The Mail Box

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“We all do better when we all do better.”  Paul Wellstone, 1999

Just back from my two miles in the woods.  Today’s “census”: I met seven people and eight dogs (one couple had five dogs on a leash).  These were ‘nod and keep walking encounters’.   Two were couples; two walkers were deep into their ear buds.  (There were also two squirrels).  I think we were all following the rules.

The old Busch mailbox at rest, March 30, 2020

As “apex” becomes a common term with COVID-19, I’ve become more and more aware of interpersonal communication in this new age.  It has changed for all of us, in different ways, and we’re not accustomed to it.  And its unlike anything most of us have ever had to deal with.

A few days ago,  my friend Bernie, a fellow usher, called me on the phone to just check in.  We talked near an hour: an eternity in my typical engagement.

Bernie is one of those folks, as is our friend Don across the street, who hasn’t, doesn’t and won’t do computer and those other new fangled things that we take for granted.  Telephone and occasional greeting card do just fine for him.

A few days earlier my four siblings and I had an unusual flurry of activity, which turned out to be amusing, but could have been serious.  It started with four or five text messages in a row.  I have a flip phone which receives and sends texts, so I heard the phone, but it was downstairs, and besides, it is very tedious to text on a small phone.  But I looked at the brief messages, and the flurry of texts suggested there might be more of a story, which led me to call my brother in Salt Lake City, where there recently had been an earthquake.  He and I connected, but mid-call the phone went dead for some reason or other.  My brother sent me an e-mail, and on we went…excitement soon over.

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The episodes remind me of a long ago observation, long before Facebook, even, that “we have more ways to communicate less” (my phrase).  I have two examples I’d like to share, for thought and discussion.

I thought about my ancestors farm mailbox, which resides now above my car in our garage (photo).  It is a very large, heavy and real metal mail box, and in its day came most everything mailable to the farm, from letters, to “Monkey Ward” catalog to shoes, to newspapers and farm magazines to machine parts – you name it, was delivered to that mail box, and it was a treat to be able to go down to get the mail when we came to visit.

In the farm house, remembering my visits around, say, 1950, they had a radio (mostly I remember livestock prices in West Fargo), and a telephone, which was used only for necessary calls (everybody on the line could listen in!). Television came quite a bit later.

I thought, also, back to a 1991 meeting I attended where a handout reviewed how we communicated then.  The list is below (Source pr reporter Aug. 26, 1991), and is interesting to ponder in context with how we communicate today.

  1.  One-to-one, face-to-face.
    2. Small group discussion/meeting
    3. Speaking before a large group
    4. Phone conversation
    5. Hand-written personal note
    6. Typewritten, personal letter not generated by computer
    7. Computer generated or word-processing-generated “personal” letter
    8. Mass-produced, non-personal letter
    9. Brochure or pamphlet sent out as a “direct mail” piece
    10. Article in organizational newsletter, magazine, tabloid
    11. News carried in popular press
    12. Advertising in newspapers, radio, tv, mags, posters, etc.
    13. Other less effective forms of communications (billboards, skywriters, etc.)

I’m not coming to any conclusions, here, just raising some observations which I hope all of us think about as we try to adapt to a new way of being with each other.

COMMENT:  Beth identifies this website as having very useful webinars, including one on April 6 on COVD-19.  This is a program of the UM Alumni Association, and requires registration, but there is no requirement that registrants be alumni.

 

Portion of Walking route; my normal route is beyond lower right hand corner to the lake beach area and back.  Walking area is marked in white.

Your correspondent Apr 2, 1020

Taxes

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PRENOTE:  Have you filed your 2020 Census Data?  The website is here.  A mailer should have been received at your address earlier in March.  It is very easy to complete, and very important.

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Today was to be my annual tax appointment.  It was cancelled due to the Minnesota lockdown.  I submitted the paperwork on Friday in the event my tax preparer can do the preparation without my attendance.

I would venture that it is the rare person who likes the word ‘taxes’.  “Death and Taxes” are a common pair.

I think I have all but one of the tax returns filed since my first, which would have been about 1964.  One I misplaced.  56 years.  There is no reason to keep the others, but once the tradition started, it took root, and in the garage is a large box full of state and federal tax returns.  It will be something for my descendants to toss on my departure.  “Why did he keep these?” someone will ask….

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I truly don’t mind paying taxes.  I buy Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.’s declaration “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.”

I don’t know for sure what my tax bill is for this year.  I am pretty sure that it will be similar to previous years: about 15% of our income for State and Federal taxes.  Has this broken us?  Hardly.

Yes, I know, there are those that aggregate any other conceivable tax to make it seem like half their hard-earned wages go to bureaucrats and other presumed loafers in that despised ‘government’, most of whom are expert in what they do, proven by their long experience doing it, regardless of the title of their position; whether in a cubicle or top floor corner office with windows on two sides.  Virtually every one of us are like these folks.  We have value.

What’s wrong with paying gas taxes to improve aging roads and bridges, or buy snow removal equipment for a city through municipal taxes?  Nothing, of course, unless you think you should get it for free, or for less, or later, when its already too late.

My favorite anti-tax guy was the old codger, during the most heated taxpayer revolution days, who slapped his wallet, as he exclaimed, loudly, “I want my money in my pocket, right here!”  It made for good drama, but not for good sense.  I was there, sitting near him at a community conversation the night he said it.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s still saying it, if he’s still alive…I used to see him at the copy machine at the local FedEx, running off his anti-tax flier for distribution somewhere or other.

