Preface - Dear readers...I have begun to publish more than one story a day. I am doing that to help me cope with what is going on in all our lives. I need something to do, since being confined to our home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and since my laptop is sitting in front of me...well, you get the idea. My typing skills are getting better and the memories of my life seem to be flowing more freely in my mind. If you care not to read the stories, just don't tell me. I will understand. I wish you the best and hope you can stay virus free! Heaven only knows why this has happened to the world. We must have really been bad! My guess is that it will eventually end (I don't mean the World!) and we will return to a new normal...whatever that might be. So, please...read on...
It was an ordinary day. The cat is "growling" as a neighbor begins her walk up the street at the foot of our driveway. The local TV station is running a moving line of information across the bottom of the TV screen telling of the fate of many of my friends. And...the morning paper had only 22 pages due to nothing happening in the world that is worth reporting. And, what is in print is mostly about our world's fight with COVID-19. Carol and I snuck out last evening to a fast food place to buy a few burgers, just for something to do that didn't require we stay in our home with our two cats and watch hour after hour of news briefs and reruns on the flat screen on the wall. We drove through a take-out line that consisted of just one car...ours! And...when we returned home we contemplated whether we should eat the burgers, since maybe...just maybe...those who had just made them may have been infected with the virus. Dear God...what is happening??? Over half of the morning paper talked about death and dying. My God...in the past 24 hours 838 people have died in Spain. Just in Spain!! And...I thought having 2 people die in my hometown of Lancaster in just a few days was hard to fathom. A local farm equipment company put their Christmas display back up to try and cheer everyone up who may pass their store. But...who will pass the place since we are supposed to be staying at home. I'm sure you can imagine how guilty Carol and I felt when we backed the car from the garage and headed the mile to the burger place to buy our burgers. We counted the amount of cars on the road on our fingers. The morning paper posted photo after photo of homeless on the streets of downtown Lancaster who are searching for a meal and a place to sleep since most shelters and food locations have closed due to COVID-19. I sneeze and I think I may have it!! But, the only thing I suffer from right now is boredom and sorryow. What would my parents think if they were alive? Will this ever end? We have just about given up on our planned vacation in a few months. All flights to the island have been canceled and those living on the island are confined to their homes just as we are in Lancaster. Their sunny days are being wasted, since their beaches are closed as well as their restaurants. Sound familiar? Workers in the United States have been promised a stipend of $1,200 to help them get through this awful time in their lives. Little do they realize that taxes will have to be increased after this virus passes to pay for that amount. As for now...I long for the warm weather of the Caribbean, good health and a healthy life for all of you. Oh yeah, also for a more lengthy newspaper that will publish just the good news of the day and maybe with a few pages of sports. Oh, how I miss those baseball games! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment