My fever broke at 2:30.  I woke in the dark, the shades drawn, melting under a wool sweater and layers of quilts, the heat hiked to 72 degrees, Doug still asleep.  Brutal.  We hadn’t had the flu in over a decade.  It hit us swiftly and fiercely.

Doug went to the store to get us crackers and ginger ale.  “Don’t get ginger ale!” I said.  All it is is corn syrup at this point.  Gone is the ginger ale of my youth.  He brought home nubby roots of brown ginger instead, the smell slightly sweet and calming.  A bottle of seltzer water and one of honey.  He chopped the ginger into one inch pieces and placed them in a small saucepan.  4 slices to 1 1/2 cups water, roughly.  He boiled it for about a half an hour adding a bit more water if needed if too much boiled off.  He placed a good dollop of honey in a pint jar, poured an inch or two of ginger water over it.  Then he added an ice cube and topped it with water.  I cannot tell you how many I drank.  Medicine.  The only medicine I could take.

My tinctures are fabulous and if I could have caught it early I would have possibly prevented its onset.  I had the droppers of tincture in a shot glass when the flu hit and the glass stood for another day and a half.  It was too late.  I would have never gotten them down.

Ginger is a sneaky medicine.  Besides being delicious, it is anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, and specific to digestive disorders (just to start).  Such a delicious and refreshing glass of ginger ale was just the medicine we needed and incredibly easy to make too!