One does not argue with someone so certain.  How about public schools?  Fire protection, roads, on and on.

Right now we’re dealing with the consequences of lack of foresight in dealing with a national crisis, COVID-19.  We ended up behind the eight-ball because the leadership of the Federal Government dismissed the potential need and all of us are suffering and will continue to suffer from this short-sightedness.

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If we are smart, we’ll use this episode in our history to take a good hard look at our priorities as a nation.  We need a strong central government, with strong United States, working together rather than being forced to compete with each other while the federal level tries to figure out what to do.

We will have plenty of months, this time, to reflect on how, or whether, we choose to work together for the greater good of everyone.

We are all wise in many ways.  We need to use our individual and collective wisdom to begin to right this collective train wreck in which we are living.

We can’t do this by our silence.

TOMORROW OR THE NEXT DAY: Breakdown in Communications.

More if you wish: Modified Happy Talk.

COMMENTS (More in the comments section):

from a good friend: I wouldn’t mind paying taxes if those taxes are spent on useful things, however, if you look at the budget of the Federal Government, one of the largest expenditures has to do with defense spending.  I may have told you that during my last few years at [a defense related industry], I worked with the Air Force and Navy to define defense systems that could improve their military effectiveness and could save each service several hundred billion dollars over the next system life span.  The Air Force showed some interest, but not so in the Navy.  The issue is that as you modernize and streamline, many of the positions that the officers were eyeing for their next promotion would disappear, hence there was strong objections to modernizing.  Just a fact of life, until we get a commander-in-chief that has the intellect to figure it all out.

 

 

 

COVID-19 Dignity

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PRE-NOTE March 30: This is the 8th blog on COVID-19 in March, 2020.  Yesterday was the 11th birthday of this blog, and this is the 1,540th – 140 a year.  I plan to continue.  Chances are I’ll be at this address.  Easiest access to past items is to go to the archives box at right on this page, and select the month you wish to search.   All posts for that month will come up.  Beginning in April, I hope to introduce more variety, though COVID-19 will be central to all our lives for a long while..

POSTNOTE Sunday night Mar. 29: Brene Brown on Vulnerability on 60 Minutes this evening. A must watch/listen is her TED Talk, Here.  This is an earlier talk by Brene, a TEDx talk in Houston TX that’s been watched 46,000,000 times.  They both are relevant to all of us, especially today, and always.

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Sign at Woodbury MN McDonalds drive-thru, March 28, 2020.

March, 2020, is near an end.  In some future day in history, this month, and the four preceding months, will be remembered as the month the influenza struck the Globe – all countries.  We – all of us – are living within this history.  The end of this chapter is somewhere way down the road.  Be safe.

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Friday evening, March 28, Pope Francis addressed the World Crisis with COVID-19.  You don’t need to be Catholic or Christian to find meaning in his remarks, which can be read and viewed here.  As I interpret the essence of his homily, which is based on the Gospel of Mark 4:35: ‘we’re all in the same boat, being battered by the same storm – we’re in this together’.

Behind me in a bookshelf is Grandma Bernards old Bible, Imprimatur 1911.  The verse used by Pope Francis, 35, says this “And he saith to them that day, when evening was come: Let us pass over to the other side.” 

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Yesterday was the first day of “Stay at Home” in our state.

I think we followed the rules which were quite simple.

Later in the morning I took our neighbor, Don, 90, to the local superstore so he could get a couple of prescriptions and some groceries.  Normally, a long-time friend is his shopping chauffeur and friend, but this day was unable to help.  Clearly, Don enjoyed getting out.

Truth be told, I felt hesitant about taking him out for this less-than-an-hour jaunt.  One of us could easily have done this for him.  But shopping has been his way out of his own box – it is his own weekly habit, followed by lunch at a restaurant (not possible this day because no restaurants were open).  He doesn’t have a car.

It turned out to be simple to keep the appropriate distance, the store was near empty, and all tasks were accomplished.

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I got to thinking back to the single most powerful homily I had ever heard, from then-Mgsr. Jerome Boxleitner at the Annual Meeting of Twin Cities Catholic Charities on May 5, 1982.  You can read it here: Mgsr Boxleitner May 1982001.  (click on the image to enlarge).  The talk is short and succinct, and in particularly relevant part, the Monsignor said this: “I don’t think we want to accept that human needs reach beyond mere survival to include respect, a feeling of self-worth and personal dignity – not just being the object of our sometimes whimsical generosity.  We need to restore the conscience of this country.”

Have a good day.

POSTNOTE: Basilica of St. Mary 9:30 Sunday Mass once again can be accessed live here.

from Chuck in MD:  I trust Chuck as a reliable source.  Nonetheless, I am asking for independent validation of the  generalizations.

From my sister Mary in New York State, retired Nurse Practitioner: [The graphic] is useful!  I appreciate that so many folks are really paying attention to contagion.  Always has been hard to explain ‘droplet and contact’ and unfortunately this sticky little “Novel Corona’ virus zooms through the air and sticks to surfaces for many days!  Also fortunate that so many infections are mild – in all age groups.  We will still lose a lot to this difficult to treat pneumonia. 

