It was the day that I stopped forever my weekly visit to Kroger.
The COVID-19 epidemic was underway, and we were advised to stay away from each other. It was cold, and the forecast was that an ice storm would hit about sundown (made an hour earlier each year for no good reason by the switch to standard time).
It reflects me as much as him. But isn’t family truly the shared experience of knowing and enjoying one another? He likes Gracie Abrams, so I put “That’s So True” on the list, because I like it, too. She’s like a Jewish Taylor Swift; even to say it like that feels like a massive compliment. And I truly hope no one has lingering bitterness toward director J.J. Abrams; Gracie is his daughter.
The Temptations had a hit song 55 years ago, “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today).” It feels as if it were a prediction of the last week around here.
When I wrote “The Democrats Who Cried Wolf,” mentally, this was the next column. Alas, life. You have been in good hands, I know.
Cold water, applied suddenly, can be inspirational. I was reminded of this Friday morning when, mid-shower and all lathered and shampooed, the gas ran out. It wasn’t a matter of jumping out of the shower, either. I had to rinse it all off first. So I wasn’t just surprised by the icy blast. I had then to deliberately submit to it.
For as long as people have had fears, we have been afraid of things falling from the sky. Palentologists of comedy tell us that this particular danger may have been discovered by a researcher named Og, a colleague of the late Thag Simmons, when a flock of prehistoric pigeons flew over on a day he was late to an important meeting, though if challenged they admit that this is surmise.
Many years ago a radio network colleague came into the newsroom one Friday night all excited. She and her well-known musician husband, confirmed city dwellers, were going to rent a car the next day and explore the countryside. On Monday, I asked how the excursion had been. Her always cheerful expression turned into a horrified scowl. “We turned around and came right back. The rats up there are three feet long!” They had seen one crossing the road at night.
If one is observant he gets used to spotting things that oughtn’t be there, even if they are fairly small. I guess I’m observant, because the other night, as I sat on the dark brown couch in the dimly lit living room I noticed an inch-long mostly very dark brown insect on the couch a few inches away from me. Before I sent it to its eternal reward I looked at it, and was filled with dread.
Nuclear war was invented 80 years ago today. It was tried again three days later. Perhaps unfortunately, it worked.
NHK, Japan’s equivalent to our PBS, makes much of the American atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As you would expect, it is unreservedly condemned.