Pandemic Ponderings 1

The longer this pandemic lasts the more my brain gathers the wool of disbelief and anger at those who pooh-pooh science and history and caution, determined to bulldoze their clumsy way past a virus that --and I say this with  a lot of empathy and in some cases no small part of disbelief--couldn't care less about their jobs, their age, their politics, their wants vs their needs, or, in the case of  the protesters, about their camouflage costumes and angrily brandished guns. 

So for awhile I shall be begging your patience as I resist the  urge to rant on social media, and instead drop my rantings here. 

I am, after all, human.

 Just a Viral Springtime Dance

Humans always have been and always will be threatened most by their own tendency to succumb to their impulses. To buckle when temptation comes calling. Here in Chicagoland the weather is bright and beautiful, everything is growing green, blooming, and waving in warm breezes--spring temptation at its best.

I walked our dog Miso around the neighborhood late yesterday afternoon and in more than one backyard I saw large groups of people--far more than the house could hold-- having cookouts, playing games, sipping beers. Having the kind of springtime fun that in almost any other scenario would've made me smile. But all I could think about was the risk they were taking with their lives. The risk they were taking with the lives of those who may be waiting for them at their own houses. Or the lives of strangers in stores they may visit.

The temptation to walk out into that sunshine and resume our celebrations, jobs, studies, shopping--lives--as we yearn and need to live them is mighty compelling. It is the same temptation that wafted in the air during the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 when everyone thought the worst must be over...and it wasn't. There is so much we can learn from that painful history, but not enough of us willing to embrace the lessons that are there for the taking.

I can only hope that we can all resist fleeing into that spring sunshine, and come together politically, economically, and personally to support those who are facing the choice now between going to work and risking their lives, vs staying home and having no way to pay bills, buy food, etc...

Remember--the virus takes no sides, has no political agenda, no sense of time or need or privilege or entitlement. It's a mindless opportunist and it WILL take advantage of every avenue we leave open for it to grow and spread.