After much hype and anticipation, the weather bomb cyclone hit my region on Friday morning. I woke up at the standard time of about 5:30 am. Two things popped into my head immediately:

1. There’s no reason to get up and cook breakfast for anybody as there was no school or hockey practice, and
2. my head hurt in a way that was very unfamiliar.

School announced classes were cancelled for the last day before Christmas break because of the apocalyptic weather announcements that had affected most of my continent for days now. We were prepared: food, water, matches and candles, propane for heat and cooking if needed, batteries in flashlights, etc. It was all ready. The only worry was my impending travel back to my mom’s house in the suburbs.

I tossed and turned feeling very uncomfortable. This headache felt very different than the usual headaches I get when the weather changes. Immediately I thought of all the illnesses that had traveled through my family for the whole month of December, especially my son who had back to back flues (but tested negative for covid). It hit him hard, affected his hockey and his class/homework. I cared for him the whole time, and I thought maybe now I caught his virus too.

Typically, I feel the weather coming. The pressure usually begins at the top of my head and affects my forehead area and my temples mostly. But that morning of the cyclone weather bomb, my headache felt very different. It started deep in my sinuses right behind my eyes, like taunt balloons about to pop.

I lay there for a while trying to sort out what else was causing me pain. Swallowing was a little uncomfortable which pointed to a possible sore throat, and when I did swallow I felt a discomfort in my ears too.

Frustrated with the potential that I might be next suffering through this illness everyone else seemed to be getting, I sat up.

That was a mistake because not only did I now feel dizzy, I also felt nauseous.

I did notice that the pressure in my sinuses alleviated a little bit as I sat up. I grabbed my warm housecoat and made my way to the bathroom, then the kitchen to make coffee.

While the coffee was brewing, I drank a large cup of tepid water with lemon in it to hydrate my body. Pressure in my sinuses was still there and threatening to explode. It was the most uncomfortable feeling and very perplexing. This never happened to me before, not to that degree of pain.

The coffee helped somewhat; caffeine is known to calm headaches, at least for me. I listened to one of my audio books while sipping my hot beverage sitting in the dark living room with only a candle lit, trying to move my attention away from the pain in my head.

I needed a second cup.

The headache lingered and so did the nausea. I finally took an Advil.

By about 9:00 am I finally looked outside. Heavy rain and wind, grey skies, and the window on the screen door was icing up.

Freezing rain. Meh.

I checked one of the meteorologists I follow on Twitter to see what the latest updates were and was treated to a long list of images, analysis, colorful graphs, predictions and a slew of other weather related information, all of it very educational as well as entertaining. He does weather on a local TV station and sometimes brings his dog along to the studio. The dog’s name is Storm. 😀

This whole drama with the weather made me think of Mark, ha. Those of you who read him know that he can get very excited about dramatic winter weather events, like a little kid at Christmas. 😀

One of the terms used by this meteorologist was cyclone bomb. Another was generational storm. The one piece of information that interested me the most was the barometric pressure. The meteorologist talked at length and with great detail about how unusual it was to see the pressure drop so quickly and so dramatically in such a short time.

As I type this now, 24 hours later, I realize I was adversely affected by the drop in atmospheric pressure. I no longer feel ill. The headache is gone and so are the other symptoms. That severe headache I had which felt so unfamiliar must have been caused by the rapid drop in barometric pressure.

I hope everyone is safe and warm, not stuck in airports or car accidents, and is managing to have a nice holiday season. It’s been another difficult year for many people and it looks like this trend of constant challenges will continue for some time, be it weather related or illness related. I’m with my mom now, the rest of the family is coming Christmas day, and the little Christmas kitten featured in the picture below will have departed by then to her new family as well. My mom graciously offered to look after this kitten for a few days for a family who wanted to surprise their 12 year boy on Christmas Day. 🎄

I wish everyone a very merry Christmas if you’re celebrating, happy Hanukkah if you’re celebrating, or just a peaceful and healthy time together with family and friends over the next few weeks.

Claudette