Hunker Down

Governor Walz closed the schools, the restaurants, bars, health clubs, etc.  Yesterday I had packed my gym bag to go to the Y but found out it was shut down, too.  The library was still open, so I checked out a couple of books.  Now I am told that the elderly—e.g. those 70 and older—should stay home and not travel.  When did I become elderly?

I read somewhere that we should look at this as a blessing in disguise.  Attack those home projects you have been putting off.  Clean you closet.  Write the great American novel.

I’ve thought about writing the novel, but what would I say?  Maybe write about the savagery of young boys trapped on an island after a plane crash—Lord of the Flies by William Golding.  Or maybe pursue a great white whale, metaphor for evil, like Captain Ahab in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.  Or maybe any horror topic not covered by Steven King, which is to say, he’s exhausted the genre.  I don’t have the ideas nor discipline to do a novel, so I think I’ll throw things up on my blog instead.

Maybe I could get creative and write about a gang of boys pursuing a great white whale in outer space in an evil living car named Christine.  Nah.

In the meantime, I guess I’ll have to settle for staying at home and taking long walks and reading.  I’ll watch TV which is all coronavirus all the time for the latest directives from our leaders and health care experts.  I know, wash your hands, cover your coughs, maintain social distance, and if you are elderly don’t travel and stay at home.

The elderly are not the only ones staying at home.  Parents who can work from home are doing so.  Kids are getting their school lessons over the internet in between playing video games.  And those are the lucky ones—the ones who can work from home.  Thousands of food service workers and others are being laid off.  The state says they’ll ramp up unemployment insurance.  We’ll see how that works.  Small businesses will get tax breaks and low or no interest loans.  Little consolation if you can’t even run your business and bring in revenue.

The stock market is tanking, and experts are predicting a recession, if we are not in one already.  In the meantime, our Commander in Chief has finally dispensed with the happy talk and admits this could be “bad”.  However, when asked to rate his performance so far on a 10-point scale, he gives himself a 10. He also takes no blame for dismantling the Office of Emergency Preparedness in 2018 and deflects the decision towards other people.  I guess the buck doesn’t stop at his desk.

Yes, these are trying times.  They say we’ll get through this.  As POTUS is fond of saying:  we’ll see what happens.  In the meantime, hunker down and be safe.