It all started with bush fire smoke, somewhere in January

The initial "discomfort in throat" quickly turned into a sporadic but annoying cough.  It felt like medium-coarse sand paper (grade 800, wet & dry) being jammed in the upper airways.  "It will go away" I told myself.

It didn't. Instead, it turned into an irritating hourly ritual of unhealthiness which annoyed the hell out of everyone around me. But it wasn't the cough - it was the sleep deprivation that drove me crazy. Finally, two weeks ago, I went to see my GP for a checkout.

"You are perfectly fine, it's not coronavirus", she said.  "It will go away".

"When?" "In two weeks. If it doesn't, then come to see me again. Actually, don't come to see me. It will go away."
"It's not going away for 3 months now"
"Yes, I know" - he said - "I've been coughing myself for 6 months. It is irritating, but it won't kill you. It is most likely hereditary."

That night I called my brother who specialises in public health.

Ten minutes later, my mother was on the line. "Your brother told me you are coughing like a donkey. I can't believe you are not drinking onion tea! Start drinking it now, you will be like new by Friday!".

Bloody hell, the onion tea! How could I forget that good old Slavic recipe, the universal cure for any illness known to humans and small domestic animals?

"Boil one onion in a litre of water for 10 minutes. Drink 3 times per day."

Yes, it' simple as that. Does the tea smell and taste like onion? Of course it does. But if you are coughing like a donkey, it is the most pleasant taste ever. Because - it works.

Did it go away? Of course, like my GP said - in exactly two weeks’ time.