Dealing With The Plague

 The most poignant thing I keep remembering about this dread disease is the n. As in, NOVEL, as my friends Barry and Kenny keep reminding me. This is a worldwide health calamity whose science is brand new, and so dealing with it remains a bunch of moving parts.

I'm emerging, little by little, from my cocoon. Our family has been driven by the directives of D1, and her now closing in on 10 month, precious boy. And D1 was, as we said, glatt kosher -- quarantining, staying in, etc...Lately, though, she's more like a Conservative shul -- the kind with female rabbis and cantors. Last week, she and Joey took the baby to a local children's museum -- socially distant, of course, but out in the real world.

I had my first dental cleaning since before the plague. I spent several hours last week with my brother Paul, walking his luxurious Williams Island, mostly masked. I'm always blown away at the wealth there -- the marina has scores of multi million dollar yachts. I swear one was 200 feet long. Paul invited me to have lunch at the club restaurant -- I wasn't ready for that yet, and headed home for some delivered Publix Instacart sandwiches with Wifey.

Some friends won't fly, but will still host gatherings of more than 20 people. I guess, like anything in life, when something is very important to us, we undertake the risk. My problem has been that, other than seeing the Ds and their men and son in person, nothing has been that important.

Yesterday was a banner one. The Ds and Joey and Jonathan and the baby and all dogs came over, and we brought in Anthony's Coal Fired. I poured drinks, and later Jonathan made frozen margaritas for him and his brother in law. I stick to vodka -- my old, loyal friend. Joey watched soccer, and then I switched to college football. The baby was absurdly adorable. We all played with and loved the little guy. It was exquisite.

The only tensosity, was when Betsy, the enormous puppy, grabbed some of the organic salmon D1 had prepared for her son. And, to her credit, D1 got over it. Ain't no one worried about that baby being underfed.

Jonathan has to travel this week for business, to Mexico. I'm concerned, but he'll be fine. He'll return Thursday, wait a few days, and then get a corona test. The results will hopefully be negative, and all will go on as normal.

I have a busy Monday planned tomorrow, for the first time in awhile. Dania is coming to cut Wifey and my hair, and old friend Loni has asked me to help Zoom teach her 10th grade AP English classes -- they're reading "12 Angry Men." She's asked me to provide legal explanations and support. I'm looking forward to it -- I taught 2 years of freshman comp, and 2 classes of "Religion and Law." The only thing I didn't enjoy about teaching was grading the damn papers -- tomorrow and Tuesday are only the fun parts.

Also, Danny the A/C guy, or his man, is coming. Another compressor motor burned out. The compressors (we have 4) sit right under the roof rain drop, and the motors only last 2-3 years. Danny suggested I put in gutters, and I got an estimate. Unfortunately, since the edges are copper, the small gutter job costs $4K. That's 10 A/C motors -- which last 2-3 years. I think I'll just keep on seeing Danny every few years...

Meanwhile, the Marlins shocked us all -- they beat the Cubs and are advancing to the NL Division Playoffs. That'll be fun to watch this week. Alas, the Heat is done, or will be. They'll likely lose the next two games and be NBA runner ups for the ring. Still a great season. The Canes play the #1 team Saturday night -- we'll see how far they've truly come since last year. All of these are very welcome distractions.

And we'll just keep on, keepin' on. That's the best we can do in the time of the plague.