Garden Style Wednesday Wanderings: Keeping Your Distance 20

First Wandering Check-In - the Garden.

It's grown beyond the cedar gardening box - see all the starter pots around it!

Most of the taller stuff you see are tomatoes.  There are starting to bud little yellow flowers, which Alison says are preliminary to the tomatoes coming.  Alison loves homegrown tomatoes, so that's a central part of our garden start.  We also have lettuce that Alison started hydroponically, from leftover lettuce stems she got from the school.

We have also recently added broccoli, zucchini, and basil.  They're just starting to peek through the soil.

In the future, we hope to add potatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrots.  We have seeds ordered for those.

We may need to get more cedar planters.

Personal Health

I feel pretty good, but my diet has stalled.  The fallback has not been severe, but it has been enough to halt weight loss.  My excuses?  The lockdown, my erratic work schedule, stress.  Another biggie is with Benjamin being home; we tend to more treat/comfort meals.

But these are just excuses.  The biggest responsibility is mine.  I'm the one who got off track.  I'm the one who needs to have the strength of character to get back on track.

Nevertheless, the work I've done, improving my overall health gives me a better chance should I contract the coronavirus.  A chance, though - no guarantees.  The disease has been rough on even relatively healthy people.

The Work World

For me personally, I should be entering a period of fewer accounting work hours.  This may be true for the rest of the year.  The summer audit I'm normally involved with I won't be participating in - our firm is not doing it this year.  Hopefully, this will help me establish a limited but consistent work routine,

Not so for most of my fellow Georgians.  Whether they like it or not, safe or not, most of them will have to go back to work, thanks to the incredible stupidity of Georgia's Governor, Brian Kemp.  Alison may have to resume a full-time schedule next week, as will other school staff and teachers.  No students yet.  They are still scheduled to start next Fall.

The whole state seems to have lost its mind.  We're returning to normal at a time when cases and deaths have yet to peak.  I am fearful and discouraged.

No One Can Predict What Happens Next

I don't know for sure what happens next.  Maybe a vaccine comes more quickly than one has ever come before.  Maybe it helps cut off the dreaded second wave that is projected for the Fall.

Maybe people who've had it have developed an immunity.  Maybe herd immunity is a real thing.

I don't know.

But I don't think so.

And the way many parts of the world (including many American states) are behaving, I think 1) the first wave will last longer than it needs to, and 2) the second wave will be genuinely frightening.

First Facebook Live Call

Doug had birthday number 36 Monday, and we had our first Facebook Live with him and Greg in California.  Alison, Benjamin and I were on it together.  Technologically, I don't know how it worked, but it did.  Thank goodness I had nothing to do with it.  Alison just answered her phone, and it was there, like magic.  Voila!

Everyone is doing well.  Doug can work from home, for the most part.  He and Paige are tending their garden (our inspiration for our own), their bees and chickens and rabbits, and finishing some household projects to complete their home renovation.  Greg is still working, although Hollywood's slowdown is affecting him.  He is helping put together a special episode of All Rise, an episode set from different actor's home and such, set in the COVID-19 pandemic, and how the various characters are trying to continue on with essential legal work, even from social isolation. 

Be Safe

No matter where you are, no matter how incompetent your President and/or your state and local leaders are, no matter how irrational and incautious some around you behave - please strive to stay as safe as you can.  Stay home if you can.  Keep social distance when you have to go out.  Wear masks.  

Love,

Tom

Under the Old Oak Tree:: Keeping Your Distance 19

We have a very large oak tree in our back yard.

Can you see it looming over our house?

It's perhaps the largest tree in our neighborhood.  There are few oak trees, and I haven't seen one bigger,

It's relatively healthy (I think - I have failed to receive my tree doctor certification), but it occasionally loses branches.  Some thud against our metal roof, then slide down into the back yard, or stay on the roof until they can be swept off.

A couple years ago, one branch poked a small hole on the roof of our screened-in porch.  We were able to patch that up.

We have a lot of oak leaves in the back yard.  Sometimes we rake them up.  Sometimes we don't.  I'm not a yard care fanatic.  I must say, our yard looks better than ever - a positive side effect of the quarantine.  Sorry, neighbors - don't expect it to be a permanent change.

The oak tree drops a lot of acorns.  This attracts a lot of squirrels.  This is very entertaining for the dogs.  They don't catch them, though.  They are about as effective as Wiley E Coyote is with the Road Runner.  Boss-A-Man is particularly ineffective, as he loudly barks as he's headed outside, giving the squirrels plenty of notice.

The quarantine is giving us a better appreciation for where we live.

There are many frustrating things about the OCVID-19 crisis.

For me, being at home more is not one of them.

Let Them Drink Bleach: Saturday Political Soap Box 244

No, President Donald J Trump was not joking.  He was not sarcastic.  He really meant it.  No one who watched that political rally (I'm sorry - I mean press conference, of course)` could get any other impression.

He floated the idea of injecting yourself with disinfectant to "eliminate" the coronavirus in your body.  He also suggested shooting heat and light inside yourself for a cure.

He had heard an undersecretary of DHS talk about how bleach/disinfectant can kill coronavirus on surfaces such as kitchen countertops.  In his fragile brain, Trump immediately made the leap to injection - if it works on countertops, why not inside your body?

He is that stupid.  He is that ignorant.  He is that dangerous.

He is a snake oil salesman who will do anything to distract you from his incompetent handling of this crisis.  His originally promoted snake oil cure, hydroxychloroquine, either by itself or in some sort of drug cocktail mix, has so far proven to be ineffective, and possibly downright harmful. Thus,  his illogic leaped at an opening, and he took it.

