{"id":10567,"date":"2021-04-04T21:04:36","date_gmt":"2021-04-04T21:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=10567"},"modified":"2022-03-17T01:48:56","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T01:48:56","slug":"revisiting-march-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=10567","title":{"rendered":"Revisiting March 2020…"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Could we too learn there is more to admire than despise<\/strong> in our fellow human beings?<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u00a0* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

I’m working on a new\u00a0E-book<\/a>. The tentative title is “Turning 70 in 2021 – and still <\/strong>thinking the best is yet to come<\/em>.” One chapter will be “On the music of my life,” and how important it’s been to me.\u00a0One chapter will be \u201cOn the music of my life,\u201d and how important it\u2019s been to me. (Like making those long\u00a0Camino<\/a>\u00a0hikes \u2013 illustrated at left \u2013\u00a0more enjoyable, as well as those endless hours of canoe-paddling, say on the \u201cRideau Canal Adventure<\/a>?\u201d)\u00a0But that project is turning out to be more complicated than I thought. And<\/em><\/strong> it’s been awhile since I last posted. (March 20, and this is April 4, Easter Sunday.)<\/p>\n

So in the meantime, I’ll paste together this quick review from last March, 2020.<\/p>\n

It seems I only did two posts last March:\u00a0On \u201cMad Men\u201d \u2013 Revisited<\/a>, March 11. 2020, and \u2013 on March 26, 2020 \u2013\u00a0Meditations on \u201cthe new plague<\/a>.\u201d But to get back to the beginning<\/em><\/strong> of that “new plague,” I need to revisit\u00a0On Week 8 of the Coronavirus shut-down<\/a>, from May 11, 2020.<\/p>\n

There I explained that, to me, the pandemic hit full swing \u2013 “the \u2018stuff\u2019 hit the fan\u201d \u2013 on Thursday, March 12, 2020. That was the day the ACC basketball tournament got cancelled. Then the whole 2020\u00a0college basketball “March Madness<\/a>” got called off, along with the college baseball<\/em><\/strong> season. And the NBA, NHL and other major pro sport seasons all cancelled as well. (Though\u00a0Major League Baseball<\/a>\u00a0did have a shortened season – 60 games – starting July 23, 2020.)<\/p>\n

So\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>my\u00a0definition of the \u201cFirst<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Full Week of the Covid-19 Pandemic\u201d has it starting Sunday, March 15 and ending Saturday, March 21.\u00a0(Meaning we\u2019re actually starting the ninth full week of the pandemic.)\u00a0<\/em>And that pandemic shows no signs of abating, which means we need to continue adjusting to a \u201cNew normal<\/a>…\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On that note of “weeks of Covid,” this Easter Sunday – April 4, 2021 – will mark the start of the 56th<\/em><\/strong> full week of the\u00a0COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>.* (That’s 14 full months.)<\/p>\n

So now, back to\u00a0“Mad Men\u201d \u2013 Revisited<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Meditations on \u201cthe new plague<\/a>,” from March 2020.<\/p>\n

Note that I posted\u00a0\u201cMad Men<\/a>” on March 11, 2020. The day\u00a0before<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0“the pandemic hit full swing,” according to my reckoning above. (The day before “the ‘stuff\u2019 hit the fan.”) So in a way, looking back was kind of like the night before Kennedy was assassinated. My family – I was 12 in 1963 – watched a TV special the night before. It showed\u00a0Wally Cleaver<\/a>\u00a0– Tony Dow as the older brother in\u00a0Leave It to Beaver<\/a>\u00a0– getting a girl pregnant. That<\/em> <\/strong>was quite a shock, standing alone.*<\/p>\n

Then came that afternoon of\u00a0November 22, 1963<\/a>. Which brings up the idea of “knowing what’s going to happen.”<\/p>\n

Suppose you could go back to that morning of November 22, 1963, and know what was going to happen that afternoon? But you couldn’t change it, and you would have to relive the pain you felt that afternoon – and the following long weekend – all over again?<\/p>\n

