Is it just me or is everyone more calculating? And I don’t mean in the manipulative or devious sense. I mean that we are all forced to analyze and gauge things in the time of Covid. A trip to the grocery store is no longer a jump in the car and drive off proposition. No, that would be foolhardy. A trip to the grocery store must be planned carefully, in order to evaluate the risk level. Can you go between 8 AM and 9 AM? Those are the hours set aside for those over age 65. Is Tuesday less busy than Wednesday? Will all the fresh produce be out at 9 AM or just the tired stuff from the previous day? It’s a lot to decide/calculate.
If the grocery run seems complicated, try thinking about a road trip. Where? Will it be overnight? Where will you sleep? Where will you eat? What can you do when you get there? Will there be social distancing or will you run into loads of maskholes? The days of deciding on the spur of the moment that you want to go somewhere for a mini-vacation or long weekend are just a memory. We can only hope that some day soon we can ponder that possibility again.
Then there’s sharing food. Let’s say you want to bake a pie or cook up a casserole for someone who is unable to get out much. The risk is low but you still might want to wear a mask and gloves while you prepare the food. When it’s time to deliver it, the mask goes back on and the 6-foot rule is in effect. Reusable and washable containers are advised. Ha! Nothing could be easier.
What I would really like to calculate is how many more days and months this pandemic is going to last. It’s a little bit like the inmate marking the days on the cell wall. The difference is that a prisoner has a defined sentence while we deal with the open-ended term. For now, we can only calculate how much longer we’ll be forced to calculate.
Jay Harrison is a graphic designer and writer whose work can be seen at DesignConcept. His mystery novel, Head Above Water, is available on Amazon and Kindle. You can also visit his author page here.
The Sunday paper featured a full-page ad celebrating seniors. I was like, wow, how’d they get my name?
I am thinking of retiring. From what? you might ask. In my defense, I must say that while it’s true that I haven’t written a newspaper article in more than a decade, nor do I have a regular teaching job anymore, I have produced three books in the last six years and I still give about a dozen lectures or workshops a year. Clearly I am at most only semi-retired. But should I retire completely?
Foodcentric. Is that really a word? Whether it is or isn’t, we are all thinking more about food, and most likely eating more as well. Avid chefs and bakers have been with us forever. They share recipes, post their food porn on Facebook, and are talking about food all the time.
I’m an old man, okay? I’m finally starting to realize that. Slowly. One loss at a time. For instance, I used to run to and around a neighborhood park before breakfast three times a week. Now I walk there and sit on a bench before heading back. That kind of thing. That, and then there’s a young woman who walks by, briskly, probably on her way to work. I say young. Well not that young, maybe in her thirties. Late thirties. But to a guy in his late seventies, that’s young.
My goal at this stage of life is to move closer to my true self. To shake off the shackles of past regrets and sorrows; to challenge what the world expects of me as a woman in her 60’s; to let go of concern about what people might think of my antics. I am free now, after all. I can try different jobs, since my value as a person is no longer defined by what I do or how much I earn. Maybe I’ll work on a lavender farm, or in a bookstore, or in a shop that sells crystals and beads. Maybe I’ll learn something new and start a small business. Maybe I’ll dress in wild outfits, let my hair grow out, keep my own hours.
