Journal of the Plague Year 3-26-2020

What to do?  What to do? So far, we stay busy.  Walks, cooking, cleaning, decluttering, TV watching, reading, blog writing—it occupies the time. Usually I don’t click on inspirational messages, but I find that I do it more in the current crisis.  I guess we instinctively know what we need. Or we should know.  Some of our political leaders are acting as if they don’t have a clue.  

I don’t have many skills that transfer to the current situation and can make one feel useful. I don’t knit or sew.  I can cook, but making goodies for neighbors seems to be inappropriate, even if I leave the offerings on the steps. I can call, write or email friends.  Even cleaning out the closets is an investment in hope—I hope I will be able to donate the excess when the plague recedes. Right now, there is no way to dispose of castoffs. And it doesn’t take a lot of skill. Rather, it takes decisiveness. Before you can donate, you must decide.

We have created a dumping room to house items to be donated or repaired in the future. Right now it contains some decent clothing, chairs to be re-caned, toys that my great nephews don’t want (they already have many Legos and Brio train sets), a never-used twin mattress (but no box spring), and some pictures that need framing. There are some nice wood interior shutters. Come and get ‘em!

In veterinary news, Mitzi the cat seems to be weathering the crisis well. Unfortunately, she can’t jump any more—she digs her claws into the top of the chair, the mattress, or my leg and pulls herself up. Most of my furniture and clothing has little tufts of fabric where she dug her claws in. She seems to enjoy having people in the house all day.  There are fewer of the “Where are my people?” cries. She gives a little chirp of victory when she finds someone and can dig her claws into a leg to get into a human lap.

May your friends, both animal and human, chirp with pleasure whenever they hear from you.

Journal of the Plague Year 3-25-2020

The governor shut down the state yesterday, although our shutdown is apparently less stringent than in other states. But even before the shutdown, supermarkets were enforcing social distancing by admitting limited numbers to the store. One contractor emailed to find out whether I still wanted him to come. Since the job is not urgent and involves removing some crappy wallpaper, I responded that he should wait. I don’t know whether he will be able to tap into the small business grants and loans that should become available one of these days.

In other news, I made my own hand sanitizer! I am not usually a DIY-er, but even I can do this. The rough recipe is three parts high proof rubbing alcohol to one-part aloe vera gel. Gave half of it to one of the sons, who was visiting to drop off groceries, keeping his distance. When he tried the hand sanitizer, he said, “Just like Purell.” My little projects seldom turn out this well.

In media news, I watched more Better Call Saul. It’s a good story, well told, of a little guy trying to do the right thing with life conspiring to derail him every step of the way. He finally takes matters into his own hands, setting up the tie-in to Breaking Bad.

On the recommendation of a friend, I watched Spenser Confidential with Mark Wahlberg. It’s set in Boston, although Mark does not get to show off his accent. Maybe he left it behind when he left Dorchester for the bright lights of Hollywood. But I am a sucker for such films. The Departed, Spotlight, Gone Baby Gone, and Mystic River all fall into this category and I have seen them all. Spenser was OK, although I liked the books better.

No outside walk today—too windy and rainy. Tomorrow for sure. No decluttering, either. Too much effort compared to the Netflix binge.

Journal of the Plague Year 3-23-2020

Empty train during COVID19

Either the Coronavirus is bad or it’s not.  President Trump, ignoring all advice and evidence, has decided that it’s not bad, “No worse than the flu,” and vowed to end any preventive measures on Easter.  Let’s not think about why he picked Easter.

If he gets the CDC to change its guidelines, there is no reason to bail out cruise lines, casinos, and other businesses.  We will all be better and back to work soon. We will go on cruises, stay at hotels and go to Vegas. Why should we bail out these businesses when there is nothing wrong? However, the president’s enablers in the Senate and his prompters at Fox News have determined that we should not worry about logic, facts, and the safety of the American people.  That’s nothing new or surprising, but putting our heads in the sand now will make it much harder to pull them out later.