Strangely enough, doing that \u201cMad Men<\/a>” post was – to me – similar to being able to see into the future… And how that “gift” might not be such a great thing to have. (I knew the “Mad Men” future because I watched the episodes out of order.)\u00a0 For example, knowing that “the lovely ‘Midge'” – shown above right – would end up turning into a skinny, emaciated heroin addict.<\/p>\n

That’s a tantalizing topic I may wish to explore at length in a future post. In the meantime, we’ll\u00a0 move on to the next post from March 2020, ATC’S’HTF<\/em><\/strong>. (After the “Covid ‘stuff’ Hit The Fan.”)<\/p>\n

As noted,\u00a0Meditations on \u201cthe new plague<\/a>\u201d came some two weeks after \u201cMad Men<\/a>:”<\/p>\n

Last March 12 [the day after\u00a0\u201cMad Men<\/a>\u201d], I went to the local library and checked out a copy of\u00a0The Plague<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>by\u00a0Albert Camus<\/a>.\u00a0(In light our new\u00a0Coronavirus pandemic<\/a>.)<\/em>\u00a0 Which book, incidentally, I cannot now return, because that library and all others in the area are closed… At the same time I checked out a copy of\u00a0What Jesus Meant<\/a>, by\u00a0Garry Wills<\/a>, for a bit more\u00a0uplifting<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>reading. And I also started researching more on this \u201cplague\u201d business.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That post noted\u00a0the difference between epidemic and a pandemic<\/a>, and adjusting to the new normal<\/a>, kind of<\/em><\/strong>: “No more dine-in lunches, or dinners, or stopping by a local bar for a beer or two before Wednesday-night choir practice. And no more choir practice, or church on Sunday either for that matter.” And I found a\u00a0review of \u201cThe Plague<\/a>\u201d which gave some perspective:<\/p>\n

Being alive always was and will always remain an emergency; it is truly an inescapable \u201cunderlying condition\u2026\u201d This is what Camus meant when he talked about the \u201cabsurdity\u201d of life. Recognizing this absurdity should lead us not to despair but to a tragicomic redemption, a softening of the heart, a turning away from judgment and moralizing to joy and gratitude.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From that I gleaned a lesson – back in March 2020 – that the “current pestilence\u00a0might\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>lead” to a change in our national life, “and especially our national political life. That is, “the present ‘Coronavirus<\/a>‘\u00a0might<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0lead to a general and sweeping American ‘softening of the heart.'”<\/p>\n

I suppose the\u00a0jury is still out<\/a>\u00a0on that question…<\/p>\n

In the meantime, there are<\/em> <\/strong>now some places where you can have a sit-down, dine-in lunch, or dinner. There are some bars open for business, but no more visits before Wednesday night choir practice. (No more choir.) On the other hand, just today my local\u00a0Episcopal Church<\/a>\u00a0opened up for a 10:00 a.m. in-person service, and about 90 people showed up. (While some other denominations have been open for crowds a long while, “my” church has taken a more cautious approach. See\u00a0Episcopal churches offer a mix of in-person and online worship options<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

One other bit of good news? At least we didn’t have to get to this<\/em> <\/strong>point:<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

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\u201cTheir headgear was particularly unusual…\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

