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I've been laid low by a fluey bug. I should have realised I was going to be ill. I could have read the signs. It is so obvious now. Looking back.

Clues:

(1) I'd hoovered the whole house the day before. It seemed hugely important at the time. I'm usually lackadaisical about household chores. They interfere with 'thinking time'.

(2) There was no fresh food in the fridge. Completely empty. I'd reassured myself I could easily shop next day. Bad decision.

(3) For a week I'd been craving garlic in every meal. I'm usually take-it-or-leave-it with garlic. I usually leave it.

(4) I'd bought oranges & orange juice. As a rule, I hate oranges & fruit juice. Maybe as a mixer though? I DO like a Cointreau & orange juice & ice as a treat on a summer's day. But I'd eaten an orange daily for 5 days?

(5) The day before I was bed-bound, I'd smirked at the thought that I hadn't had a cold - nor anything nastier - since February. This was tempting Fate.

In the routine of daily life, it's maybe easy to miss the occasional sign? But I'm annoyed that I missed all 5. I'm usually tuned into signs & symbols.

In fact, we all are.

I once took art classes on 'Abstracting Art'. My students groaned because they hated Abstract Art. They didn't understand it.

But I went on to explain that we are all aware of symbols and we all have a common understanding of them.

Like the patterns on Pictish stones and the Egyptian hieroglyphics, we still have within our brains the remnants of a language of symbols. For example, everyone would be able to draw similar symbols for 'water', 'house', 'mountain' etc. And also for concepts, like 'man walking', 'sun shining'.

Also, we think in colour. Children learn their colours from an early age. We have favourite colours. But colour can also represent things like 'Spring', the 'sea'; or feelings like 'love', 'feeling scared', 'anger'.

Numbers are also learned from an early age. In nature, 1, 3, 5, 8 are significant in the number of petals on a flower. As humans, we like being able to work out number sequences. It seems comforting. So we like repeat patterns that we can predict. Think of Andy Warhol and his repeated squares of Campbell's soup cans.

I'm condensing (sorry!) this theory, but stick with me while I digress a bit more!

While wild-camping in the Pyrenees with a friend, about 15 years ago, we took shelter in a refugio to dry out after being caught in a sudden thunderstorm. I remember passing a herd of stationary cows who were so soaked they looked like a row of tan leather handbags. I was drenched through to my pants. TMI. Sorry!

Amazingly, the Refugio Bujaruelo had a drying room with a tremendously powerful fan. Everyone's soaked garments were totally dry by morning!

The refugio also supplied hot meals.

So, no searching for water. No hunkering over a primus for a one-pot meal. And no washing up.

Point is: we sat at a table next to a Spaniard. He could speak no English. We could speak no Spanish. But by the end of the meal, we knew Antonio lived near Valencia, and worked as an Electrical Maintenance Engineer on the power lines. He had 2 children. One was a dentist in Madrid and the other son was on his last year at university, studying to be an engineer. It had been an animated exchange.

How come?

We all used stick people, drawings, signs & symbols. Plus a nod, or a smile, for verification.

Remember when texting on mobile phones was in its infancy, and sometimes it was easy to misinterpret the gist of a text? Now we can use emojis for clarification, and that sorts that out. More symbols.

So there's really no excuse for not understanding, when we can all be aware of signs & symbols and pay heed to them.

If only I'd read my 5 signs. I might have taken supplies in.

Luckily, I have my Brexit store cupboard.

So Spam & pasta & tinned tomatoes. 'Mmm.

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