The consequence of this lunacy is that White officials are trying to restrain Trump from coming to the pass conferences, or at least not taking questions.

It would be nice to have some informative press conferences led by genuine medical experts (like Dr. Fauci)  without Trump turning it into a clown show.

I think he might stay restrained for a while, especially since polling indicates his press conference behavior is starting to hurt him.  But I doubt if he'll stay away forever.  Things get under his skin, and he just has to do something about it. He just has to, whether it hurts him or not.

Meanwhile...

As I write this, the USA has four times as many coronavirus cases as the next closest country (Spain) and over twice the number of deaths as the next closest country (Italy).


Maybe we need some press conferences where we just let the medical experts tell us what we can best do to get us out of this crisis.

Maybe it should be led by a rotating series of Governors, including Governor Newsome of California, Governor Whitmer of Michigan, and Governor Cuomo of New York.

I would leave off Gevoernor Kemp of Georgia, though.  He's got his own lunatic problems.

But, there again, Kemp is at least not recommending consuming bleach, Lysol, or Tide pods.

There's at least that.
























 

BB's Beauty Boutique Opens Up - A Crowley Story : Keeping Your Distance 18

This is not what she wanted to be doing.  This is not where she wanted to be.

But she had been cornered.  She had no choice.

Blondell Buchanan reluctantly set up her shop to maximize social distancing, and to make things as safe as possible for her and her customers.  That seemed a relatively hopeless endeavor.  How do you "distance" yourself from someone whom you're giving a haircut, or a permanent?

She didn't want to open.  But the Payroll Protection Program funding that could have helped her survive had not come through.  Her staff only consisted of herself, a receptionist, another hairdresser, and a nail lady.  The PPP could have covered the receptionist's salary, rent, and utilities, but she didn't know what happened to her application.  She had heard on the news that most of the money had gone to larger companies and those who had the best relationships with the banks were at the front of the line. Blondell thought being Marcia Compton, the bank President's wife's hairdresser of choice, would have given her the leg up she needed, but no such luck.  She still had to wait behind the county's biggest piggies, like Gator Paper Mills, Delco Furniture, and the Compton Park Development.  She was even sure New Life Baptist Church got into the act- as much as they bad-mouthed government, they wouldn't be able to resist their time at the trough.

The last thing she wanted to do was reopen the shop, BB's Beauty Boutique.  The first case in Dixon County had been Lillie Marlowe, who owned The Cut Ups. 

She begged her landlord to hold off on rent.  "Sorry, BB," he had said.  "You know Kemp has opened up the whole damn state.  If you couldn't open up, I might be tolerable to it, but since you can open, I have to collect rent.  You a sweet gal, BB, but I got my own bills too."

She heard someone at the front door, using a key to open it up.  It was her receptionist, Cissy Reese.  "What are you doing here, Cissy?  You should not be risking yourself for this."

Cissy snapped her gum.  Bad habit, but at least she wasn't smoking.  "Sorry, BB.  I need the work.  Blasted unemployment office is not accepting my application because they say I can go back to work now."

"I don't think that's the way it's supposed to work, Cissy.  I think they extend it to those who don't feel safe."

Cissy shook her head.  Sometimes BB could be pretty naive.  "Yeah, well sometimes how things work on paper ain't how they work in real life, 'specially when the unemployment office is run by a real prick like Walter Dixon." 

"Well, look, I'm only taking appointments, only taking in one person at a time."  She handed Cissy a mask, homemade by Teresa Smithson, and some bleach wipes.  "You'll have to wear this.  And you'll need to keep this place wiped down.  And answer the phone - if you make appointments, keep them to half-hour increments.  Remember, only one customer at a time. And they must be wearing a mask."

"How you gonna cut somebody's hair while they're wearing a mask?"

Bondell sighed.  How was she going to do that?  "I don't know.  I'll figure it out as I go along."

Her first customer was Dotty Mathers.  Blondell had a hard time getting Dotty to keep her mask on.  Dotty thought the whole virus was a liberal conspiracy, and she blathered about politics non-stop.  Blondell just occasionally said, "Uh-huh," and let the Mathers blather.

There was a loud knocking at the door, and Cissy came up to unlock it.  Good gravy, hadn't she just told that girl only one customer at a time?  It was the Gorland twins and a passel of their other siblings.

"What the heckers, Cissy!  Don't let them in!"

Cissy looked more confused than apologetic.  "Sorry, BB.  I had told them we were open, and I could get them discount cuts.  We need the money, don't we?"

"I told you, one customer, at a time, Cissy!  How is that confusing?"

"Oh.  Well, I didn't know that when I told them."

"Well, now you know, OK?  Find some open times and make each one their own appointment. And they got to have masks on to get in."

Sammy Gorland shouted from outside the door, "Can you turn the TV on?  We can see it from out here while we wait."

"No, Sammy!" Blondell yelled.  "You got to make an appointment and come back then.  And don't forget a mask." 

"OK, then," said Sammy. 

She turned to Cissy.  "Take care of this.  I got to finish Dotty up before my 9:30 with Christie Hollander."

Bondell went back to Dotty, apologizing for her absence.  Dotty ignored her and started talking about how hydroxychloroquine could stop all this, but that Nancy Pelosi was blocking it.

As Dotty went on and on, Blondell started to tear up.  Dotty and Cissy didn't even notice.

