't practice guitar with the chills. I don't, anyway. Might cause you to inadvertently create a hot new riff or two, of course, the chills, but that's not what we're after. Not at this late a date for a rock and roll old timer.

Later still. So I'm tired, but feeling OK. Ambled over to the ATM (and amble is the word, can't think of another word that describes one or two cuts below amble, one-half instead of one mile an hour) and then around to the morning restaurant taking my time, sitting in the occasional chair or on the occasional park bench to rest, taking one or two pictures, passing this fellow with a camera taking pictures of the sidewalk crowd.

I was carrying the camera in my hand, the strap wrapped around my wrist, so I just raised the camera and pointed in his direction as I was passing, snapping a picture, nodding with a smile, one photographer to another. Photographers rarely have conversations unless they know one another and even then, if they're out shooting, the conversations are short. Pictures to take, you understand. Which is fine. Defines some part, some aspect of the art I would guess.

You sure you aren't just describing your own personality quirk here? You're the one who doesn't say hello to other photographers, other photographers aren't so stand-offish?

Could be, but my experience seems consistent. I say hello to people otherwise. But not on the street, not without a formal introduction by someone I've known for at least ten years. Other than that I'm sure I've gotten it right.

Home now mid-afternoon and I'm ready for a nap.

Evening. An hour's nap - nap in the sense of lying down and treading along the bitter edge of sleep - up feeling well enough, but tired. It takes time to recover from whatever I had last night, I guess, we'll write it off to that. One hopes that this particular state of affairs doesn't one day become more routine. I haven't had chills and a fever in a while, I often skip a year or two altogether and hope, certainly, this is it for 2012.

We'll try the guitar again, get along with this week's lesson. I started the guitar week well on Thursday, no need to let missing most of a day to make me think I can't finish it right. Hup.