FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS, our back yard was a hive of industry. Marvin and Raskol hit it off right from the start—something that, I suppose, could have been predicted from the fact that both of them could look at a perfectly good drawing of a lighthouse and see a watchtower—and the three of us launched into our work with an amazing burst of energy. It amazed me, and it sure amazed my father.
“You amaze me, Peter,” said my father.
“Really?”
“Yes, you do, you really do. I wonder where all that energy has been hiding.”
“Hiding?”
“Yes. How come I never saw a burst of energy like that when you were supposed to be helping us clear the hill from the back yard?”
“You mean before it was the hill, when it used to be a mound of debris?”
“Don’t split hairs with me, Peter.”
“I was younger then.”
“That’s true, Bert,” said my mother.
“And I guess I was still getting over the measles.”
“The measles?”
“I had the measles, didn’t I?”
“You had the measles after we gave up on the hill.”
“That’s true, Peter,” said my mother.
“Amazing how long the onset is,” I said.
“Never mind,” said my father.
“But isn’t it astonishing that I should have been so weakened by the measles long before the symptoms even showed?”
“Forget it, Peter,” said my father.
“Of course, I guess you could say that the weakness actually was the first symptom—”
“I said forget it,” said my father.
I did. It was wise not to push these things too far.
[to be continued]
In Topical Guide 616, Mark Dorset considers Disease and Illness: Childhood Diseases: Measles from this episode.
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🎧 616: For the next ...