She was overwhelmed with sadness and sudden realization.

They weren't going to get through this.

This wasn't going to be contained.

So many would suffer.

And some would die.

Blondell felt like there was nothing she could do, except watch the madness unfolding before her, and just pray that she and her family and loved ones got through it.

But that seemed increasingly unlikely.

The world had gone mad, and Dixon County was not going to be spared.

Stuck in Wave After Wave of a Nightmare Episode: Keeping Your Distance 17

You are a fantastic writer, Rod Serling.  And I love The Twilight Zone.  But could we please just end this terrible episode and move on to a better storyline?

Look, I 've figured out the story.  Electing someone as narcissistic and ignorant as Trump would have devastating consequences for us and the entire planet.  So, lesson learned.  Could we please go back to the way history should have gone?  Could we please restore the timeline to something that makes sense?  Please?

Of course, sadly, Trump is not alone.  He has whole news (?) networks like FOX and OAN, radio talk show blatherers like Rushy Limbaugh, and an army of so-called Christian evangelicals.  All who egg on people who, although not a majority, are loud, obnoxious, and downright scary.

And part of that army of lemmings are other Republican officials.  One of those leading the way is Georgia's own Governor, Brian Kemp.

No one in their right mind, in a state that has not peaked, where many areas of the state still see a rising number of cases, would decide that this is a sweet time to reopen the state.

It is madness.  It is malfeasance.  It will cost lives.  

It's hard to keep up with the numbers.  As  I write this, April 21st at 9:33 EDT,  we now have 774 deaths.  We currently rank 12th nationally in the number of cases.

Does it seem like it's getting better to you?

What would it take to reopen the state?

1) WEEKS of declining numbers.

2) Massive testing.

3) Thorough and complete contact tracing.

Is Kemp doing any of that?  Of course not.  What he's doing is saving the state money in unemployment payouts.  You can't claim unemployment if the business you have worked for reopens.  You can either choose to stay home without income (good luck making that $1200 last - but don't it have a sweet signature on that phat check?), or you can choose to risk your life, and the lives of everyone you love, by going to work.

You really want to risk your life serving popcorn to somebody who couldn't figure out how to see Trolls World Tour from home?

You really want to cut the hair of someone who the previous weekend was at a protest blocking a hospital and passing out, hand to hand, candy to children?

You really want to help at a gym where people are panting, gasping for air, and expelling COVID by the expectorate cloudfull?

Genuine essential workers, like medical staff and first responders (not, as Governor DeSantis of Florida believes, professional wrestlers), are needed, but EVERYTHING on earth should be done to protect them.  Shortages of PPE gear is criminal neglect by federal authorities who, if they were halfway caring or motivated, could get it to those who need it.

What is another way we can help medical staff?

By aggressive social distancing, so they are not overwhelmed by cases, stretching medical resources up to and beyond their capacity.

Care about others.  Help us get through this.

Don't be like Kemp.

Please, Rod.  Stop beating us over the head with it.

I don't like this alternate timeline we have careened on to.

I'm ready for a different episode.

Unfortunately, this one seems stuck on repeat.

With wave after wave crashing against us, breaking our heart and our spirit.

Remember, remember, this third of November.  Let's do everything we can to change the channel from this nightmare.

Faith, Hope & Love: Keeping Your Distance 16

And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. First Corinthians 13:13

Faith, hope, and love.  All are important to us as Christians (and other religions as well).  And although love indeed is the greatest of these, faith and hope are vital as well.

Hope is particularly poignant at this time.  We are in the middle of an onslaught by a global pandemic, one that is tearing a hole in throughout the world.

We hope through prayer.  We hope through the love and care we show for others who are under stress and suffering.  We hope by how we share our blessings with others.

We have hope that this pandemic will be checked and that people will do what they can to reduce its spread and harm.

We hope for the coming of a vaccine that will end this.

We hope that the weaknesses that have been shown in our social structure will be addressed.  That we will learn to be able to take better care of all of us and provide the social safety net we need to live and thrive.  

We hope improvements come in our medical access, that people aren't left without care because they can't afford it, or lose the job that their healthcare insurance is based on.

We hope that what this terrible pandemic has laid bare, that the poor and minorities that bear the brunt of its ravages are better protected, and that horrific income inequality is addressed.

It is a good and right and justified desire to want this era of social distancing to come to an end.  It is an evil and wrong and unjustified urge to want to bring the economy back at the cost of human lives.


"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Money."  Matthew 6:24

Yes, that is from the New Testament of the Christian Bible.  But I do not know of any significant religion where that is not advocated.  Even a pantheist faith like Hinduism does not believe in the worship of a money God.

As someone who believes in inclusive worship, I would never tell someone who worships money, to not enter the church.  All have some good in them that can be appealed to.

But I do not endorse their view.  I do not consider part of the faith, and it does make wonder if those people truly believe that opening the economy is worth the sacrifice of lives. If they are genuinely Christians/Jews/Muslim/Hindu/humanists in their hearts.

You can hope and pray and work to make things better.  You can reach out (without actual physical contact) to those suffering and in pain.  

But you cannot say you have faith if you choose money over people.

You cannot say you have hope if you are willing to let people die to boost the economy.

You cannot say you love if the mighty dollar is more important than the lives of those you purport to love.

May God bless all who are struggling to get through this.  

And I hope and pray better days are ahead very soon.