I can understand  [my Down syndrome daughters] difficulty in deviation from her comfortable routine and will send her a note (recognizing that my note could be considered a fomite or carrier if I or someone along the handling chain of snail mail was contagious) but we are seeing that difficulty of  acceptance of externally motivated decision making manifest in all ages and walks of life as person’s try to rationalize their reasons to ‘test the directives’.  Never mind that Charlie Brown continues to surround himself with reluctant minions as he espouses words of whatever!
I do continue to work some supervisory shifts in a couple of local nursing homes – yes, there is virus there; yes, folks are dying – but many are not; yes, there is an appalling shortage of masks; yes, I am comfortable with my decision to continue to support residents in need.  Our most serious shortage is staff.   I am, however, glad I am a gig worker and can decide whether or not I want to be at work.  I have no doubt I am equally or more significantly exposed when I use the ATM, pump gas, or pick up eggs at the grocery store.  Looking forward to having scientists and researchers unlock the therapeutics needed to treat…not as optimistic about politicians figuring out how to unsnarl the crippled public health system in our ‘first world’ country.  NY is running to catch up and  Cuomo is doing a great job – hopefully Minnesota will keep ahead of the curve.  We should peak in another 30-45 days.
So, today I made delicious beef barley soup and will make a chocolate cake a little later!
And, as we have been saying in infection prevention for many years “Handwashing is the single most important action in preventing the transmission of disease”.  Lavez vos mains!!!

A solitary walker on “my” path near Carver Lake, Woodbury, March 30, 2020. This day I saw 3 other walkers in my two miles.

COVID-19 Reflecting on “Stay at Home” 3 weeks out.

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NOTE: This is 10th in a series on Coronavirus, all in March 2020.  For the others, go to Archive, for March, 2020.  Check back for later commentaries on this and other topics.

Thursday’s Minneapolis Star Tribune had this front page graphic under a banner headline “Stay at Home”.  (I don’t feel guilty stealing the illustrations – I attribute the source.  Also, I’m (we are) a daily/Sunday subscriber to the STrib for many years.  I’ve paid my dues, or so I reason.)

Yesterday afternoon I stopped by the post office, and a young man preceded me in.  He was wearing gloves and a mask – not a crook.  Otherwise he appeared very healthy.  He’s been an unusual sight in my town.  I look at the graphic above: basically I’ve behaved consistent with the recommendations.  The only short term decision on the “what’s closed?” list will be a mutual one between myself and  barber – long retired who works out of his home for a few of us long-time customers.

In my opinion, the recommendations are very reasonable.  They have caused me no personal hardship, but they surely require a change in habit!  The financial and risk dimension for employees of closed businesses, etc. is another story, completely.  But these instructions are about health, and without health there is no consumption.

I’m about a month from 80, and thus too old to be constructively engaged in a physically active way, and in the prime at-risk group. frustrating realities.  I follow this crisis (and it is a crisis) carefully, and I offer a few personal observations in addition to the above.  My list is only a short list; mine could be much longer.

  1.  The people on the front lines, particularly in the medical profession in any capacity are the heroes for all of us.   And, the victims are not only those who are exposed to the disease, but those who were people like the young people and others on the front line as the baristas at my now-empty coffee place, and all employees at our favorite restaurants, etc.  And yes, the businessmen and women, particularly small and local. These folks are the ‘face’ of business for lots of people like myself.  I keep thinking about how I can help them after a semblance of normal reappears, though that will have to be deferred.
  2. This crisis points out once again that you cannot prepare for a crisis after it has begun – you have to do pre-planning, and then respond immediately.  We didn’t.  There was too much talk of ‘hoax’, and blaming someone else for starting the pandemic.  It wasn’t productive.  The old instruction applies: when the accident is happening, it is too late to fasten your seatbelt.
  3. The federal government is always a favorite whipping post.  But a main purpose of States being United is the reasonable access to central coordination, as opposed to one state doing this, another doing that.  Pandemics don’t respect boundaries, we certainly are learning that again.  We had a bottleneck at the very beginning of this crisis, and we’re paying the price now for that.  Preparedness involves sacrifice before the crisis begins.
  4. Shortly, we’re going to get a gigantic financial handout, or that is how it will be perceived and sold.  The federal government aid is essential and I support it completely, as I did in 2009 after our near national catastrophe.  But people need to look at this handout as each one of us taking out a loan for which the bill must be repaid, either in fact, or through future reductions in services we took for granted.  IN THIS COUNTRY, WE ARE THIS “GOVERNMENT”.  There is no free money, and while it is extremely convenient to offer it prior to an election, it can bite us all in the end.
  5. We have an opportunity during and after this catastrophe to reprioritize our lives and the life of our country.  In too many ways we have been convinced to live our lives to facilitate profits for capitalism; where the well-being of our planet and our neighbors who live on it should be our focus.  Our country, with about 5% of the world’s population, has about 25% of the total money wealth of the planet.  Within our country there is a far worse inequity in wealth between the rich and the rest.  Within our own country, Paul Wellstone’s adage always has rung true: “We all do better when we all do better.” We have, and have had,  a collective responsibility much greater than a right.  “God” (or Capitalism) didn’t “bless America“.  That’s my ideological statement.

I could go on at much greater length.  Your thoughts?

POSTNOTE: Today’s Washington Post.  The U.S. is Still Exceptional by Fareed Zakaria

COVID-19 The Orchestra

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Today’s paper brought a most welcome article on the front page of the Variety Section.  The photo begins the story; the text follows:

Orchestra Hall Front page Variety Section Mpls Star Tribune Mar 25, 2020

The accompanying article by Jenna Ross can be read here.  A recording of the evening program can be heard here.  This is an absolutely remarkable gift to everyone during this intense time of change.

