Thoughts on March

Look around for your bootstraps, everyone, because we are going to need them to pull ourselves up by. Yes, I know that's grammatically incorrect, but these are parlous times.

When did all this start? I've nearly forgotten, but I'm pretty sure it didn't hit home till, all of a sudden, we came back from California on March 18 to find that toilet paper was the new currency, and antiseptic wipes were a vanishing breed. There were lines at grocery stores and exhortations to stay at home and not gather in groups larger than 10. Did the world we knew simply pivot while we were in mid-air? No, it was earlier than that, because we had been concerned that the airlines would have shut down before we could fly away home. But the planes were still going up and down, along with the stock market, though ridership had diminished significantly. The normally-crowded San Diego airport was veritably empty, and boarding calls at the various Southwest Airlines gates yielded as little as 1 passenger for San Francisco, 4 for San Jose, 14 for Dallas, and maybe 19 for our flight to Austin that continued to D.C. Things apparently did not bode well for the airlines. In-flight snacks had descended to pretzels and water--with an occasional package of Lorna Doones.

We were brought to earth in a brave, new world here in D.C.: a taxi immediately available (the driver told us he'd waited 5 hours to get a fare--us!) and no traffic. Our first venture was to the supermarket, where we re-stocked our refrigerator with the bare necessities. We dropped by our local UPS store to claim our books and things that had been shipped from San Diego earlier in the week. The next few days we were re-adjusting: to the east coast, to our old routines, to the new normal.

And now, here we are: a little more than ten days into...what? Uncertainty, for sure. For all our questions, the short answer is: nobody knows. How long, how bad will this virus be? When will we get past this, get a vaccine, get a drug, get a break? How many jobs will be lost, businesses shut down? When will our old, familiar life return? Will it ever?

Hunkered down and waiting, reading, doing jigsaw puzzles, compulsively cleaning out closets , junk drawers, garages, watching movies, Zooming and FaceTiming, playing video games, missing friends, stress-baking. Is this what we've become?

The answer is no. Back to those bootstraps and start pulling. We are better than this. It's easy to listen to Trump and despair of it all. He doesn't know what he's doing. He only knows that this is hurting his self-cast role as savior of the world in general and the U.S. in particular. He has changed his tune so often, he could get work as a disc jockey. If anyone should self-quarantine, it should be him. Let Dr. Fauci run this effort, with Pence to sign the orders if necessary. I trust Anthony Fauci. Listen to what he has to tell us, because if anyone knows, or can make educated guesses, it would be him.

Listen also to our local leaders. Listen to Cuomo. Listen to Larry Hogan, to Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan, to deWine in Ohio, to Muriel Bowser in DC, to our guy Northam in Virginia, to Gavin Newsome in California. Look for the passion in their speech. Look at what they are DOING. None of them are making promises they can't keep; none of them are quarreling about numbers and what is needed. They are listening to the scientists, the authorities in this. They are out there working to support their people, and I'll bet not one of them is figuring the angles on how this will help them get re-elected. Listen to the local organizations that are doing their damnedest to keep people safe, to keep them employed, to help them get through, to get them fed. Look at what they all have done in less than a month. This alone is reason for hope.

So. How do we reclaim what used to be America? We pay attention. We read newspapers and watch the news and keep informed. Not just ONE paper or ONE station that echoes what we ourselves think, but all the others who might have valid points, too. We listen to what our leaders say and question it, and if we don't agree, we let them know and vote accordingly. Elections aren't till November? There's plenty to do in the meantime. Write letters. Contribute if you can. Follow the recommendations of the people who are working at understanding this pandemic. Wash your hands--and make sure the people around you do the same. Things are tough. They are tough all over, but we have been here before--or at least, our families have, and by god, they managed to get through. Surely we can stay at home for however long we need to, and bear up under the inconvenience. Surely we can help each other.

And that's about it. We can do this. Be considerate. Be generous. Be kind. Have faith. Have hope. Carry on.

Things You Didn’t Want to Hear in March

 Things You Didn’t Want to Hear in March

We’ve locked down California. And Illinois. And New York.

Others pending.

The stock market takes another plunge. And another.

Small business suffers. Unemployment soars.

Bars and restaurants close. And schools, till who knows when.

Grocery lines are long, and shelves are empty when you go.

The old and infirm should shelter in place. 

(They say that includes me.)

The number of infections is on the rise. Here, there, everywhere.

Italy is paralyzed and warns that we will follow.

There are no tests available—or not enough. A vaccine will take a year or two.

Masks do not prevent infection OR masks do prevent infection, but we haven’t any.

Hospitals lack capacity to handle this pandemic. Beds, doctors, nurses. Ventilators.

Wash your hands. Wipe everything down. Don’t touch anything.

Or anyone.

The president called this a hoax; 

now, it’s real, but 'nothing to worry about'.

As the economy crumbles and citizens rush to buy more guns,

no one knows when this will end; no one has the answers.

And... the worst is yet to come.

Notations

A nation of  

aggravation, irritation, isolation, 

bloviation, argumentation, 

frustration, intimidation:  

a monstrous dumpster 

conflagration. 

  

Seeking: a new condition-- 

informed positions, returning 

to the constitution for true solutions,  

for a plan of execution, for an end to convolution, 

for evolution, and, perhaps, 

absolution.   

Today, 

the selection, an election, 

a confirmation, an invitation 

to celebration, to conversation, 

to a new dedication. 

Perhaps salvation.