Dimming Prospects of Avoiding a Second Wave: Saturday Political Soap Box 243

Greatly discouraged today. I spent a good deal of time carefully selecting pictures to go with this post, photos of the stay-at-home protest in Michigan, and of the beaches opening of the Jacksonville Beaches.  I've learned the hard way that posts without pictures are viewed much less than those with pictures.

But that's only a tiny reason I am discouraged.  I am discouraged because the evidence is mounting that we will not be able to sustain social distancing and that the second wave in this country is going to be horrendous.

It's not just the lunatics in Michigan, protesting at the capital and temporarily blocking the entrance to Sparrow hospital, one of Michigan's largest and most important medical facilities.  It's not just the lemmings that insist on going back to the beach.

And it's not just the Trumpeteers.  Yes, Trump is responsible for the depth and severity of our crisis.  He has done all the wrong things and shown himself to be soulless while doing it.

No, I see reactions from more than just Trumpeteers.  Non-political people and even some left-leaning people seem to be itching for this to be over with.

Why?

Reasons vary.

Some people's personalities are such that social isolation is more than they can take.  They're extroverts whose lives are built on constant social contact.  It's not a big problem for me, BUT, in all fairness, Alison and I have had a continuing work schedule, and we have each other and Benjamin.  So we really haven't experienced total house confinement.

Some have had their work effected to such a degree where the economic stresses, potential and actual, are beginning to accumulate.

Some feel like the economy is more important than human lives.  This is a group that upsets me greatly, and no, I do not have sympathy for or any understanding of their position.  It infuriates me so much that I don't want to say any more about it in this post.  Maybe later, when I'm in a calmer frame of mind.

It's not helpful that the President keeps talking like we do this soon, backed up by FOX News, OAN, and fake reality-TV show doctors.


Do I want social distancing to last the 12 to 24 months until a vaccine is in place?

It's not a matter of what I want, but it is a matter of what has to be done.

If we are to leave or reduce social distancing, we have to do the right way.

We have to have massive testing.  We have to have contact tracing.  We have to be prepared, in some cases, to shut back down as quickly as we opened.

Rural counties think they should be given a pass?  Sorry.  Where I live and work, Ware and Pierce Counties, the current numbers show us in a statistical hotspot.  It's here, folks.  It's not academic.

So, the federal government needs to facilitate massive testing, contract tracing, PPE, ventilators, other medical equipment, and increase hospital bed capacity, both regular and ICU.

That does not help with financial concerns.  The COVID bill should have been flipped, with virtually no money going to large corporations, and tons more going to individuals and small business.  We are only stressed about keeping the economy going because so many of us live from paycheck to paycheck.  Many other countries have giving individuals thousands per month, or guaranteeing up to 80% of an individual's regular salary.

I can't go into a long economic dissertation here (I've already probably lost over three-quarters of my readership - that would just about eliminate everybody else).  But please try to grasp this -

THE GOVERNMENT BUDGET IS NOT LIKE A HOUSEHOLD BUDGET.

The government can print and print money.  There is no gold standard anymore.  They can do it, and right now, they should do it.  The national debt seems scary, but it is a false issue.  That is not a problem.  The problem with printing money is potential inflation.  That problem exists when the economy is already revved up, and you just flood it with more money.  That is not the case here.  You can't put enough money in the system right now to create inflation.

I know this isn't easy.  Whether psychological, economic, or god help us, ideological, it's tough to do this.

So, I'm just asking one thing.

Don't squaller at the Governors for trying to do the right thing, the smart thing.

Save your wrath for those who are not helping us get out of this - for those who are fighting mass testing and contacting tracing, for those who fight Medicare For All and other improvements to the social safety net, fro those who oppose help to small business, for those who insist on defying our best medical experts.

Sorry, Governor DeSantis.  Professional wrestling is not essential.

I hate to be so pessimistic.

It makes me aware of how rare the Greatest Generation was, the one that got us through the Depression and World War II.  Because we are behaving the opposite of that.

The Greediest Generation, the most self-centered generation.

And our poster child?

President Donald J Trump.

I pray that I am wrong.

Franny Goes to Work: A Crowley Story - Keeping Your Distance 15

Franny was alone.  No one in her apartment, not even Adam, who had wandered off two years ago when he graduated from Georgia College.  Her forever love was forever no more. She had lost out to some hussy from Dunwoody.  His college research projects had involved more than academics, and his research partner had become his new "project."

Well, too bad, so sad.  It didn't take her long to get over him.  Only the last two years.  But today, she was ready to set him aside.  Ready to turn the page on her sadness and concentrate on her career.  There were other fish in the sea.  It's just that in Crowley, it was more like a pond, and not a very well-stocked one at that.

Now was not the best time to look for somebody else.  COVID-19 was running ragged here like it was everywhere else.  Some in Dixon County thought they were not a part of it, that it was really a big city problem.  Let Atlanta (and damn Dunwoody) worry about it.  No need here in rural Southeast Georgia.

She showered and then dressed for work.  She put on her nurses uniform, all white and starchy fresh.  Maybe not everyone would consider her a raging success (not no fancy Georgia College grad, anyhoo), but she felt good about herself.  That LPN certificate meant the world to her.  And who knows?  Maybe someday she'd shoot the moon and go for RN status.

She got in her car, just an old Honda Fit, but it was all hers, paid for free and clear.  She had a tote bag with her (Dixie Chick tote - featuring Natalie Main singing her heart out), with things she would need as she got closer to work.

As she pulled into the parking lot, she noticed the flashing lights of an ambulance, and of a police car.  That's not good.  She took her mask out and slipped it on.  It was a homemade mask, made from cloth fabric swatches.  The facility was not providing N95 masks, or anything else.

