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<\/a><\/p>\n\u2022\u00a0 So I have an appointment for my bi-monthly eye injection.\u00a0 I get a call the day before my\u00a0 appointment from the health assistant, asking me whether I have had a fever, or have lost my sense of taste or smell, or have taken a trip in the last three weeks.\u00a0 No, no, no and no.\u00a0 She says, good.\u00a0 To myself I say, how strange that I am weighing the value of my eyesight against the risk of getting the virus at my eye doctor.\u00a0 To her I say, thank you, I’ll be there.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0 A priest, a rabbi and a horse walk into a bar.\u00a0 The owner of the bar stops them and says, “Didn’t you see the sign?\u00a0 We’re closed because of the virus.”\u00a0 “Great… now how am I going to finish this joke?” sighs the horse.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0 OK, here’s another.\u00a0 What has 1864 wings but can barely fly?\u00a0 American Airlines.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0 In the eighth episode of The Twilight Zone<\/em> in 1959, the nerdish Henry Bemis (played by Burgess Meredith) was the sole survivor in a nuclear wasteland created by World War III.\u00a0 He wanders despondently through the rubble until he stumbles upon the ruins of a library and realizes he now has all the time in the world to pursue his favorite pastime, reading.\u00a0 And then, because it is The Twilight Zone<\/em>, his reading glasses fall and break into pieces.<\/p>\n When the stay-at-home orders were issued, I thought that I might become a Henry Bemis and use the time to focus on the painting, music, writing and reading that I enjoy.\u00a0 Instead, I’ve found it hard to concentrate on such activities.\u00a0 The news around the world, and from a number of friends, has not been uplifting.\u00a0 Writing about everyday topics feels escapist; writing about myself seems self-absorbed and disrespectful; writing about politics may be cathartic but it is also tiring, stumbling through all the rubble of this disaster.<\/p>\n I have been taking guitar lessons since February via video chat but will be ending them next week.\u00a0 Playing something badly over and over again until one slowly gets better at it (they call it practicing<\/em>) is just too morale-draining for me right now.\u00a0 I can’t imagine what it’s like for high-school and college students who don’t have this option.\u00a0 Maybe they are more resilient at their age.\u00a0 We will have to hope so.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, I am no Henry Bemis — there is no tragic twist to my story.\u00a0 We have power, heat, food, internet and transportation.\u00a0 I get to enjoy a hot cup of coffee every morning and listen to the birds outside.\u00a0 We talk with our family more than we usually do.\u00a0 And we have managed to avoid the virus.\u00a0 It will be a relief when we can focus less intently on that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2022\u00a0 A brief advisory to wine connoisseurs.\u00a0 I had a glass of red wine today for the first time in a long while — it was a 2017 Jacob’s Creek Cabernet Sauvignon that was tucked away in our pantry, a … Continue reading