Germs

Here's an old picture of my sister and me on the Pennsylvania dairy farm where we lived in the 1950's. We're sitting on the milk platform, where Dad put out the metal cans for pickup. I can almost remember the warm, snappy, squirming duck in my arms when Mom took this picture.

Yes, those are ducks my sister and I are clutching, with a basket of gathered eggs right next to us. Probably with chicken poop still on them. Now the petting zoos have scary hand washing warnings for little kids. We got the usual childhood illnesses, including bad things like measles and mumps, but I wonder if we got sick from animals and plain old dirt? Maybe since we grew up around them, it gave us some immunity. And anyway, now we know all those antibiotics and antibacterial products haven't made us any healthier or stronger.

But with baby Nova here last weekend, I've been thinking more about germs. You know, the normal kind of worries: swine flu, the dog licks her, the Binky falls on the rug, excited people touch without washing first. All the ordinary things you can't control. Nova is such a strong and healthy baby, what a blessing! I know she'll soon be petting Sizzle and Othello and going to the zoo with Grandma and Grandpa.

Nova went home last weekend with a case of sniffles. Amanda says she's been dreading that first illness, and it's almost a relief to get this little cold out of the way. And everyone is doing just fine today!