The upper image is courtesy of\u00a0The Plague \u2013 Wikipedia<\/a>. See also\u00a0\u2018There is more to admire in men than to despise\u2019: The Plague is essential reading for a pandemic<\/a>. The “fuller story” is below.<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: “Camino hikes.” My brother and I hiked the “Camino Frances” in September-October, 2017. We hiked the “Portuguese Way,” from Porto, in September 2019, joined by his wife, my sister-in-law. “The Way” was marked by the yellow-and-blue scallop shell. The caption from Wikipedia reads: “A stylised scallop shell, the modern sign post of the Way.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: The ACC tournament, March Madness and college baseball. For what those sports\u00a0mean<\/strong>, see June 2018\u2019s\u00a0\u201cUnintended consequences\u201d \u2013 and the search for Truth<\/a>, and February 2019\u2019s\u00a0On my \u201cmission from God<\/a>.\u201d) Or\u00a0Romans 11 \u2013 and \u201cWhat happened to FSU football<\/a>?” (From my companion blog.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: “New normal.” Referring to\u00a0<\/em>social distancing, extreme caution and shortages of all kinds. W<\/em>hich brought up the question: “What did people do in the\u00a0Olden\u00a0<\/strong>Days when disaster struck?”<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: Full weeks of Covid. My day planner has weeks starting on Mondays and ending on Sundays. So for me the 56th full week of Covid will start on Monday, April 5, and end on Sunday, April 11, 2021.<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: “Wally Cleaver, getting a girl pregnant.” The TV show in question was “Dr. Kildare” Four Feet in the Morning (TV Episode 1963) – IMDb<\/a>, which aired November 21, 1963.\u00a0(Thank you, Internet!)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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A pregnant teenager is admitted to Blair with signs of food poisoning, the result of an apparent attempt to induce abortion. Meanwhile, the father of the baby, getting little help from his bickering parents, struggles with his responsibility…<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A photo caption from Wikipedia reads: “From the CBS<\/a>\u00a0television series ‘Leave It to Beaver,’ showing main character Wally Cleaver (Tony Dow).”<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: Knowing the future but not being able to change anything. I remember reading about that in an old book by\u00a0Bonnie Prudden<\/a>. She had the idea: If you could go back in time for a “do over<\/a>,” the catch would likely be that you couldn’t change anything and you would have to go through all the pain you experienced “all over again;” the same pain you felt when it “just happened.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The lower image is courtesy of\u00a0Plague Beaked Mask\u00a0\u2013 Image Results<\/a>. See also<\/em>\u00a0Why\u00a0plague\u00a0doctors wore those strange beaked\u00a0masks<\/a>, from a web article that is apparently\u00a0now defunct<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

During the 17th-century European plague, physicians wore beaked masks, leather gloves, and long coats in an attempt to fend off the disease\u2026 [T]hey covered themselves head to toe and wore a mask with a long bird-like beak. The reason behind the beaked plague masks was a misconception about the very nature of the dangerous disease\u2026\u00a0Plague doctors wore spectacles \u2026 and a mask with a nose \u201chalf a foot long, shaped like a beak, filled with perfume with only two holes, one on each side near the nostrils\u2026\u201d Plague doctors also carried a rod that allowed them to poke (or fend off) victims.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

Re: A \u201cfoul-up\u201d resulting in this old (April 2020) post being made so prominent right now. Maybe it\u2019s a sign from God<\/strong>? See for example\u00a0Sign From God Meme\u00a0\u2013 Image Results<\/a>, including the one featuring various church billboards, including the one billboard saying, \u201cWell, you\u00a0did<\/strong>\u00a0ask for a sign.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Also on the not-up-to-date main page: Here\u2019s the original note, when the\u00a0April | 2020 | The Georgia Wasp<\/a>\u00a0started coming up as the main page. Here\u2019s the note I wrote for that\u00a0SNAFU<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

I have no idea why this old post \u2013 from April 2020 \u2013 comes up as the main page when you\u00a0Google<\/a>\u00a0\u201cgeorgiawasp.\u201d Something happened on the evening of April 3, 2021, and I\u2019m not sure what. I was writing up the new post,\u00a0Revisiting March 2020<\/a>, that I finally published on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2021. For another more-recent post,\u00a0click on\u00a0An Updated \u2018Geezer Guide to Supplements<\/a>\u2026\u2019 Meanwhile, I\u2019ll work on fixing the problem.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

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Could we too learn there is more to admire than despise in our fellow human beings? \u00a0* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * I’m working on a new\u00a0E-book. The tentative title is “Turning 70 in 2021 – and still thinking the best is yet to come.” One chapter will be “On the music of my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10567"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10567"}],"version-history":[{"count":71,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12578,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10567\/revisions\/12578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}