At the entrance to where she worked, the Crowley Baptist Retirement Village, she saw the Deputy Sheriff, Davis Gorland.  He was a big man, although he seemed to have lost at least a little weight recently.  Franny felt like Davis was sort of sweet on her, but she wasn't interested. Not because he was big, but because he was about fifteen years older than her.  Besides, she really wasn't interested in anybody.  Not right yet.

Davis was wearing a mask, just like she was.  Not many were wearing them yet in the county, not outside of the medical places, anyways.

"Hey, Davis!" said Franny.  "What's going on?"

Davis straightened up, trying to look tall and straight, sucking in his gut as best he could.  "Hey, Franny!  Good to see you!"

Franny smiled underneath her mask.   Davis couldn't see that, only the concern reflected in the exposed parts of her face. "Good to see you, too, I guess.  I mean, it's nice to see you, but I'm worried about what brings you out to the Village."

Davis put his hands together, bowed his head as if weighed down, and reluctant to say what he had to.  "It's Rebecca Cooper.  I'm afraid she's got the COVID."

Franny couldn't stop the gasp that escaped from her mouth.  "What?  No!  Are they sure?"

"I'm afraid so.  Test came back positive this morning.  They're going to take her to Satilla Memorial.  It looks like she's gonna need a ventilator."

Franny was just about in tears.  Not Rebecca Cooper!  She was such a wonderful lady!  It's true she suffered from dementia, but she was so happy and kind all the time, even if most of the time, she thought it was 1949.  At 94, she was one of their oldest residents.  They hadn't a centenarian since her great-grandmother, Mattie Goodkind, had passed five years ago at 104.  Mattie was determined to outlive their oldest ever resident,  Rachel Compton, who had lived to be 105, dying on her birthday, collapsing into her Pogo cake.*

"This is terrible," Franny said.  "I love Rebecca!"

"I know," said Davis sympathetically.  He reached out to pat her arm, thought better of it, and pulled it back away.  "They'll need to test all the other residents.  Well, they should, but you know, test access is limited around here, so at first, it may be just those who show any kind of sign of it.  You might be prepared, Franny.  They'll probably want to test some staff as well."

"That's fine.  Whatever's needed."

"Think about it, Franny.  You might want to go back home and let things settle out first.  No need to put yourself at risk unnecessarily."

Franny shook her head, rejecting that crazy notion.  "Now, Davis Gorland! You know better than that, you being a servant of the public and all.  I'm going to go in there and help wherever I can.  These people mean the world to me, and I intend to be there for them."

Davis sighed.  "I understand, Franny.  I'm sorry.  I can't help but be concerned.  You're one of the nicest people I know."

"It's okay.  I'm glad you care.  It's one of the things that makes you such a good cop."

"Thanks, Franny.  I do my best." He paused, cleared his throat, and decided to tell her his other bit of news.  "It ain't just here, Franny.  It's other places in the county as well.  You know how Pastor Dan insisted the New Life Baptist Church continue services?  Well, guess what group has twelve tested positive, including Pastor Dan?"

Franny was not a Pastor Dan fan, tracing back to when he and his church treated Racine Steel so poorly.  But even she didn't wish that kind of ill on him.  "Well.  That was a mistake."

Davis guffawed.  "Mistake?  It takes a special brand of idiot to think that you could keep up that kind of close contact in an outbreak like this."

"You're probably right.  Well, Davis, I better go in now.  Thanks for the information.  You take care of yourself."

Davis nodded to Franny as she went by.  "You too, Franny.  Keep that mask on tight!"

So, Dixon County wasn't special.  COVID-19 was here, big time.

If only Franny could see the whole county...

She would see the people congregating around Satilla River, unprotected and close.

She would see whole families at Yeltins IGA dancing up and down the aisles, colliding with customers and grocery staff alike.

She would know that this wasn't ending anytime soon, and that it was going to be made much worse by people's behavior.

God help protect Rebecca Cooper, and all the residents and staff of Crowley Baptist Retirement Village.

God help protect all the people of Dixon County, the wise and foolish alike.





* Please see the story A Crowley Celebration of Longevity for more about Rachel Compton and Mattie Goodkind.

The Tax Deadline That Wasn't: Keeping Your Distance 14

Our little garden, as observed this morning.

Has it grown in the couple of weeks since planting?

This is as it was initially planted. 

I'll let you be the judge.

Typically, in my profession, there is a great sigh of relief, as the dreaded April 15th deadline has now left the building.

Not this year.

The first tax deadline for individual returns was extended to July 15th.  We still had returns come in, but it was nowhere near the level of prior years.

Much of the slack of this was more than taken up by assisting businesses and non-profits with applications for PPP (Payroll Protection Program) and EIDL (Economic Injury Disaster Loan).  I don't usually name names, but two of the staff have to be noted for putting effort above and beyond the normal call to duty, Ronald Paulk and Chris Arney.

Many of these vital loans are lost in a maze and haze of bureaucratic mess and overload.  I know that many are frustrated by the delay in receiving these.  All I can tell you is that your accountants and local bankers are working hard to prod the process to completion.  Yes, I'm not always the banker's best friend in my commentary, but I really feel like they're trying as hard as they can to meet the ever-shifting paperwork requirements to get this to those who need as quickly as they can.  

I'm not even assigning a lot of blame to Congress.  Could it have been thought out better?  Sure.  But they had to do it quickly.  Speed was more important than pretty.  Given the bitter divisions between parties, it was a miracle we got what we did.