In my first post about Coronavirus, March 6, I wrote that we were at Orchestra Hall for the same Minnesota Orchestra the previous day.  That day the program was composed by Franghiz Ali-Zadeh – Nagillar (Fairy Tales); Concerto No. 2 in C-sharp minor by Shostakovich;  and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major.

In these troubled times, sit back and enjoy two marvelous hours of a superb symphony orchestra and guests.  And look back at the previous post, March 23, “New Normal”.  There have been, so far, over a dozen comments, all on-point, all interesting.

More later.

COMMENTS CONTINUE FROM PREVIOUS POSTS:

from SAK, who writes from England: I remember reading Camus’ The Plague for an English course as a teenager. I was impressed, no shocked, & I therefore still remember bits so many years later. I was looking for one such bit & hit upon [this]: & you know how road leads to road according to Robert Frost and how link leads to link nowadays: here. 

The book ends with:

“And, indeed, as he listened to the cries of joy rising from the town, Rieux remembered that such joy is always imperilled. He knew what those jubilant crowds did not know but could have learned from books: that the plague bacillus never dies or disappears for good; that it can lie dormant for years and years in furniture and linen-chests; that it bides its time in bedrooms, cellars, trunks, and bookshelves; and that perhaps the day would come when, for the bane and enlightening of men, it would rouse up its rats again and send them forth to die in a happy city.”

Many saw the plague in the book (1947) as an allegory for fascism but it’s also interesting from a literary point of view as well as an analysis of a society in crisis.

As for the aftermath & the choices societies have to make, this might be of interest. Harari writes that an “important choice we confront is between nationalist isolation and global solidarity” adding: “But the current US administration has abdicated the job of leader. It has made it very clear that it cares about the greatness of America far more than about the future of humanity.  This administration has abandoned even its closest allies. . . . Even if the current administration eventually changes tack and comes up with a global plan of action, few would follow a leader who never takes responsibility, who never admits mistakes, and who routinely takes all the credit for himself while leaving all the blame to others. If the void left by the US isn’t filled by other countries, not only will it be much harder to stop the current epidemic, but its legacy will continue to poison international relations for years to come. ”

POSTNOTE:  You need to watch this, from England.

COVID-19 New Normal

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POSTNOTE March 25, 2020:  There are a goodly number of contributions from readers to this post.  You may wish to ‘walk through’ to the end – messages of serenity and hope, including the comments following the comments within the post itself.

NOTE TO READERS: This is one in a continuing series of personal reflections on COVID-19.   The first was March 6; most recent March 27 .  After todays, there will be more to follow. (click archive for March 2020 for others). I try to focus beyond the normal condensed news we all get from the media.  (As regular readers know, I have come to have great confidence in the frequent blog, Just Above Sunset, written by a retired guy in Los Angeles: easy to find, just google the name; easy to subscribe at no cost.)  Of course, there are endless “expert opinions”.  Your input is solicited and welcome.  Regardless of how “expert” the source is, in the end analysis each pronouncement is his or her “opinion”, based on his or her motivation (this includes myself, of course).  At some future time, history will record what really happened, and why – this will hopefully be the Truth – but for now we have to exercise our own best judgement and common sense in confronting an invisible enemy.  I hope you stop by again….

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It’s a beautiful early day in the neighborhood.  Really.  I awoke to a couple of inches of new snow, temp about freezing, calm, overcast.

At home about 8 a.m. Mon. March 23, 2020

Our neighbors across the driveway return from their winter digs in Arizona later today.  I left a short note in their newspaper box: “Welcome back to the new normal.”  Of course this is no surprise to them.  This pandemic is world wide and we all have to figure out how to live – and suffer – with it.

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I’m a ‘church’ guy.  Yesterday, first time with a virtual Mass from Basilica of St. Mary, my home parish.  We watched it live.  You can see any or all of it on-line here.  This is part of the “new normal” we confront.  We’re a member of the Mpls-St. Paul Film Society, and their annual international film festival is indefinitely postponed, and this year members can watch some of their films on-line.  Another new normal.  There will be lots of these kinds of things.   Of course, these are accessible only to those of us who are the ‘haves’…how do we bring a ‘new normal’ to the ‘have-nots’.  (Just for sake of conversation, I divide our population 50-50.  The richer half is the ‘haves’; the poorer half the ‘have nots’.  We – the 100% – are in this together.  One affects directly the other.  Period.

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An inspiration, today, from cousin Mary, whose life is music, a forward from Rotterdam Symphony Orchestra members, here.  “Amazing.  Enjoy”,  she says.

On a much more sober tone, yesterday came this from my sister, also a Mary, from New York State.  Mary is a retired Nurse Practitioner.

I replied to Mary’s forward as follows: This morning’s Minneapolis paper has an interesting column by Dr. Michael Osterholm, very well known in this field [you can read this here].  

