Ahem, Ahem

The cold first showed itself last Wednesday week and has taken the usual course, declining into an annoying cough and persistent phlegmminess. Most of the time my voice is good, and handling it reasonably effectively is one of the few things I can confidently say I do quite well: not at the moment, as the attendants at the Day Centre Songs of Praise a couple of days ago can testify. It wasn't a very pleasurable experience for me and I dare say not for them either, as I croaked and wavered my way, with them, through five partly harvest-related hymns. 

Having a resonant voice is a distinct benefit and means that I start with an advantage in liturgy and in speaking. But it's a very vulnerable instrument. When I had my nasty bout of food-poisoning last Spring the repeated soaking in acidic body fluids did my vocal chords no good at all and I remained a bit sub-optimal for some weeks afterwards. 

The Roman Catholic priest who came to stand in for our regular celebrant at their Sunday mass a few weeks ago told me as he fiddled with his microphone, 'I used to have a good strong voice, then I was speaking at a retreat and began to get laryngitis. Of course like a fool I just carried on regardless rather than resting and I never quite got it back again.'

Doubtless the effect of this cold, like all those before it, will be temporary, but I always have that little tremor of doubt in my mind!