My new favorite word, from the Urban Dictionary:
Covidiot
Someone who ignores the warnings regarding public health or safety.
A person who hoards goods, denying them from their neighbors.
Did you see that covidiot with 300 rolls of toilet paper in his basket?
That covidiot is hugging everyone she sees.
From the ridiculous to the sublime, April is National Poetry Month and, when I was on Facebook, I prided myself on posting a poem a day throughout. After I deactivated my account, I worried about what I'd do to honor the occasion, not realizing at the time that I would revive my blog. I've enjoyed discovering new poems (go back to 2007 and 2008 to find some of my old favorites), and am delighted to be sharing them.
Did the Seniors Publix run again this morning (sounds like a geriatric 5K, right?... :-) They actually had someone out vetting the shoppers. Needless to say, with my white "professional highlights", I did not get carded. This may be the last time we take advantage of their respectful option, as we're seriously looking into Instacart from now on. After staying home for almost three weeks (with a few ventures outside our gated community), it is becoming too stressful, not to mention risky, to engage with the world. I feel almost agoraphobic lately.
But, we said we would, and we did. Our friend Reba (who just turned 83 a few days ago) a snowbird with Autotrain reservations back to Maryland for the end of April, has wisely decided to stay in Florida indefinitely. I checked in on her yesterday by phone and said that, if she'd send me her grocery list via text, I'd be glad to do her shopping and drop it by her apartment, which I did this morning after I unloaded my own groceries into freezer, fridge, and pantry. Thought about buying her a plant or some flowers as a belated birthday present, but got her this instead... :-)
Stopped at a gas station on the way home to fill up my car (just in case), which had signs on the pumps saying that they had hand sanitizer for sale inside. Went in and bought four small bottles. Thank you, local Chevon on University Drive!
Honestly, other than meeting up with my kids in the grassy area of our complex once or twice a week, or walking the trails around the golf course (almost daily), or hanging out at the pool late-afternoon every other day, I am more serious than ever about sheltering-the-f*ck-in-place. I don't want to be a statistic.
P.S. I enter Goodreads giveaways pretty regularly and, good news, I finally won a free book. Zippity!
SONG: This World Is So F*cked Up (But I Ain’t Never Giving Up On It) by Michael Franti & Spearhead (thanks times a bazillion to Melanie, who shared this song, and graphic above, with me!)
BOOK: Your Journey to Calm: A Guide to Leaving Anxiety and Panic Attacks Behind by Maggie Oakes
POEM: people are panic-buying chickens like they did toilet paper** by Maya Stein (**I borrowed this line from a recent New York Times article entitled “America Stress-Bought All the Baby Chickens.”)
The salons are closed. Yoga mats lie curled at the corners of shiny floors
at the downtown gyms. The baking aisles’ staples have begun to disappear: flour,
yeast. There are lines past the sliding glass doors for the eggs that may not be there
when our turn arrives. And so, we are retreating to the source, the future yield
of still-unplanted gardens fervent in our minds as we dig through overstuffed garages
for the tools we are certain live on the back shelves. Some of us may succeed,
find ourselves the shepherds of a new, burbling flock, or the tenders of salad greens
that will outlast an apocalypse. Others will dream of the cakes our mothers made,
reach a fingertip into a phantom bowl where a memory of batter still coats the sides.
And the rest will notice, for the first time, how yellow the daffodils are.
QUOTE: "Panic causes tunnel vision. Calm acceptance of danger allows us to more easily assess the situation and see the options." ~ Simon Sinek
Susan, thank you for this! I have missed you on Facebook, but this is wonderful! Sending ❤️ & ✨ to you and your entire family.
ReplyDeleteMary, thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment! I learned you can take the woman off Facebook, but you can't take the writer out of the woman. Does that make sense? Did you know Danny and Carrie are doing an online concert this Saturday? I will post details to the sf_folk list.
DeleteI miss you too, and am glad we have Goodreads in common. Looking forward to sharing Face Time again. Stay safe, and much love to you and yours... :-)