I’m thinking back to about 1987 or so, when HIV-AIDS was raging, and Dr. Osterholm and a man with soon to be terminal AIDS and others spoke to over 100 of us teacher union staff members about AIDS.  There were people terrified to sit in the same circle with the guy with AIDS, who was just a nice gentle guy.  Dr. Osterholm’s was an apocalyptic kind of message.  It has been his career, and people like him are needed, for certain, for times like this.
AIDS is still a problem,  but we have a different perspective today,  for lots of reasons.
I’m very concerned about what is happening right now, and not only about the virus.  I’m more concerned about the health care workers whose daily work requires exposure and who, it appears, are being overwhelmed.  I hope, though, that we all try to keep this in perspective as we struggle through this.  My personal balancing act is how much risk I’m taking versus how much safety can be guaranteed. I can see myself wavering between too much and too little.  
I wish us all, well.
Later a friend of Mary’s, Kathy, also a recipient of the e-mail, responded to Mary’s list: Thanks for sharing both pieces Mary and Dick. Yes! Sobering. You may save a life or shattering illness with increased awareness.  
Two former work colleagues of mine, Larry and John, had similar recollections of the 1987 meeting  (which both attended and Larry probably had most to do with initiating).  It was really a pioneering activity in those highly charged days of fear.

Larry responded:

I was thinking of that meeting a couple days ago as Osterholm’s name kept coming in the context of the current pandemic. 
The takeaways I recall.
1. We are seated at tables and I believe each table had at least one person with AIDS. The point was to tell their story AND demonstrate that AIDS was NOT transferred by normal social contact. I believe there was a great deal of skepticism and maybe fear on that point.
2.  Osterholm was a truth teller then just as I believe he is now. Hard truths sometimes but always truth. He indicated he thought effective treatment WOULD be developed but it would take many years. That observation turned out to be right. He also explained why.
3. I have a vivid recollection of many folks hitting the pay telephones after the session to talk to their older children about the realities of AIDS.
4. Based on later conversations with colleagues around the country I think we were one of the first , probably the first, to have such a set of conversations that included those who were actually infected. 
5. Not quite as certain on this point but I believe most of us actually engaged in handshakes with those at our tables because that wasn’t risky although at the time of the meeting there was great fear about this disease and many unknowns-just like today.
Any of these recollections are subject to correction but this is what I recall. 
There are more comments I could add, just in this one day, as there will continue to be.  Truly, the ‘boots on the ground’ are each and every one of us, whose task is to do whatever we reasonably can to get all of us through this very genuine crisis.  Keeping connected is very, very important, though the manner of connecting is drastically and perhaps permanently being changed.  
I think of the old days, when things like we are experiencing happened, but were not moderated by modern means of communication or treatment options.  People got sick, and they either got well or they didn’t.  There weren’t many effective interventions (hope).  In each of our pasts were similar dynamics in our own family trees.    

Carver Park walking path, 9 a.m. March 23, 2020

COMMENT (See more at the end of this post):

from Donna: I am just so nervous about this virus.  Our daughter works at a hospital in Minneapolis and last week worked in ICU unit  on what is the the corona virus floor.  She is scared as well.  I don’t know what to tell her.  I am so happy we have a good governor.  She said all of this talk about wearing homemade masks is just bad information from the CDC, not what WHO is telling people.  It is making people feel they can do something.  What a time in our lives.  I feel like a tsunami is approaching and we are not ready with no leadership coming from Washington.

from Lloyd and Joanne: Call or email old acquaintances during this time of remaining in place at home.

from Mary: My mom tested positive for TB [tuberculosis] her entire life after caregiving her aunt Violet who was very ill.  Thus she earned her keep to continue HS.  She used lots of bleach around our house and current days remind me of that as CDC suggests bleach 3t to a quart of [water].

Dick, in response: Best of my recollection, my Dad, too, tested positive on a Mantoux test his entire life.  He was a school teacher so the test was mandatory.  He was born 1907, and was probably exposed sometime in his younger years.  Best I know, the disease never manifested, other than the test result.  He was nearly 90 when he died.

from Mark: Just interviewed a young Polish-American  doctor from Minnesota who is treating COVID-19 patients in London for a story for .Polish American Journal.  She had 2 of her 15 ventilator patients die over the weekend.

Just Above Sunset: Thinking the Impossible

from Howie, via Kathy: Neil Diamond, “Washing Hands”

from Lee: Thanks Dick. It is good to hear from you. My new normal is a little bit different. Beck and I have spent the winter on the island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands which are part of Spain. We were scheduled to fly back home on March 31st. About 2 weeks ago our inline, TPA Air Portugal canceled our flights. The next day Trump issued his travel ban,  and the day after that the Spanish Government issued a lockdown order. This prevented us from getting the necessary paperwork that would allow our dog to return to the USA. In addition to that our visa allowing us to be in the Schengen Zone was to expire on April 1.

Our new normal has become trying to figure out how to maneuver through and live in a foreign country with very limited (me, Beck’s Spanish gets us through this) language skills.
Anyway, with the help of Congresswoman McCollum’s very able staff we now have permission to stay for another 90 days. We have given up on getting back home any time soon.
We have been able to extend our rental agreement and we have stayed healthy so far so things are settling back down. On Saturday the Spanish government extended the lockdown for another two weeks.
from Fr. Harry: Naomi Klein nails the problems with today’s plan from Government:
About 5 min.   Well worth the listen.   All countries might have this…. Naomi Klein   (Dick: I have commented on this in earlier posts about COVID-19)

from Lydia, forwarded from Reflections from Holstee:

There is fear, but there does not have to be hate.

With this month’s theme of Wellness, we are constantly looking for ways to keep our balance amidst the uncertainty.

