Thursday, another day in a week of quarantine. The days run together. I am bereft of the normal routine of work that structures our sense of time. There is more mulch to be moved, to spread around the yard. The mind’s focus necessarily is restricted to the boundaries of one’s own house. There’s nowhere…
I have never paid attention to Earth Day. April 22, set aside to pay homage to the home which we share with all living beings as been on the periphery of my awareness. No longer. The global condition that we now find ourselves, searching for a treatment, a vaccine for the covid-19 virus —…
Today it is snowing. This will be the biggest snowfall of winter…. That’s right, it’s spring already. Yet another reminder that Heraclitus was right. Change is the one thing we an depend upon. You cannot step into the same river twice. Something worth thinking about. I shoveled mulch yesterday. Shoveling, spreading mulch is not…
A friend wrote about the creativity, comity, the shear effort to offer assistance in this time of necessary quarantine. Yes, there are innumerable acts of sacrifice, a dedication of time, perhaps of groceries to a person who was in need of the help. Such expressions of our shared humanity, the vulnerability and community orientation…
This morning I drove to Geneva. Before the onset of the coronavirus, I used to travel the 10 minute drive to the Starbucks at the corner of 3rd and State Street. As a matter of habit I looked forward to beginning my day with an hour of writing. I learned the names of several…
The news is not good. I read the Weekend Briefing from the New York Times this morning. While reading, a chill came over me. The realization came, that I am an observer of these events — and a participant. We Americans do not like being told what to do. Authority, even legitimate authority provokes…
Sunday, Sunday, so good to me… Ok, I know those are not the lyrics of the song by the Mamas and the Papas. It is supposed to be Monday, Monday, etc. I exercised license to substitute Sunday for the purposes of my reflection, my need to look back in order to compose a narrative…
Saturday breaks sunny, cool and not unusual for March. The number of deaths due to covid-19 begin to increase dramatically. The Mayor of New York made a public appeal for medical supplies, stating that the hospitals would run out of needed supplies in early April. As usual the promises of test-kits, just ordered, to…
The return drive to Illinois was uneventful, as has been the case in normal times. These are not normal times. The covid-19 virus is spreading. The symptoms have not yet become apparent as the virus spreads exponentially, and quietly begins to live within our bodies, before we become really, really sick. Many of us…
The 1968 song was written by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham for Alex Chilton of the Boxtops. The “Cry like a baby” tagline came to Oldham in the early morning hours at Porky’s Diner across the street from the studio. Penn and Oldham returned to the studio and finished the song in a few…
