Life in the Age of Corona

A Daily Diary

Double Standards

Maryland’s bi-polar weather is continuing. Woke up to another day of beautiful blue skies. Clouds moving in and out throughout the day, but no rain. Nonetheless, the polar vertix is certainly much felt, extreme winds continue and while sunny, it is rather fresh in the world outside of our home.

After screening the news in the morning, and there is plenty, we venture through the Hood to dig out that Mondo-Grass one of our neighbors no longer wants. Looking forward to relocating it to my garden tomorrow. We also scored some wild ginger which I have left in a bucket of water outside and will plant tomorrow also. Both of these do not like sun so will be perfect to live under the Azaleas.

Beyond tending my garden, the cooking journey continues. Am rediscovering long lost dishes like “Labskaus” which is a very traditional dish from my home town of Hamburg. I do not think anyone anywhere in the world other than locals enjoys this dish. Its origins go back to sailing in the days of scurvy and uses ingredients which keep well. So mashed potatoes, corned beef and pickled red beet are cooked together and served with pickled gerhkins, marinated herring and topped with a fried egg. It is delicious, but does not look very attractive. Mainly because of the color and consistency of the mash.

I almost forgot what it is like to be alone. EM went to see a friend today – socially distanced of course – which has afforded me with three hours home alone. Very strange feeling. I find myself wondering when she will come home. After being together 24/7 for 58 days it is very strange to have this alone time, not unpleasant, but weird. Anyway, she is home now, so I feel a lot better. Strange how I start to worry when something as normal as a teenager not being home for three hours happens. Clearly the virus and the close confinement are doing things to me.

Increasingly am saying farewell to my summer plans. I suspect none of us will be travelling to Europe. Not sure what a summer in the US may look like. Countries relying on tourism seem to be making plans though. In Spain you will now need to book your spot on the beach. Is this a model the US will follow? I wonder.

During my morning read of the news I came across a very cool story. This may well be the inspiration for “Lord of the Flies” just that it is far more positive and has a beautiful ending. It seems six boys nicked a boat in 1966 and were caught in a storm. They ended up on a deserted island in the Pacific and lived there for a year and a half before they were rescued by a certain Captain Warner. “You should always look for what is good and positive in people” captain Peter Warner said. This is the most incredible story and infinitely better than Lord of the Flies as it also happens to be true. The six boys stranded on an uninhibited island in the Pacific (Tonga, one of the few places I have yet to go

Today infections worldwide have surpassed the 4 million mark. Disconcerting. And now the virus is hitting the WH; I somehow just cannot bring myself to feel compassion, actually I rather wish it would go on a wild rampage on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. I know, not a charitable thought.

On the good news front, I am pretty sure by now everyone has heard of a Llama by the name of Winter, which possibly has antibodies against COVID-19. This would be excellent news as these antibodies can be replicated quickly, however trials will take until the end of the year at least, so it could be a while before humanity may benefit. But there is hope. Thank you science!

And there is more on the “staying positive” front. A supermarket in South Africa is filling all that empty shelf space - where cleaning goods used to be - with products from local restaurants for whom reopening or delivery does not make sense.

On a similar note strip clubs and other businesses are getting creative to continue entertaining their patrons. Drive through strips and take out meals are paried. Sex workers in the US seem to be particularly hard hit by the pandemic as they are not eligible for small business loans due to the morals of this country. This seems rather two-faced. But then again, maybe not seeing this entire country appears to be build on double standards.

Saturday, May 9th, 2020