I suspect that it may be true that chocolate milk comes from chocolate cows. It…
Corona Virus Diary 9: Elvirus
This morning, I found an ear of deer corn dug into one of the pots of newly planted begonias. We are assuming the culprit is Elvirus, but it could have been a squirrel. We have a lot of squirrels and they plant acorns all over the place and make a mess of containers...
Corona Virus Diary 8: Essential Services?
What the heck is with the fixation on the beauty parlor? You’d think that hairdressers were emotional support animals, for all the anxiety that separation from them has generated. Talking heads on news programs apologize for their disheveled appearances and...
Corona Virus Diary 7: The Cure For What Ails Us
We all know the six symptoms of COVID19: Cough Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing Fever Chills Muscle pain Sore throat New loss of taste or smell I know the symptoms, certainly. Yet, even though it is my sixty-eighth pollen season– my car is green with...
Corona Virus Diary 6: Halting the Erosion
Apparently, the president believes that ultraviolet light, shone on one’s skin or, through some miracle of engineering, on one’s innards, will cure COVID-19. I, on the other hand, am pretty sure the only thing significant exposure to UV rays will do is give me skin...
Corona Virus Diary 5: The Most Vulnerable
We got a call from my Dear One’s children today. The nursing facility in Pennsylvania where his elder daughter lives, despite having been quarantined for six weeks, is now reporting cases of COVID-19. M is sixty-four and frail: a lifetime of poor nutrition, drug use...
Corona Virus Diary 4: Safely Stocking the Larder
I have long disliked going to the grocery store. From the time I was twenty and in my first apartment I made a list based on a strict budget, went in, collected items, paid up and got out. My mother loathed going to the store with me. I was boring, she complained. I...
Corona Virus Diary 3: Digging Weeds and Other Distractions
There has been a lot of retrospection in this time of COVID-19. Who if anyone at the top levels of government could have anticipated a pandemic and prepared the nation for such an event?[i] With China being so secretive and all, how could we have known the nature of...
Corona Virus Diary 2: Our Government Behind the Curtain
The Internal Revenue Service wisely extended the deadline for filing federal tax returns until July 15, 2020. It’s not simply a matter of COVID-19 throwing our lives into disarray. Nope. The government has to think about all those employees sitting cheek by jowl,...