MANHATTAN, Kan. (TNS) — I came down with some form of crud about a week ago, and, as I write this, I still feel like garbage. Fever, congestion, fatigue. Started with a sore throat.

I ran two Covid tests a few days apart, both negative. So, I dunno. Cold, flu, RSV … could be strep, but Dr. Google doesn’t seem to think so, so I haven’t gobbled down those old amoxicillins lying around, at least not yet.

It strikes me that, had this same illness occurred four years ago, our entire family would have shut down. I’d be locked in our room with a mask, and we’d be wiping down the bathroom counters with bleach. The trip we’ve planned, the football games? All out the window.

But now I’m here in the living room, Angie a few feet away. We were at the stadium last Saturday, and we’re still anticipating a long road trip to the youngest of the kids’ college in California. It’s the whole Griswolds-in-the-family-truckster shindig.

Anyway, it’s remarkable how much has changed. Covid is, in fact, growing again, and I would assume the same of other viruses and infections. They wax and wane all the time; seems normal to me that they’d follow the start of a school year. We rarely paid much attention. Maybe we should have. Maybe we should now.

The masking and public-health restrictions were mostly reasonable at the time we enacted them, based on the information we had at the time. There were ridiculous moments — remember when you had to wear a mask into a restaurant but then you could take it off when you sat down? — but we were flying by the seat of our pants. Those who saw some sort of government conspiracy to control us were just predisposed to believe that beforehand.

I know I wouldn’t wish this crud on anyone else, so, while we’re proceeding with our lives, I’m trying to be cautious. No sense getting too close or sharing water glasses. To Angie’s cousins, who we saw at Auntie Mae’s after the game — sorry, fellas, if you come down with this. I thought I had already shaken it.

I’ll get through it, hopefully sooner rather than later. And meanwhile life goes on. We made it through a pandemic. Pretty sure I’ll make it through the crud.