I’ve been laid low today by a vicious, violent headache.

I don’t often get headaches, and I never think of myself as one who suffers from them. I live with someone prone to migraines, and I don’t think mine counts as a full-fledged migraine, because even through the pain – my eyes hurt when they move, all the muscles in my head and neck ache – I somehow was able to walk the dogs in the woods (albeit tentatively and holding on tight) this morning, do some grocery shopping, and mow the lawn this afternoon (although the noise of the lawnmower, which doesn’t ordinarily even register, was horrible).

Somehow, too, I was able to do a bit of work, although very little, and nothing that required the exercise of the creative lobes of my brain. Nothing that required original thinking, none of which I don’t seem to be capable of today. (I leave it to you, dear reader, to decide if ever.)

It’s frustrating, in a situation like this, not to be able to work – Fridays are typically set aside for more creative projects, and I had one in mind that I really hoped to get started on today. The most I could do was a little reading in preparation for what I wanted to write, but even reading hurts. So doubly frustrating is while I can’t work, I also can’t turn to my two favorite recreational activities, either – reading or watching TV (which I assume will also hurt, since it involves use of the eyeballs). The impetus to mow the lawn was partly the need or desire to get something constructive done, and indeed, the lawn looks great and I’m glad I was able to tick that off my to-do list (after adding it to the list after it was done).

I have plans to go to the city tomorrow to have dinner with my daughter, who recently moved to Brooklyn, and then to see the Yiddish staging of “Waiting for Godot.” This is my second time planning the trip – the first got waylaid by a death im the family and another medical emergency. I will be very, very sad if this headache still ails me tomorrow; I don’t know if I could possibly make the trip to the city with such a crippling ailment.

And so I will try to ease into the evening drinking copious amounts of water, taking a hot shower, preparing and eating a light meal, trying to keep my dog Esteban entertained (M and Mickey, out other dog, are out for a few hours), perhaps watching something quiet and not too intense on TV (like maybe a test pattern), and just generally lull myself into an early bedtime and good sleep, which I did not have last night, which was perhaps a harbinger of the headache with which I awoke.

Either that, or someone needs to come over to my house and hit me over the head with a sledgehammer.