In a time of destruction, create something: a poem, a
parade, a community, a school, a vow, a moral principle; one peaceful moment.
~Maxine
Hong Kingston
I don’t know much about Maxine Hong Kingston, but this quote
seemed particularly apropos today. If
you’re reading this in the future or have been lost in the Canadian wilderness
or far reaches of the Australian Outback, the Earth is under siege. From a
virus. I’m sure there’s enough out there to tell you all about this virus, how
it started, spread, and the various proper and disastrous governmental
responses to it. Some leaders got it,
some didn’t until it was too late.
The USA was one of the latter. Again, search the archives
for Donald J. Trump, the man who never should have run for president, let alone
be president. He is/was every bit as
disastrous as I thought he would be. Worse, in fact.
But, that’s not the main topic of today’s post.
Well-meaning people ask each other ‘How are you holding up?” I suppose the best answer would be “As well
as can be expected.” However, under the
circumstances, that really is an inadequate response to a complicated, variable
situation. The answer depends on the
time of day, how much media exposure you’ve had, whether you can find toilet
paper, and your general outlook on life.
I tend to think of myself as a cynical optimist. I know,
massive oxymoron. I’m optimistic that things will eventually get better, cynical
in that, things will be shit before they get better and even though they get
better, they won’t be what they were.
Confused yet? Me,
too. Those two feelings cause conflict in the mind and the conflict leads to
worry and depression. Leaving all that aside for the moment, let’s back up a
bit.
Back in October of 2018, I went to England for the first
time in my life. It was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, to visit (a bigger
lifelong dream is to live there, but barring winning the lotto, that’ll never
happen >insert crying emoji here<).
I stayed with friends (G & T). I felt horrible
because T gave up her bed for me; she ended up sleeping on the living room floor
with a dreadful cold; I’m forever indebted to them!
Not in order: I went to Stratford-upon-Avon where I kinda
got lost and ended up coming home via Birmingham (look at a map, you’ll see why
that’s an issue), Stonehenge (of course) from there traveled up to Stoke-on-Trent
to meet another friend, an artist I follow on YT and Patreon. I went to a West
End play with T and a movie premier with G, I spent an afternoon with another friend, visited the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, had fish and ships on Albion Beach, and went to the Tate Modern with G. Overall, I had a really good time and cried
on the plane because I didn’t want to go home.
That was a teaser trip and I was determined to go back,
so in September of 2019, I started making reservations. Air, hotel, side trip
to Dublin (another dream). All set.
Enter COVID-19 December 2019.
See the next post for more.
