Welcome to the Gathering Pod, the audio version of my weekly gathering room broadcast.

I'm Martha Beck.

I haven't seen y'all for like three weeks because we had some horrific power outage.

Like our power went out because someone cut through the cables in a field where Alexander Hamilton used to have

his Revolutionary War headquarters. If you have to have a really bad power outage,

that's a really good way to have it, I would think. The ghost of Alexander Hamilton,

cut our power lines and we couldn't meet with you. And then last week,

something else happened. I can't remember. If you're listening to this in the future, it's all moot.

I was really sick, though that wouldn't have stopped me because I'm still really sick.

Ha ha ha. Here I am. Not only am I sick, but a thing happened. And I'm going to tell you

about it. And that is that I was

taking Benadryl for cold symptoms. I don't think I have COVID, but it's bad. It's a bad cold.

When I think how bad a bad cold feels, I think of you guys who have COVID. My daughter and her

partner have it right now. It's inconceivable to me how much you all have suffered. My daughter and her partner have it. Right now, it's inconceivable to me how much

you all have suffered and I'm sorry to hear it. Anyway, our two-year-old, Lila, came into my

room yesterday and we were playing around and she spilled this bottle of Benadryl. And I was

worried that she would eat them because they're bright pink and coated with

sugary something.

So I was like, oh no, you've got to put them away.

We've got to put them away.

So we did.

And there was a glass like this one by my bed.

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