Getting sick doesn't hold the pleasures for the freelancer that it does for the employed person. You're already home, and removed from the world. There is no dramatic change of wardrobe. And you have to get up and go to the bathroom anyway, so what's a few extra steps to the computer?
But there is no better time of year to get sick than the week between Christmas and New Year's. Lying in bed, you can read the books you got as presents. You can watch teams you've never cared for play in bowls you've never heard of. You can work your way, uninterrupted, through that stack of New Yorker's that's been piling up (and greet January with a clean plate). You can reflect on the past year (which ultimately laid you low) and gather strength for the one coming. You can think of all the places you're going to go, people you're going to meet, editors you're going to dazzle in the new year, when your nose stops running.