A friend recently shared the poem Lockdown by Brother Richard Hendrick. It’s a beautiful and powerful message for what is currently unfolding around the world. We are re-sharing it below and have highlighted a few lines that we found particularly moving.

We hope that reading it helps slow things down and bring a moment of peace to your day, like it did for us.

Wishing you health, comfort, and safety,

Mike and Dave Radparvar
Co-Founders, Holstee

 

Lockdown

Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.
So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul.
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing.

Brother Richard Hendrick
March 13, 2020

from Kathy V. March 24:


 

COVID-19 Facing the Future

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There are several previous posts on the COVID Crisis: March 6, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19.  I will add material as it comes in, and tend to avoid the kind of material that is covered by television and newspaper news, as it is redundant.  Your news is solicited.  

Friend Molly periodically sends around some prose and poetry she’s found, and here is her Spring edition: Molly, Spring 2020; Molly 2- The Geese Return   (click on images to enlarge).  Mine these for some hopeful signs….

March 21 4:25 p.m.  Carl sends a link to a TED talk by Bill Gates in March, 2015.  8 minutes, well worth it.  Recently Gates retired from Microsoft to devote full-time to issues like that identified in the video.  He, I think, “walks the talk”.

*

Overnight I responded to an e-mail from a cousin: “Re the Virus [COVI-19], all we can do is the best we can do.  No guarantees about anything for anybody.  I’ll write more in a blog today.  This is a time without precedent in our country.  We all need to do what we can, not only for ourselves, but for others.  We all have to be neighbors of each other, imperfect as that is going to be.  Thank you for keeping in touch.”

In the same batch of e-mails was Just Above Sunset, from Los Angeles, authored by a fellow senior citizen who has health issues of his own, and lives in a city and state now on lockdown.

There are abundant signs that we’re making efforts to stay connected.  Just one example: my Church, the Basilica of St. Mary, decided to have no in-person Mass this weekend, but will broadcast the 9:30 Sunday Mass live for those who have access to Facebook,  Later a video of the same Mass will be posted at the Basilica website.

Stay tuned.  I will write more later today.

Mar. 21, 2020, noon.  Yesterday I mentioned quarantine of a student at the college I attended in ND.  This from a news report in the Fargo Forum.  Today, e-mails from two friends reported the same news: the test came back nonpositive.

I took a long walk this morning, outdoors, as I’ve done this week.  It is surreal to be in the midst of this crisis, in a large city, and hear birds chirping, and see possibly one or two people walking their dogs.  There is another reality not far away, which grips, now, the entire northern hemisphere, it seems.  The Southern Hemisphere is on deck.

Todays mail brings an update on what the United Nations is doing, presented by Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary General on YouTube.  You can watch it here.  I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Dujarric here in St. Paul last October.  These are high stress times all over the world.

Thursday the 2020 Census form came.  It took only a few minutes to fill in.  Take the time, and remind others to followthrough as well.  It is important.

In an e-mail today,  our northern Minnesota friend who grew up in Nazi Germany forwarded an e-mail from a friend in Germany who comes from the community where she grew up, near the Czech Republic, and now lives and works in Leipzig.  His e-mail is worth your time.  His English is remarkable.

Good Morning and many greetings from Germany,

It’s time to write you some impressions about the corona pandemic in Germany especially from Leipzig:
One month ago, I realized that something happened in the world. China and other Asian countries startet to fight against a new virus with harsh measures.
At that time I was laughing about that behavior and thought that nothing will happen to me, because China is far, far away.
One week later, the virus reached to Northern Italy and the Alpes. When the first positive test results were in Germany, I got shocked and became very sad, when the Saxon government decided to cancel the Leipzig Book Fair, one of the most important events in the year. During the same time 15 friends (my colleague’s husband and 14 further Family fathers) started to their yearly ski vacation to Ischgl in Austria.
One more week, I couldn’t laugh anymore, because more and more people got infected and the German government began to tell us, how we have to protect us and that is imported to keep a distance from minimum 1,5 meters to other people.
Then the 15 guys came back from Austria. some of them felt sick…coughing and fever…more or less. Except of one they all went to an empty house of a friend to be in a self imposed quarantine. After the laboratory test all 15 are (still) Sars-CoV-2 positiv and 14 have Covid-19 symptoms. Fortunately only one of them had to stay for 5 days in a clinic…now he is with his friends in the quarantine house and the most of them feel better.
But the hardest time still have their wives (including my colleague). They have to stay at home and take care of the children and the men in quarantine…als self-organized, because the state institutions are more and more overwhelmed.
Since Monday I don’t go to work, because my company decided, that it’s to dangerous to work as a sales representative. But I’ll have no real financial loss…the state Jobcenter will pay the most of my salary (called short-time work allowance).
After one week of staying at home, cleaning the whole flat and watching too many Netflix series; I really feel bored and prisoned. But on the other hand I can be lucky, that my family is healthy and in Saxony is still no curfew (like in other parts of Germany and Europe).
What I really hate is the mass of fake news and the mass of people who believe them. I often have the feeling, that people like it to be in panic or to do Hamster purchases: who told the Germans, that they need tons of toilet paper and noodles (only cheap kinds of course ?:-)
At the moment I’m asking myself, what will happen to all the small companies, shops, start ups, artists…will they survive this crisis? I’m confident, that the government will help, but in some cases it could be too late.
In summary the German government is doing a good job. It seems that our chancellor Angela Merkel needs a crisis to work fast and focused 🙂
At this moment (21st of march) we have 20.000 infected people, but only 68 persons died. As it seems, we will have no more test kits soon.
Now, it’s time to make some delicious food, to skype with friends and family and to hope, that  we can handle the virus and I can go to work again in April….and I miss cultural events like concerts very badly!
*
From Chuck W.  Mar. 21 A two page position on the future is here: 7 reasons from Chuck W 3-21-20.  
(click on pdf to enlarge it). The submission is footnoted.  For brevity, these are not included with this post.  Available from Dick B. on request.

