Mini-Post: The State Of Things

Hello all.  I have a Real Blog Post good to launch in a couple of days here but I just wanted to update everybody on the state of things.  Right now Joan and I are fine.  Neither of us are sick.  We are both essential personnel at our respective jobs, so although buildings are closed and people aren't coming in, we're still working (more so in Jen's case, because a lot of people were laid off and several more are sick and can't come in for two weeks per their docs.) We had to change our hours so that now I'm at work at 7:30 in the morning but that's okay; it means I get home while it's still light out.  I am incredibly not happy that the pools are closed, but I'm managing, Lake Ray Hubbard will warm up soon and in the meantime we have a treadmill in the house that is getting lots of use.  There are no OA or meditation group meetings in person, but both groups are meeting online or over the phone. The cats are okay, if puzzled at the change in our hours (daylight savings time is also hard on cats, which is another reason to remove this stupid arcane ritual from our state and national laws in the era of electric lights.)

That said, I hope you all are fine too.  Please do what the CDC says and don't listen to Donald.  Wash hands, stay home if you can, order groceries to be delivered.  Spend the time reading books you've always wanted to read (you can get those online or from your local library, which is still checking out e-books even though it's closed--just try it), doing those home repair jobs you couldn't get to before and spending time with friends and family members, whether in person or over the phone or online.  Bear in mind that these days will end, things will go back to some semblance of normal, and we'll all be the better for having had this experience.  There's historical precedent; after the waves of the Black Death that killed half of Europe, food was plentiful for the first time ever, peasants could demand reasonable wages for their labor, and a burst of creativity in thought, religion and art, a/k/a the Renaissance, got started.  

Hopefully we will realize now how interconnected we all are, that we all need to take care of each other, and that universal health care is no longer a luxury we can't afford but a necessity for life, however we pay for it (because with health care, it really is pay now or pay later).  If you can afford it, give money to groups that are trying to make this happen.  If you need something--money, groceries, therapy, someone to help you with the kids--reach out to other people and let them know.  Not only is there no shame in needing help, you'll bless someone else by letting them help you.  What goes around comes back around.  And that's really all I've got to say at this time.  Everybody stay safe.  Cheers!