Look at the bright side.  At least you're not waiting for these loans so that HE can slap his name on it.  At least you're not one of those waiting for a check in the mail because HE held them so HE can add HIS signature to them, delivered via USPS, a service he wants to gut and cripple and hijack to a more expensive private system.

This does represent a downturn in the number of hours that I will work.  I want to contain accounting to a couple of days a week, especially during this stay at home period.

Today I go into the dentist.  I know.  I'm bad.  But Monday, I had my one and only dental work (except for a few filled cavities), a crown, fall out while eating a grilled Chick-fil-a nugget.  I didn't even know that was possible.  So, I'm in some pain and have to eat and drink out of one side of my mouth, and therefore have to do something.

I probably won't be able to wear a mask when they re-attach it.  Or whatever they do. God, I hope they don't have to make a new one.

I just hope the crown is still under warranty.

Thoughts on a Holy Saturday: Keeping Your Distance 13

That's my senior picture, stolen directly from my yearbook.  There was a thing on Facebook, where it was decided that the thing to do to show support to the many seniors who were going to miss out on the est of their senior year was to post your senior picture.  I'm not really sure about how to connect the dots as to how that helps, but I did it anyhoo.  It's not perfect, but it makes more sense than some of the viral stuff, like pouring buckets of ice water on your head.

Maybe I shouldn't be using the word viral right now to describe things.

I feel a great deal of empathy for the class of 2020.  Not everyone is overjoyed with their high school experience, but it's hard to see it peter out like this, just when some of the best memories are formed in the last couple of months.  Prom may be an angsty overblown thing, but it's hard to miss not because you chose not to, but because it was canceled altogether.  Graduation ceremonies are an important rite, a symbolic passage from one era to the next.  Picking it up in a face mask, or having it mailed to you, is just not the same thing.

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Benjamin was class of 2019, but this was his first year at college.  He was talking to it so well. Mama and Daddy were so proud of how he was taking flight on his own. His grades were excellent, and he was participating in more activities than he did in high school. Now he's back home.  We get along well, but it's hard to see him lose that experience. 

Every student learns in different ways.  Benjamin does not take well to learning solely online.  His grades have suffered some, but he is working hard to get his rhythm back.

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This is the big week for our faith, Holy Week, as it is for many Christian denominations.  Reverand Kit and a small group of helpers have arranged it so we can get services online, and it has been a blessing in our family.  It has helped us stay connected to our faith and faith community.

As difficult as it is, it is necessary to not worship assembled together right now.  That is how outbreaks happen.  Right now, Pierce County, in terms of percentage of population, is suffering disproportionately compared to other Georgia counties.  This stems in large part to area churches that insisted on having church gatherings.

I don't understand the impulse to give religious gatherings a pass, as the Governor of Florida has done.  Even more confusing is Kansas, where the Governor banned them, and the Kansas legislature voted to restore them.  That is ridiculous and dangerous.  What kind of constituency is there for that sort of madness?  I would have thought that even most religious people would have understood the necessity for it.

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I hear people talk as if they think this going to be ending soon.  I don't try to argue with them much because I don't have the heart to tell them otherwise.

We are just beginning to see the benefits of social distancing.  We may have begun to see the turn of a corner, a reduction in acceleration enough so that there is a good chance that our medical facilities can handle it (although PPE, masks, and ventilator needs run critically high).  But it is just the BEGINNING.  If we remove restrictions too quickly, this will come roaring back in intensity, and the system will be overwhelmed.

We'll know more when some parts of the world, where the curve is ahead of us, come out of self-isolation and start to resume normal life.  We'll find out how intense a second wave might be.  The second wave of the Spanish Influenza (1919)  was much more devastating than the first.  We'll also soon find out if people who have had it once are truly immune, or whether they are susceptible to getting again.

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Even though this is the day I usually do my Saturday Political Soapbox, my political thoughts have been disjointed, and I've said much of them already.  I'll try to be more thematically sound next time.

Make no mistake, however.  The shadow of his idiocy hangs around us all.  It endangers each and every one of us.

Save democracy.  Support mail-in ballots.

Positivity? Yes! Pollyanna? No! Keeping Your Distance 12

Do we need to have positivity in the face of the challenges we have?  Yes. 

Do we need to be Pollyannish about it?  No.

Pollyanna is most famous as a Disney movie in the 50s, with Pollyanna portrayed by the incredible young actress, Hayley Mills.  Even though the movie primarily centered on her optimism, the word Pollyanna came to symbolize unwarranted, unconditional feelings of optimism not tempered by facts and reality.

Yes, it is important to be positive in these dangerous times.  It is important to have faith in our fellow man and that we will take care of each other, that we will see our way through this, and come out stronger.

There are too many putting themselves on the line to help see us through this.  Medical staff, first responders, clerks, and shippers, and retail people who help us keep stocked in essentials.  We are going through a brutal time economically, but we can make it thorough if we support each other, make concessions, and realize there are things more valuable than money and greed.

But when you want to shut out facts and news and criticize anybody who is trying to look at cold, hard reality, you've gone too far.

We need to know the truth and react not with depression or fear, but in the best ways to deal with the crisis.

Those figures that fall short need to be held to account.  Anyone who gouges and profiteers off this crisis needs to be called out, whether they are Senators who profit from insider trading, or someone who buys up all the toilet paper and sells it back at inflated prices, or the feds buying up all the medical supplies and then selling them to private companies who then make the states bid against each other, or someone snakes oil a questionable drug because he and his buddies could profit off of it, or someone eliminates the government watchdogs that would help oversee the enormous amount of money that is to be doled out to large corporations.