 

COVID-19 Lockdown, continued

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There are several comments at the originating post, yesterday.  In addition (this will be continued):

Long-time friend Peter, ‘out east’, is a gifted writer, and passed along a recent blog of his. You can read it here.

This mornings Just Above Sunset nailed it, as usual: Present at the Apocalypse.

John, 41 years a Californian, writes from Davis CA: Life is getting really interesting here real fast – the county that I am in (along with virtually every other county around) is in lockdown status – only “essential” journeys out. And no congregating in group of more than 3. For now, I am considering my solo bike rides/photo trips or outings with One close friend to be essential travel for now. We’ll see what happens next.

Stu passes along some interesting data being compiled by a friend, a physician in a well known hospital: Pandemic update as of Mar 17.  (Click on the image to enlarge).  The document is one page, as of March 17.

Flo passes along her thoughts: Well taken. Unfortunately, eating less and exercising more would be a boon to over half of the US population. Stores/food service agencies (like schools!) can only supply what is delivered to their door by truck drivers. Keep their wellness in mind, too.

from Fred: Have to admit I get nervous when considering our unwanted visitor, coronavirus, but then I think of our Commander and Chief heading up the national response and totally panic.

from Barb, commenting on first COVID-19 at my college, Valley City ND: Yikes – I am now thinking it is time to stay at home, and not to have some of my planned work done in the house – we were supposed to have a couple of our bathrooms painted in the next week or so, and a handyman was coming to help us hang pictures.  I think I will postpone, if the virus is as close as Valley City!

Dick: The comment from Barb sticks most with me…the virus will not become real until somebody or someplace very real to me is affected.  We don’t know who, when or if….  It is a bit like being in a torture chamber, waiting to see if today is your turn to be persecuted.

Nobody knows the ultimate outcome.  The odds are, whatever it is, it will be serious, and it could be months before we can relax a little, and life may never be the normal we had become accustomed to.

March 20, 2020

William McRaven U.S. Navy Admiral (Ret) has a wonderful column in the Mar. 20 Washington Post, here.

I did about an hour ‘in the woods’ walk through Carver Park this chilly, breezy morning.  I met three people passing by.  We went on our way.

Monday is Grandson Spencer’s birthday.  He’ll be 20, and he’s in the Marines at Miramar, CA.  I got to thinking back to the day we went to his induction into the Marines, the summer of 2017 (He was becoming a senior in high school, and actually went to basic training a year later.)

The day he was inducted at the Navy office at Ft. Snelling I noted and took photo of the “Chain of Command”, specifically because of the many vacancies.  It says “Photograph Not Available” for each, which likely meant there had been no one appointed to the position.  It’s easy to beat up on “Big Government”, but in a time of crisis we need the very entity some of us dislike.

Aug. 7, 2017, Navy Office Ft. Snelling MN

COVID-19 The First Day of “Lockdown”

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Caribou Coffee March 18, 2020

Previous posts on this topic at March 6, 13, 15, 17.  I plan other posts in the future, perhaps even tomorrow, on this topic.  [check archive for March, 2020).  Your writings are solicited.  Permission to share will be presumed, unless you say otherwise.  See comments at end of this, and all, posts.

COVID-19 was first identified as a particularly deadly strain in December, 2019, and was first written about in U.S. Press in early January.  In February came the first COVID id’s and quarantine in California for a few repatriated from an ocean cruise in Asia, and Life Care in Kirkland WA first broke as news about the time of Ash Wednesday, Feb. 26, when it was still being treated in the usual way as a very bad case of the flu for elderly patients.

My daughter cautioned me about the virus on Mar. 6, the day after we had attended two large events. at which there were no warnings or even table talk about things like “pandemic”.  One of these gatherings included over 1000 senior citizens, sitting next to each other, at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis; the other was at the Science Museum of Minnesota, hardly careless organizations.

Against my daughters advice I continued normal activities the next few days, all of which I felt were safe by all guidelines.  I don’t recall any cough or sneeze anywhere in my vicinity, nor people who appeared sick in any way.   Just normal days.

Yesterday, all my places were closed: the fitness club; the coffee place, the fourth session of an excellent workshop at my Church, cancelled [see here 4:25 p.m.].  The bank is going to drive-up only today.  The grocery store is open, but the little restaurant within is closed.  Many shelves bare.  On and on and on.  “What a difference a day makes.”

Tomorrow is two weeks after March 5.

Every one of us could come up with similar descriptions.

Yesterday, ‘normal’ ended for me.  I “feel healthy and well today”, but uncertainly.  Few, certainly not I, can say with absolute certainty that they don’t harbor the virus, or can escape it.  I agree with the government actions; until there is more data about all aspects of this disease, caution is advised, and even caution doesn’t guarantee anything.  “Caution” is a very personal definition.  In a recent blog – March 13 – I fixed my number on an imaginary continuum as between 6 and 7 – where 0 is “hoax” and 10 is “hysteria” (as I hear and feel and see those words defined).  I don’t plan to panic.

