It’s been a beautiful couple of days on this holiday (what’s a holiday?) weekend (what’s a weekend?). I’ve slept in. I’ve ordered takeout. I’ve written things that were neither steeped in panic, nor bound for clients. I’ve kinda, sorta had the kind of quarantine I imagine I thought I might have, back before I realized how much dread would accompany it. This golden state is likely fleeting, but for now, it feels nice to think […]
Plague Diary, 4/9/20: Roughly twenty-seven years ago today, I filed into the pink and gray Art Deco chapel at the center of high school and sang a piece of Renaissance choral music with a bunch of teenagers by candlelight for Maundy Thursday service. I, a born heathen, never heard of Maundy Thursday before. In fact, the first time our creepy mustachioed, Chaplain mentioned it, I could have sworn he said “Monday Thursday,” which sounded like […]
One month in. We’re all on different timelines for shut-in status. My quarantine unofficially began exactly four weeks ago today, when I decided not to go to that Cat’s Cradle show that everyone else went to. At the time, I thought I was erring on the side of caution, even as I ordered takeout and fielded summons from friends in attendance, and worried my decision would be vindicated by people I knew getting sick. To […]
I went to the supermarket this morning. I’d been dreading it, but it had to be done. I needed cat food. needed butter. I needed toothpaste. I needed onions. But I also needed the truly critical items like tonic water, about a pound of (medicinal) gruyere, dijon mustard, and a couple of potted geraniums for the deck. I decided to go early, and set my alarm. Unnecessary, as my internal Plague Anxiety alert system jolts […]
Plague Diary, 4/6/20: This morning, I watched a shirtless jogging dude clear a bottleneck up the trail by yelling out “I WORK IN THE HOSPITAL,” which sent a couple of chatty pram-handlers and inappropriately-distanced dog owners headlong into the brambles and wisteria. I don’t think I’ve laughed—into the crook of my elbow, in the event that I snorted–that hard in weeks. And while I can’t advocate for you using medical stolen valor to enforce social […]
The worst people in a plague are the people that continue to go on about their business as if there is no plague. The worst people in a plague are the people that hall monitor everyone else for their less than perfect quarantining. The worst people in a plague are the jokers. The worst people in a plague are the scolds. The worst people in a plague are the ones that suggest we all had […]
Yesterday, I had to pull myself back from posting a screed on a friend’s Facebook post, because one of their friends, a person I do not know, had offered up some particularly dumb-sounding advice about how people should comport themselves during this time of pandemic. I went for a walk in the woods instead and sounded off a pretty vicious rant to a friend of mine in California. I was loud. I was furious. It […]
