The Year of Covid

May, 2020

These times are crueler than cruel knew it could be.

Over 100,000 are dead. Citiess burning. Police brutality. Economy in a free fall.

Never in my life could I ever fathom this happening.

Everything about us, what we are, how we do things in our day to day, what we do in our day to day...gone. For now, anyway. My last day of work was Friday March 13th. It was raining buckets out there and there was a full crew on the floor with virtually nothing to do. All events canceled, one of the last ones was Biogen, I had to Strike that show. That was earlier in the month. I went straight to the grocery store and stocked up on food and hand sanitizer, went home and sulked. "All of this is insane" I thought to myslef. 

I consider myself lucky. The friends I have, the ones who've come down with Corona-19 are either recovering or have only had mild symptoms. To this date, my family and close friends remain healthy and vibrant, a few of them are in their 80's. Lucky me.

My housemate left for Mexico in late January. I've had the whole apartment to call my own and it wasn't long before I transformed my abode into a personal Yoga retreat. Hammock out, wood burning stove lit as I stretched out in the main room.  It's been this routine since then. 

6am Awake, coffee & Meditation

7- light breakfast

8- some stretching

9- full yoga flow 

10:30- shower and breakfast

11- emails, news,

12 lunch

1pm- Begin *Projects.

*Projects being a table that I started many years ago that was slowly falling into neglect. Nuh-uh-uh. Polished up the twisted, metal legs that I welded on and primed it then painted it a bbq black. Then sanded the wood bare and began to seal it up with clear varnish and now she's as smoothe as the bonnet on a Porsche. 

Bedroom closet totally cleaned out and vacuumed. Damn! There's that wool glove I lost so many years ago, now half eaten by moths! God rid of that. Apartment has never been cleaner. That includes the Stove, Oven, Refrigerator, floors. Everything. 

Also, my online artist profile has been nearly completed.

Still cranking away on the 'Live at the Midway' documentary, although the times dictate how that is rolling out. 

I have inherited a 3 speed English Raleigh Sport bicycle that I've been restoring, seeing how nobody claimed it.  

3pm- meditate for 10 minutes.

3:30-read

4:30 Feed the cat

5:30 get dinner started

6- PBS Newshour

7- I open up my lounge window and play the flute to anyone who will listen for 5 minutes.

(A salute to the first respnders and caretakers of the sick during this awful, AWFUL time.)

8- a little guitar playing

9 - Maddow

10- read in Bed until I fall asleep.

That's it.

That's how the day rolls out every day for me. It is all now one big blurr. The TV is off during the day after that initial check in with Morning Joe and the BBC until Maddow which I'm pretty proud of. Also, my social media is at an all time low, especially after reading the book 'Antisocial' my David Marantz. By the end of the summer my Facebook profile will be deleted. Slowly leading up to it. (Have been for quite a while, actually). 

Let me say this. I miss you. I miss seeing you around. I miss the wildness of JP and the weirdness of my friends here. You are safe but truly, life feels like a ghost town when there was once promise and prosperity. I had a prospect of a new job all lined up...up in smoke now. 2020 was going to be a big year of change. Well, it HAS been a year of BIG change. Just not the kind of change we wanted, even though there is still time. So, no Bar Wars, no JPMF, no fun. None. Stay at home. For me there has been some fun in that and for many others, it has most certainly not been. Domestic abuse calls gone through the roof, Zoom hacking, conference calls, internet, internet, internet!!....God. Some people aren't safe in their own homes while most of us bake banana bread. 

These days go by very quickly. Time goes by very quickly. All of this is happening very fastand yet we have to stay in this suspended pause. We look at ourselves now and hopefully are not broken but broken open. There is a calmness I try to search for and harness in the 'not knowing' of what is to come. None of us know. That means underneath it all, I guess we really are the same. 

I was invited to a friends BBQ on Tuesday after Memorial Day (which was a TOTAL downer) and it felt so strange to be at some other person's place with 9 other people spread out all over the yard. Burgers were good but I kept on thinking to myself..."What are we?".

My advise is get out there with your mask. It's not a political statement, it's a sign of respect. Even if you support the Orange Diaper Rash, I do this for you because I respect you and my neighbors. You call me names, call me "PC" - like that has any reference to anything these days! Call me brainwashed. You are a loud minority. Most of my friends and people I know all over the world are wearing one also. Now that the death toll in New Zealand stopped at 21, the far alt. right has been strangely quiet after Jacinda CLOSED New Zealand totally for a Month. A MONTH! That's all it took. These blow hard idiots over here HAVE to have something to complain about. Otherwise why are they here? I have limited sympathy for them in their loneliness of bigotry and hate.

OK. Time to heat up dinner. 

Hang in there, I really look forward to seeing you again.