In contrast to the chaos out there, life in our little corner of the Twin Cities is placid.  The wall project in the basement continues in fits and starts, as different layers must dry before the next task can start. Our governor seems to be doing what he should.  Minnesota has a large budget surplus, a big chunk of which will be used to fight the virus and mitigate its consequences. I am glad we live in a high tax state, something I would not have said (at least out loud) a few months ago.

People in the Twin Cities seem to be taking the crisis seriously. Streets and highways are empty.  Rapid transit still operates, but buses and light rail cars are empty. Nail salons, hairdressers, and barbershops are closed. The doctors at our family medicine clinic are twiddling their thumbs while waiting for the deluge.  Now is a good time to send them a non-emergency question or schedule a telemedicine visit.  My shuttered exercise class has extended its closure through the end of April.

In media news, we finished watching Who Killed Malcolm.  No big reveal at the end.  OLGS did not recognize his former student Talmadge Hayer after more than 50 years.  Our next foray into crime—fictional rather than real—is Better Call Saul, the prequel to Breaking Bad.  We dropped the show after the first couple of seasons but now seems to be a good time to try it again. Stay tuned for updates.

Journal of the Plague Year 3-22-2020

Today’s TV watching included the documentary Who Killed Malcolm X, a documentary about a man whose retirement project involved revisiting the assassination of the civil rights activist. According to news reports, the series prompted the Manhattan District Attorney to considering reopening the 1965 case. 

OLGS had a special interest in watching, as the confessed and convicted assassin, Talmadge Hayer, was one of his students in the late 1970s when he was teaching at Ulster County Community College, near New Paltz, New York.  The college ran the prison education program at the Eastern Correctional Facility in Napanoch and OLGS was assigned to conduct classes there. It was his first real teaching job, a kind of baptism by fire.

No decluttering today. We are expecting a handyman to come tomorrow to fix the walls in the basement. There is a plaster process called pargeting that was very popular in the first half of the 20^th century. The material was more flexible than stucco and other hard surfaces, so it allowed the foundation to shift. It was also permeable so that the moisture common in basements could pass through the wall. It was not intended to last 100 years, so it’s time.

We are trying to set things up so that we have six feet between everyone as the work progresses. It’s a gamble, but handyman needs the work and we need the walls fixed. Of course, if the shelter-in-place order comes from the governor, this won’t happen or will stop shortly. We shall see.

Tomorrow’s plan includes finishing the last episode of Who Killed Malcolm X, talking a walk, reading the last few pages of Leaving New York, and making a shopping list. We haven’t decided whether we will do the shopping ourselves or have our son go out for us. He is still employed, but son #2 in Seattle has been laid off from both his jobs. Son #3 has a graduate student stipend that will be paid through June. He had planned to pick up summer school classes, but he doesn’t know whether those will happen.

So much is unknown. The gods must be laughing at our feeble plans. Fortunately, we don’t have weddings to organize, parties to throw, or festivals to plan. The big unknown for our household is whether we will be able to drive to Maine in mid-May. We usually go through Canada, but that route is now closed off. What if each US state does the same thing? Although summer in Minneapolis is usually lovely, albeit hotter than it was 25 years ago, I would prefer to be in Maine.

Everything is double-edged. A friend sent an article from the Bangor Daily News that reported the very early arrival of summer people, especially summer people from New York who were trying to get away from the COVID19 explosion there. The article suggested that Mainers are not so wild about this. Folks from away could bring the virus with them. They could use up the few healthcare resources that exist if they become sick. The services that summer people use are not in place yet—people from elsewhere usually don’t arrive in Maine until after Memorial Day. 

Although Mainers are generally very welcoming, they are right to view the early arrival of summer people as a mixed blessing. Who knows what we will bring? On the other hand, what if we never arrive?  That's one more blow to an already shaky economy.