Skip to main content

Social Distancing, High Level Navel Gazing

No matter how many of my friends and family call to check in on me and I do appreciate their efforts, and despite the length of those calls, I do have considerable time alone in the quiet of my apartment. It's surprising to me how quiet it is in my building Considering, and this is based on the unreliable polling information of noticing doors opening and closing in the hallway, it seems like a lot of my neighbors are staying home also.

So, I think to myself, this is solitary confinement? Not really. I have my internet service, books and I've graduated from doing pencil sketches to watercolors. Not what you'd call the mental duress of four walls and no sunlight.

I try to walk every day. I get some fresh air and a couple of "Hi "how are you doing" encounters. My uniform de jour is not sweatpants and ragged t-shirts. I have my regular hygiene habits requiring regular shampoo, showers, and fresh clothing. I'm using hand soap and hand sanitizer. I wipe down my food surfaces and keep the bathroom clean.

But I do miss people. I had to cancel a long ago planned visits, coffee, breakfast, lunch, and dinner get-togethers with some friends. I've erased meeting plans from my calendar that Common Ground, Transit Services Advisory Committee, and The Zeidler Group canceled.

I notice in my conversations with people, we all seem to be going through various degrees of introspection. During phone conversations, I hear different versions of 'I'm glad we have social media. It helps to keep me in touch with everyone.' If threats are followed by action, there will be a hell of a lot of blow out big parties when the all-clear is sounded. So here are some of the better mood enhancers I've received.



Special Note: In Milwaukee "early voting" option is canceled, but the opportunity for absentee voting has been extended. For everything, Milwaukee voters need to know about this situation (click here).

Going Batshit Crazy Online.
My apartment building has a Facebook page. One resident has asked if anyone had old board games or any ideas about how to pass the time. We need a game that keeps people six feet apart during the play? I'm thinking of using common hallways for a mini-putt competition or cornhole. It would get people to participate with safe contact rules.

  1. No hi-fiving unless you've used hand sanitizer.
  2. Do not attempt to chest bump unless your teammate agrees verbally and loud enough for witnesses to hear.
  3. Don't bring a dish to share.
  4. One sneeze, guarded or not, and we all go home.
  5. No huddling to strategize.
  6. Do not kiss the trophy (It will be a traveling trophy)
I'll think of more.

One more laugh from my friend, Pam Frautchi. (Proving once again that not working in your garden exposes you to new possible addictions.)

If you don't think we can laugh about this situation, one guy begs to differ. (Click Here) Besides It's Broadway Show Tunes kinda stuff


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

One of my latest efforts. Sketch: The Lady Is Blue Gouache 9 X 12 Reporting: I enjoyed a pleasant evening with my friend Michelle Mooney. I took her out for dinner to celebrate her birthday and to thank her for the many first-rate haircuts she's given me. We were surprised at the number of people who dined alfresco in the balmy night air. Whatever we've done to please Mother Nature, she had deemed acceptable by giving us a shot of summer just when late fall weather was wrapping her fingers around our throat. If I have one complaint about the friendly confines of The County Claire, it's the noise level that makes it difficult to converse. The rumble is an acoustical problem with the customers speaking in normal conversational tones. This is without audible TV showing some game or background music selected by a dance DJ.  I know! We should have eaten outside, where the only noise is the occasional 14 bus snorting by.   Maybe It's Me Since my two soccer teams are not doing...
Post a Comment
Read more

Watching the Oldies

Note: Last week's post was late. There is a reason. Read on.  Classic Film: From Here To Eternity The film opens in Hawaii in 1941. The film stars Bur Lancaster, Mongomery Clift, Deborah Carr and Donna Reed. It is before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The only scene I remember is a scene many people who never watched the entire film have seen. It shows Bert Lancaster and Deborah Carr lying on a sandy beach, kissing as an incoming washed over them. Given the popularity of that scene, it was amazing to me that that iconic image is only seconds long in the film. The story is about the innocence of army personnel with no idea what's coming. Lancaster literally runs the squad while his Captain lets him take charge so he can campaign for his promotion and cheat on his wife.  To make up for the disrespect he has for his commanding officer, Lancaster beds his Captain's officer's wife only to fall in love with her.  Clift's character suffers the humiliation of an offic...
Post a Comment
Read more

Once A Young Man

 My late friend Jack had a saying that's lost on young people; it sure was lost on me. With his version of a Finnish accent, he'd say, " We are too soon old and too late, smart." I've never heard anybody answer the question about returning and reliving their youth that didn't include the covariate that they would know what they know now. Maturation and accepting the onset of the later years of our life goes a long way to mellowing our passions. Chicago Bear fans are less intimidating, and the members of the opposite sex who are age appropriate are far more appealing than we might have thought in our youth. Yes, I will admit some men still try to relive their youth in ways that defy logic. This facet of two late smart prevents athletes from realizing when their best years are behind them. More men than women seem to delude themselves into believing that members of the opposite sex half their age are suitable mates.  I'm not going to deny that some of us old...
Post a Comment
Read more