Yes, we need to stay focused on how best to see ourselves through this crisis.  I applaud the experts who are giving good advice, and I applaud all those who are creating diversions with humor and games and song.  Social media should be a joyous place.

But it also needs to be a factual place.

We need to know what we need to do to get through this.  We cannot ignore it and smile our way out.

And some people need to be held to account.

And, if we're honest, we all know who the chief culprit is.

And, even if you consider it not being positive, I will never stop trying to get you to notice and acknowledge it.

Positive?  Yes!  Pollyanna? No!

The truth must be known.

Our New Garden: Keeping Your Distance 11

It's never worked before.

My history of gardening/planting failures is legion.

I'm surprised we have any grass or plants at all.  Usually, they have to make it on their own. 

There are some people (too many) who, when they get a dog or cat, just set them out in the backyard, and occasionally fling out pet food or table scraps.  The "pets" survive on their own, or they don't.

That's the way I am with plants.  They're outside.  They can take care of themselves.


But Alison and Benjamin are home now.  Alison is on Spring Break, and even when over, she will have a significantly reduced schedule as school has been called off for the year.  Benjamin is home studying his college courses online.  Me?   I'm working some.  Probably fewer hours than a typical tax season, but working nonetheless.

All this has given us a space to begin gardening efforts.  Doug and Paige interested us in the style of raised garden, as they have put in something like that at their house (much more extensive than we have).  We thought it was cool because it would not hurt our backs so much, and make some predators a little less likely.

It's a raised garden box, made out of cedar, so it smells pretty.  We've put in some tomato varieties and some transplanted lettuce.  That's our start.  We've got additional seeds on order.

Alsion waters it morning and evening if there has been no rain.  It's getting six hours plus of direct sunlight.  The potting soil is chock full of "please let it grow" stuff.

It's an exciting sign of hope and promise in this time of the COVID-19 crisis.

I go out and check it each day, like it's going to miraculously grow in just a few hours.

The best thing I can tell you about the promise of the garden is that it's not just me watching over it, it's mostly Alison.

OK, it's all Alison.  But I'm there for support.

The Power of We: Saturday Political Soap Box 242

It's times like this that often brings out the best of humanity.

Yes, there is bad behavior as well -

     - a President who has been slow to respond, inconsistent in his rhetoric, dismissive and self-centered, and one who seems to be determined to bring back the Articles of Confederation

     - a handful of Governors who hold out in protecting their state, or it has only occurred to them in the last 48 hours that asymptomatic people could spread the disease

    - idiots who party on like they're immortal, and disregard the spread and harm they could do to others

    - preachers who stubbornly hold services, even in the face of reports of how this has helped spread the virus

    - and worst of all, we have the profiteers and gougers who are inflating prices and getting states and other entities who direly need medical supplies to bid against each other.

But we have many more stories of goodness and caring and sacrifice.

    - medical staff who are taking considerable risks in caring for those the rest of us can't even go near

   - police and firefighters who are putting themselves on the line to protect our communities.  In my hometown, the police are delivering meals to the needy and elderly.

   - grocery store clerks and retail workers that expose themselves to make sure our supply of essential supplies is interrupted as little as possible.  There are also fast-food workers staffing drive-thru and curbside service, delivery people, and postal workers bringing what we need to our door, people who work at banks or CPA offices to keep out financial accounts moving.

    -social networking done on the internet or through e-mails, phones, or other outreach.  We show we care by reaching out to others in the ways that are left available to us.

    -the people who are trying to provide us with news, the officials and bureaucrats that are struggling to keep us safe and informed.

Even as we are kept apart from each other, we are re-discovering our greatest power - the power of we.

We, the people.  We, a society that works to take care of each other.

All the things that have been dissed by some in this country have been proven to be absolutely vital.

We need a stronger social safety net.

Healthcare should be a right, tied to our birthright as citizens, not to who our employer is, or our ability to pay.  It is has shown the utter irresponsibility of having a healthcare system tied to who our employer is.  Because when you lose your job in a crisis like this...you have no healthcare coverage at all.

We are networked globally, like it or not.  You can't build walls large enough to keep out everyone, and you shouldn't want to.  We are one people.  One human race.  Self-isolation is a global concept, not an "each nation to themselves" concept.

Our politics have for too long centered on greed and selfishness.  It's too long promoted wealth and power concentrated in fewer and fewer hands.

It's not about buzzwords: capitalism, socialism, Ayn Randian style libertarianism, oligarchy, fascism* ...

It's about the power of we.

It's about building a society that maximizes the good we can do for each other - as individuals, as community members, as participants in our churches and synagogues and temples and mosques, as citizens of a state and a nation, and as part of an increasingly intertwined global network.


I pray we come out of this finally done with Reagan Era politics of greed.  I hope we turn our backs on the narcissism and self-centeredness of the Trump Period. 

It's the disease of ME FIRST versus the power of WE.

Someday, hopefully sooner rather than later, COVID-19 will be defeated, and our social distancing can end.  And with it vanquished, I pray we set permanently aside our ME FIRST politics and move to the power of WE.

I fear that if we don't, then the eventual destruction caused by keeping that kind of politics will be more devastating than even the horrible COVID-19.

Much, much more devastating.

A Visit With Mayma: Flash Fiction - Keeping Your Distance 10

I can't see you anymore.

Your doors are closed to me.

