Yesterday Stew and I went to Querétaro for a doctor's appointment and a quickie visit to Costco. In the pre-virus era, we might have combined a Costco raid with a movie and dinner at the Antea shopping center, coffee at a Starbucks, or a walk-through one of the department stores. In other words, a somewhat …
Continue reading Is the smoke clearing regarding the Covid-19 lockdown?
Fear is one of the principal threads running through the story of the coronavirus pandemic, and so is the reluctance of many of us to articulate and deal with our fears. Fear induced by the pandemic engulfs the mighty and the lowly, from President Trump down to the working-class John and Jane Does.One suspects that the president's frequently …
We've been in shutdown mode for almost two months, and recently I was reminded of how this weird situation might be getting to me: I couldn't remember which day of the week it was.Being confined at home, except for a few outings to the grocery store and a restaurant once a week, hasn't been terribly …
This year, the vernal equinox, the official beginning of spring, fell on March 19. And by an odd coincidence, on the same day the mayor of San Miguel announced a sweeping lockdown of the municipality, to go into effect the next day, that banned most public activities indefinitely, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.And if …
Continue reading Covid-19 forecast for San Miguel: Hopeful but with a chance of storms still ahead
Not the most felicitous or inviting headline, I'll grant you, but that's how I'm feeling right now.Since this self-quarantine—house arrest, social distancing, or whatever you want to call it—began, when? 21 days ago?, I've tried really hard to convince myself that our situation here at a small ranch in Mexico could be worse.Yea, much worse, …
Continue reading The quarantine is depressing the hell out of me
Despite stringent, almost draconian, directives by the municipality, for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, substantial sectors of the population seem to be carrying on business as usual. More worrisome still is that those seemingly oblivious to the lockdown are poorer sectors of the populace most likely to be affected by the epidemic if, or when, …
Following is a poem written by Kathleen O'Mara in 1869, and reprinted during the 1918 pandemic. It was posted by Pepper Romo on her Facebook page on April 3.It seemed to me as relevant today as it was then, right down to the homemade face masks.And people stayed at homeAnd read booksAnd listenedAnd they restedAnd …
I've been trying to write a post about the COVID-19 virus for three or four days, only to cave in and quit, under the weight of so much bad news. And who can blame me? The last news bit I read yesterday was that Chicago, our hometown, has plans to turn its huge convention center …
Continue reading And now, let's pause for a moment of gratitude
El Rancho Santa Clara 