The dog shit scene did it for me. When Emily, in Netflix’s new series – “Emily in Paris” – steps in the do-do, her immaculate pink shoes squishing with that “Oh no, ugh!” sound, I laughed out loud. You see, that happened to me as well. Rounding the corner one gorgeous late fall morning, headed … More I’ll Always Have Paris
I don’t know about you, but these days I’m feeling a bit constricted by a myriad of circumstances. It’s high summer in Florida, with hurricanes kicking up mischief in the Atlantic, and COVID-19 continuing to sweep through the state with frightening relentlessness. Humidity and the heavy air of impending thunder storms don’t invite much meandering … More Dreams of Flying, or, Armchair Traveling Through Books, LED Screens, and Memories
I’ve been thinking a lot about my mother-in-law Ethel these days, wondering what she would make of the COVID-19 virus, the isolation, the uncertainty. She grew up on a farm in western Wisconsin. And she survived the flu epidemic of 1918, although her father caught it and lost all his hair while still in his … More With Roots In Norway: Fish and Farming in Western Wisconsin, a COVID-19 Reflection
Like most of you, I am getting a bit off kilter here. I mean, after all it is Day 52 for me in COVID-19 lockdown. But I broke that run of strict isolation today. I didn’t want to. But I had to. This morning I dashed out to visit my spine doctor, due to ongoing … More Traveling Back in Time: Memories of Wet Markets – COVID-19 Isolation, Day 52
I’ve heard the saying “That sucks” for years without really being sure of what it meant. Now I think I know. — STEPHEN KING, “THE STAND” It’s Day 30, and I am not writing about Day 29, because the days are running together, like “Groundhog Day”, and I feel like Bill Murray. Every day the … More Dreaming and Wishing, Being In a State of Siege: Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Day 30
The sense of impending doom hanging heavy on my mind lifted, but only slightly, as I started scrolling through the gorgeous photos. By the time I finished, the sight of those deep-blue Norwegian fjords, flanked by high mountains, their peaks frosty with snow, opened up something in me. But what? Hope. That someday, hopefully someday, … More In a State of Siege: Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Days 19 & 20
Dedicated to the people struck down by COVID-19. On Day 17 of self-isolation, for some reason I wake up thinking of William Golding’s novel The Lord of the Flies. It brilliantly explores the human struggle, which civilization covers up and denies. Morality, law, and culture versus anarchy, bloodlust, power, amorality, selfishness, violence. An eerie sense … More In a State of Siege: Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Days 17 & 18
Hello again. It’s Day 16 officially, but I’ve actually been self-isolating for about three weeks now. I don’t need to remind you, I know, that things are not getting better outside my door. I wish I could. But I don’t have a Pollyanna personality. At least not right now. This past week did bring a … More In a State of Siege: Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Day 16