I stand outside your building in the parking lot.  I'm not close enough to read the sign, but I know it's there.  It's everywhere, on every door of the retirement center.

Nobody can come in.  Nobody can visit anymore.

Yesterday, a CNA at the nursing home section was diagnosed as positive.  That's not even your building,  You are in the Independent Care section, and there should be no crossover of personnel.  Except that many of the staff all eat at a common employee cafeteria.  So, yes, it's good to be overcautious.

But that does not make the separation any easier.

I stand in the parking lot.  Straight ahead is your room. The curtains are closed.

I call your number.  It rings and rings.  The hair on my neck pricks up.  What if I'm waking you up from a sound and blessed sleep?  What if you're not in your room?  No, that's not possible.  I understood that now, instead of visiting the dining room, everyone is served their meals in their room.

What if you're not in your room because they've taken you to the nursing care facility?  What if...you've got it?

Stop stressing.  Surely, they would have told me.

And then I hear the phone being picked up.

MAYMA:  Hello?  May I help you?

ME:  Mayma?  It's me!  Your loving grandchild!

MAYMA:  Oh, Lord, boy!  It's good to hear your voice!

ME:  How are you?  Are you okay?

MAYMA:  I feel fine. Especially now that I get to hear your voice.

She always says she's fine.  Even when she was in the hospital to have a benign tumor removed from her lung, she said she was fine.  Even when she had pneumonia last year, she was fine.

ME:  You can do better than just to hear my voice.  Open your curtains, Mayma, and look out into the parking lot.

She did so.  She saw me and waved widely, grinning broadly.  Was that tears I saw, or was that a trick of the light?  Thankfully, the phone cord extended to where she could stand at the window.  I had tried to get her to take a cell phone, but she would have nothing to do with it.

MAYMA:  Land's sake, boy!  It is so good to see you!  What a miracle!  This means the world to me!

ME:  I wish I could get closer, Mayma, but you know, with everything going on...

MAYMA:  I know.  If it was up to me, I would come out and hug you like nobody's business. 

ME:  I'm so sorry, Mayma.  I would too, but you know we can't do that.

MAYMA:  I don't care.  I've lived a full life.  I'd take the chance.

I was close to bawling like a baby.  Time to talk about something else.


ME:  How's the food?  Are you eating ok?

MAYMA:  It's tolerable.  It's not like the shrimp 'n' grits like you blushing bride makes.  I really miss our family dinners.

ME:  I'll get her right on that.  And we'll have a heaping helping sent over tomorrow.

MAYMA:  I appreciate the kind gesture, but I don't know if they'll let it in.  And you know it won't be the same if I can't be there at the table with y'all.  How is my great-grandson?

ME:  He's a screaming toddler mess, but he loves and misses you.  Maybe I can bring him with me next time.

MAYMA:  Maybe you shouldn't ought to do that.  I'm not sure this whole mess here would be good for him to see,  And he needs to stay safe.  It breaks my heart, but it's best to keep him home.

She seemed to falter a bit. And then I heard a dry cough.

I see the hall light start to flood around her door.  A nurse enters her room.  She wore a mask and protective clothing.  She stood behind Mayma and had a tray of something.  I couldn't make it out clearly, but it wasn't food.  I  think it was medical supplies.

As the nurse got closer to Mayma, I could hear her through the phone.

NURSE: ...time for your test, dear.  It won't take long.

ME: Mayma! What's going on?

MAYMA:  Nothing to fret about.  My temp's up a bit, and they're just trying to be sure.  Now you go on and have a good day.  I'll talk to you again soon.  I love you, boy.  With all my heart.  Don't you forget that.

ME: (gulping back tears)  Love you too, Mayma.

She closes the drapes.

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I come back the next day.

She's no longer in her room.

No Fooling this Year: Keeping Your Distance 9

Usually, I have an April Fool's blog post, where I run for Congress, or pretend I like Trump or something equally ridiculous like that.

This year, however, April Fool's is suspended.  Nothing could match what is going on in real life.

Instead, I will share a picture of one of my pets, as requested by a good friend.

This one is my retirement dog, Boss-A-Man.  We foster-failed with him at about the same time that I semi-retired from accounting.

He is a great dog, and I love him very much.  His smile looks like a snarl, but once you know him, you know how sweet a smile it is.  He loves to be held and be with people. He is always happy to see me and often gets in my lap.

He has several nicknames - Bossy, Sir Bark-A-Lot, the Turd Burglar (we really have to make sure the cat's litter box area is kept clean).

-------------------------------------------

What is wrong with me?  Why did I watch this show?  Why has EVERYONE watched this show?

Oh, yeah.  I forgot.  Many of us are on lockdown.

I had not planned on watching it.  But:

Tom:  This sounds horrible.  I don't want to watch it.

Alison:  I do.  I want to see what everyone is talking about.

Tom: OK, but you'll have to watch it yourself.

Alison turns it on.

Tom: OK.  I'll just watch the first episode with you.

End of Episode 1:

Tom:  Those are some funky-crap people.  Although that Carole Baskin seems nice.

Tom: OK.  I'll see one more.

Soon:

Tom:  Oh, my God.  She changed the legal papers to INCLUDE disappearance?  Who the hell does that?

Alison:  At least we've seen all the crazy people we can handle.

Tiger King, next episode:  Hold my beer.  Here comes Jeff  Lowe.

End of Series:

Tom:  I need to take a shower.  I will never be clean of that mess.



Oh, America!  What has quarantine driven us to?