My wife mentioned that social distancing is expected to hold until the end of May. Not sure what that means. I doubt that I will be able to resume my past routine, trusting luck to hold out….. Even if one recovers from such a serious illness, surely the experience must be life altering. I…
I know it’s not the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, but still, at the North Aurora Dam on the Fox River — the river has a voice. At the end of my bicycle ride yesterday I found the fishermen absent from the elevated spot at the end of the dam. I walked up,…
It is Tuesday, April 7. Waking this morning, the mind clouded, a fog of mental disorientation, like glaucous light filtering through an aquarium, I reached over and snapped off the alarm on the clock radio. I believe I heard the opening notes of Dancing Queen by Abba coming from the speaker. At the conclusion…
It is Holy Week. Yesterday was Palm Sunday. In five days Good Friday, and then Easter Sunday. Given the siege of the covid-19 virus all houses of worship should be on hiatus, observing the social-distancing regime in order to save lives. That is not the case though as several mega church pastors have indicated…
So much has changed over the past two, three weeks. Social distancing is mandatory, the coronavirus is more contagious than anything that we’ve known is pushing New York City hospital doctors to exhaustion. We still do not have the testing resources that we need, are blind to the extent of the sickness. This morning…
Today is Saturday. I awakened and checked the news feed on my iphone. According to the New York Times, by executive order the President has stopped all shipments to foreign customers, of masks which could be used at home to fight the Covid-19 virus. Never mind that the Germans, the Canadians have already paid…
America and Americans have been able to do whatever we wanted — and gotten away with it. We spread our footprint over this continent, then our influence over the rest of the world — and have got away with it. Others have admired us for the range of our freedoms, how we’ve celebrated liberty,…
Yesterday was my birthday. Yes I know, April 1st is the day set aside so that everyone can play the jokester if they desire. That fits my temperament. Life is highly improbable, unlikely, fragile and thus is suitable material for ironic humor. What are the odds that I am here, that I continue to…
We are at the beginning of a hard time. My father’s generation knew the beginning of hard times when Pearl Harbor was attacked. They responded to the demands of those circumstances. They passed the test. We will know if we have passed our test in the months that are to come. One never knows…
In my early 20’s I lived for several years in Tokyo. One of my first memories of that very big city was a visit to a coffee shop. The place was small, just a few tables, as are most such places in big cities. Located below grade in a basement, it was dark, haze…
