Hard times need good songs. The Great War had “Over There.” The Great Depression had “Brother Can You Spare a Dime.” World War II had “We’ll Meet Again.” And now, with Covid-19 roaring back, it feels like we need an anthem too. I nominate “Wise Up,” by Aimee Mann. The song came back to me yesterday, just after I canceled the family vacation rental I’d booked for […]
The shit keeps coming
‘Well, that was some weird shit.” President George W. Bush’s reaction to Trump’s 2017 inauguration speech was apt then and describes pretty well everything Trump has done since. Weird shit indeed! It never ends, does it? Last night (July 3) at Mount Rushmore, Trump was reveling in dystopian fantasies of culture war and forced-perspective photographs suggesting his own smirking visage would look pretty good chiseled alongside the […]
Unmasked annoyance
I used to not mind grocery shopping. But now every trip to the store involves a certain amount of resentment and homicidal rage. That’s one more effect of the pandemic: It makes me uncomfortable with my thoughts. Here in Jacksonville, the Republican mayor has finally decided that maybe masks aren’t so bad after all, and recently announced a citywide requirement that masks must be worn in any […]
Two steps back
For us, the pandemic started March 13. We went out for pizza. No masks then, but no hugs or handshakes either. Seated well apart. Talking about the coronavirus, I opined that we might get together again in a month or so, when things eased up. I thought we’d have a clearer picture on how long this thing might last. More than three months later, a clearer picture […]
Jigsaw etiquette
During these uncertain times, you may find yourself borrowing jigsaw puzzles. I hate to borrow anything, but I don’t own any puzzles, and looking online I see that pretty much anything rated age 6 and above is back-ordered to around 2025. Some neighbors were nice enough to loan us a few. We worked on them for days, only to find at the end that pieces were missing. […]
Still afloat
We’re about a month into this now. Amazing what you get used to. Amazing what’s changed and what hasn’t. We’re still eating pretty well. (Thanks, WalMart Pickup!) We still go for walks and enjoy the good weather. We got through the wretched Tiger King, but still have a long queue of books and Netflix recommendations from equally bored friends and family. We’ve still got Zoom, with all […]
Highway 21 revisited
Last Friday I was driving up I-95 to see my daughter and her girls in Virginia. Somewhere south of Savannah a gleaming red Mercedes coupe with New York plates swept by on my left. It was car to remember, even more so because there was an enormous cream-colored cat lounging the back window, calmly observing all the other northbound motorists. It seemed very relaxed for a cat […]
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