A Barry Good Friday Morning

Following last week's Manilow concert, my friends A and J and myself all have our Manilow antenna up and functioning on overtime. We all knew that today's Oprah show would feature a rerun of her show with Barry Manilow. A found out first, she called me, then I called J. We were all set to watch Oprah with Barry at 4:00 this afternoon.

However, my phone rang at 10:00 this morning. As soon as I picked up the phone, and had just barely said hello, I heard A's voice saying "Oh my God, he's on now, Barry is on Oprah now." Now? said I. NOW! said she.

I had answered the phone on the kitchen extension, so as I hung up the phone, I turned on the little TV that's on the far corner of the kitchen counter. And there was Oprah, just getting ready to introduce Manilow. I picked up the phone again and called J at his antique shop. He answered on the first ring but hardly recognized my voice because my cold has gotten worse and now I have a sore throat. I managed to croak "Turn on the little TV in your office! Oprah is on right now and so is Barry!" Now? said he. NOW! said I.

As Manilow was in the middle of his first song, my phone rang again. I was tempted not to answer it. I didn't want to interrupt Barry. But I picked up the phone, and the voice I heard was my friend Stephanie. "Oh my goodness, were you sleeping?" she asked. I told her I'd been up since 7:00 but my voice sounded hoarse because of my cold. "Well, what are you doing right this minute?" she asked. "Watching Barry Manilow on Oprah," I whispered. (Whispering so I could hear Barry.) "Oh good-- that's why I was calling you! Go back to him!"

So there I stood, watching that show as if I hadn't just seen it a couple of months ago. I didn't even leave the kitchen to watch Barry on the bigger screen in the TV room. I just stood there as if I was glued into that corner of the countertop. I made a cup of hot chocolate for my sore throat and stood there sipping that inbetween singing (croaking) along with his songs. Manilow was only on for the first half hour of that show, then Oprah went into her Book Club discussion for the second half.

I turned off the TV after Barry. I didn't need to see the repeat of Oprah's discussion of Anna Karenina, which was her summer book. And I already knew that she'd be giving out copies of The Good Earth at the end of the hour. I read Anna Karenina along with Oprah's book club this past summer, and afterward, when she recommended The Good Earth, I didn't read along because I've read that book three or four times, the fourth time being just last winter.

Anyway.... that's been the morning. The Barry grapevine is alive and cooking here in Clear Lake. My head cold has gotten worse, and I'm alternating between feeling too hot and too cold. I gave in and took some cough medicine last night, because the cough drops weren't working anymore. I've stopped coughing, but my throat is killing me and so is everything else. From the ends of my hair to the tips of my toes, I feel like one big ache. I think this has gone from a simple cold to the flu. It will be a blessed miracle if everyone who was sitting at A's Thanksgiving table yesterday doesn't come down with my symptoms.

And that's a Manilow song: "It's a Miracle....!"