*

We’re in the first full day of what is basically, now, a nationwide initiative.  This will be far worse than 9-11-01, and requires far, far more of us than 9-11-01 did.  I can remember the early mantra after 9-11: “go shopping”; the later mantra “go to war”; the even later mantra, in 2008, very near national economic meltdown.  Our actions had, and have, consequences.

This is a new scenario: a very real enemy, COVID-19, is lurking among us in every state and around the world.  It is an enemy without borders.  Where it started is irrelevant (“WWI” or “Spanish” influenza likely started in southwest Kansas, probably with a farm animal,  in the earliest times of U.S. involvement in WWI in 1918, but was never called “American flu”, purposely, I believe.  You can look this up: a good article here.)

I hope we all can use this as a learning opportunity about all sorts of important things: the role of government at all levels, planning ahead for crises, changing personal behaviors, on and on and on.  If we take this task seriously, while we will never eliminate problems, we certainly can make things more manageable.

Lessons come early:  there is, no doubt, hoarding going on – we took our friend to the local grocery store this morning, and the evidence is easy to see everywhere.  And this is nationwide.  But right before we left, I received an e-mail from our friend in rural Minnesota, 93, who grew up in Hitler’s Germany, and she had this to say:

“Well, I just saw on CNN I should buy food supplies only for a week.  Well sorry, I will go today and buy canned goods and what I can freeze for 2 months ahead.
You see the past bothers me.  In Germany I remember times when food was to come to Regensburg, but it never came because there was no driver to be found, or the road was impassable.  I remember days where my stomach ached from hunger, I couldn’t sleep , and when I fell asleep, I dreamt of food, only to awaken from hunger pains.
I fear we don’t face reality here when it comes to food supply.
If the coronavirus gets to to the numbers suggested, I am glad I am not in a metropolitan area.
Germany was a country where if you got out of line, took something from an almost destroyed home that wasn’t yours, you were shot.  I am afraid what desperate people could do here when food supplies are almost extremely low.
I shouldn’t think like this, but please make sure you have food on hand before it isn’t available anymore.”
*
Here at home, we tend towards having too little food in reserve, not too much.  But our friends point is well taken.  We all have to look at our own behaviors, and how they impact on others.  At the grocery store, I was waiting and another lady, about my age, sat down on the same bench, and she was reminiscing about WWII and scarcity in our own country: rationing and the like.  Most Americans have no concept of scarcity, even while many around us are not doing well at all, particularly those who have just lost their employment.

My daily perch at Caribou Coffee in Woodbury, Mar 18 3 p.m. I almost always could be found here from 6:30-8:30 a.m.  Caribou is open from 5:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m., but only for takeout orders.  This is one of busiest and best of 400 in the Caribou network.  Autumn, the manager, said it is very slow. and for the time being remains open.

Lifetime, my exercise facility, about 2 p.m. Mar 18. Normally, the large parking lot is perhaps half filled at this time of day, which is my preferred time. Today there were only three cars in the lot, and the facility closed yesterday.

 

St. Patrick’s Day

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NOTE: COVID-19 related Mar 6, 13, 15 and later

Today is St. Patrick’s Day.  Take your pick of a thousand descriptions of the history and tradition of St. Patrick and the Day, and think about some good memories.

This is a different time than any I can remember, and everyone, everywhere, knows of what I speak.

Much to my surprise, my 23andMe DNA has me with significant Irish and English ancestry through my Dad’s 100% French-Canadian ‘side’.  From the report:

Richard, your DNA suggests that 23.9% of your ancestry is British & Irish.

I didn’t really realize that till I did the DNA.  It makes sense, looking at the map of England and France, which share a long water border both on south and southeast of England (northwest France.)

But for the moment here’s the old postcards from my German grandparents farm, received in the early 1900a.  They speak for themselves.  I thought I had at least one with an Irish theme, but guess not.  Accept the sentiment anyway.

Have a great day, and think of some good things you can do to recognize and thank and support the service persons you would normally see at your local restaurants and work in other services we take for granted.  Especially keep in your thoughts and prayers those in any aspect of the practice of medicine, anywhere.  They’ll need all the support they can ge, now and later.

POSTNOTE: An overnight note from friend, Chuck, jogs me to send along this Louis Schwartzberg TED Talk from 2011.  I’ve sent it several times previously.  It is even more relevant today.  It is about 9 minutes.

Chuck sent a link to another really excellent and pertinent talk: here.  I’ve asked Chuck’s permission to send along his thoughts as well.  Check back at this space, later.

10:10 a.m.:  Just back from an outdoor walk on a nice day in Minnesota.  On this day I was thinking to Sam, my Aunt and Uncle’s dog on the farm in North Dakota.  He’s the dog that graces the home page of this blog.  A couple of times a year I would go out to the farm to help out for a few days.  Each time I came, Sam not only knew my car, but me, and my habits.  He knew I liked to walk and my route, as well, including the fork in the road where I would go either left or right.  He waited there till I decided, then off he went.

I had not been on my ‘woods walk’ for a long while – my habit had become the local fitness club.  This first trip out in a long while, I found everything was familiar, my gait was somewhat faster, my general condition good.  Same route, same amount of time.  All good.