Quantum

Quantum. Say it long enough and it starts to sound like a Patuxet name, and it actually kind of is, because the man we call Squanto called himself Tisquantum, so there it is, right there in his name, as he made that foolhardy mistake of being friendly to the Pilgrims, which, I only just learned […]

Grinched

You know that White Christmas we all sing about? The one we really need for immediate ski resort economics and long-term drought issues? Well, it looks like Santa is going to deliver — right as people are trying to travel. Every day I check the 10-day forecast from Wunderground, and then, just to make sure, […]

Whither Normal?

Yesterday started at 5:30, when I got up to find Lynn studying a message on her phone: You have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for covid. That’s the sort of cheery, heart-warming message everyone ought not to start their day with. As Lynn continued with her plans to head to […]

Hospital-ity Lacking

Frequently, like yesterday, my visits to the Gunnison hospital last mere minutes and consist mostly of waiting. No matter my reason for visiting, though, sooner or later I’ll get a survey mailed to me, usually from someplace in Florida, wanting to know how my visit went. The question that befuddles me every time is: Did […]

Testing, Testing

Yesterday I went for a covid test that turned out to be more adventurous than expected. The day before yesterday, I was reclaiming screens with one of my several friends named Mark (the only one willing to reclaim screens, which is a LOT more fun than everyone thinks, no matter what people who might have […]

Boiling Point

I vacillate these days between abject despair and anger. As I wrote in the blog post you haven’t read because I’ve been working on it for two days and am getting nowhere, it feels like the End Times are upon us. Which has been a place humankind has been many, many times before, maybe once […]

The Long Haul

Monday I listened to the county public health director on community radio. Tuesday I attended the revival of the county’s business Zooms. Yesterday one of my several friends named Karen told me she had returned to volunteer work at our newly re-opened county call center. Corona is walking among us. In truth, she never left […]

Over It

Yesterday’s plans got derailed early when Omar texted — because no self-respecting teenager knows what the phone portion of his phone is for — Kara to say he couldn’t come to work because his throat was closed and he had a fever. Kara immediately suggested he get a covid test; with less faith in teenagers, […]

Where Have You Gone, Clarissa?

There used to be a teen show on Nickelodeon called Clarissa Explains It All. Well, today I am going to unexplain it — probably not all of it; probably we’re not even scratching the prickly surface. Even were Clarissa here, I have my doubts that she could explain, for instance, the Ohio state legislature. Someone […]

V Day

Oh, WordPress bane of my existence: who knows what they did today that felt like an “improvement” to them. but I have spent the day — in between extensive naps and fatigue — trying to format what I wrote this morning. I’m not proofreading, or trying anything else. I apologize on behalf of the “innovators” […]