Change has Come Today

22 March 2020

For me being confined mostly within the four corners of my home has forced me to find a variety of ways that allow my mind to stay active.  Not all of them have been to my betterment for I have become immersed in a terrible, soapy series of pulp fantasy novels.  About ½ of these tomes of magic and Victorian lust are available through online libraries.  The other half I have been buying from Amazon.  I am also waiting for one of the early Bosch books to become available along with a John Irving book I have not read, on a regional online library.  

Additionally, I have been watching PBS Create, mostly the cooking shows.  This has resulted in my preparation for my wife of French toast and German Pancakes.  A frittata, or the Greek version, may be up next.  I have to be willing to brave the store to get sausage if that is going to happen. Greek pancakes made with yogurt and served with honey and currants looked wonderful also.

I watch the news. In my mind, I don’t see this pandemic lasting less than three months. Additionally, I don’t see it failing to change our world in material ways. The economic pain that is happening is the stuff revolutions are made of.  How we communicate will be different.  How we approach dining out may very well change. I also think there will be a push away from just in time delivery and globalization.  Nations are going to rethink the interconnectedness of our supply chains. 

Personally, there have been some small changes.  I am wearing thick rubber gloves to do the dishes.  My hands are just dry and cracked from all the hand washing that I cannot immerse them in the sink without pain.  I am using hand lotion but it is not keeping up.  My sleeping patterns are shifting. Now I go to bed later.  Still, get up relatively early but I do nap.  

When I look out my window, I see so much less traffic.  What I see are solitary people walking dogs.  Occasionally I will see a jogger.  How long with it stay this way? I don’t know, but I get the feeling we don’t even know how radically this pandemic will change our world.