I have been pondering in lockdown --as have we all, but it's still a lonely deal-- and have reached a point where memories intrude upon the present. They are fragmented things, but claim to have lessons of continuance and triumph in them. Let's begin with government in a nutshell. I mean, everybody comes to Rick's. Metaphor: a place of odds, tin gods, possibility, chance that sometimes gets shut down by Inspector Renault when it suits survival (https://youtu.be/SjbPi00k_ME):
One finds oneself in a strange position of authority and disadvantage, obeying tyrannical orders versus personal equilibrium in state of awkward imbalance.
One finds oneself. Happily, many of us have never had to find ourselves because we were never missing. Others simply weren't careless enough to lose themselves. However, too many settled their allegiance to 8-legged psychic monsters that clamped down their brains.
Some wait in Casablanca ("White House", en Espanõl) and wait and wait for the plane to Lisbon. My Portuguese Grandma Filamina would wag her finger and say, "Não fàceis!" And no, it is not easy.
As I've mentioned, the tenor of this post is a product of lockdown, and not my finest work. I have been clearing my house of octopi -- 8-legged godless brain mollusks that get in through old plumbing.
What're the odds, eh?
The extended period of semi-isolation has it's effects on everyone, to some degree. At least I think so. It's initial one on me was a feeling of frustration, based on my former position and training. I inquired about doing some volunteer work in the ICU or ER, but the few colleagues I still have working all said something to the effect of no damn way. They had no wish to see me in a prone position on a ventilator. So I've been content to do some phone consulting. I'm lucky to have family I'm in isolation with, that buffers some of the effects.
ReplyDeleteHope you and Norma are doing ok.
Mike
Dear Mike, thank you for bringing your knowledge and expertise yet again to the front lines. Norma is imperturbable but I have suffered bouts of Simiae-stercore (Apeshit sounds so dignified in Latin, don't it?). Take care my friend.
DeleteUm... What?
ReplyDeleteDear Emma, I've been asking myself that same question for months. I hope to reliably make sense again when this great nation regains its mental health.
DeleteActual octopi?? Well! That's interesting and scary.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the clip; it's immediately obvious what the connection with current reality is!
I do hope you and your family are okay, Geo. This too shall pass. The question is, When?
0_Jenny, maybe not actual octopi but metaphysical demonic ones that you can't make good soup out of.
DeleteStay well, my friend. And mind the octopi.
ReplyDeleteStaying as well as possible, Bruce. You too, deal? And, really, I'm always polite to octopuses when I encounter them socially.
DeleteI have been pondering things as well during these covid times, friend Geo. Wishing you and your family well. My life is really not much different from pre covid … I work my shifts in the hospital, otherwise I sleep in town or work my farm in the middle of no where … and I like it that way:) Much love, cat.
ReplyDeleteDear Cat, Your comment is much appreciated. I was feeling jumpy this evening but, for some reason, it calmed me as I read it. Thank you. I believe you are a stabilizer.
DeleteI agree Geo. Two good things to come from this pandemic were 1, the environment had time to clean itself some and re-set. And 2- I too have had time to think many things over, and have been thinking a lot of my pass vacations, many have been fun filled trips, which brought back some good memories and dare even say smells. May be the only trips I get this summer.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Maddie, I hope for all our sakes this pandemic can be contained, cured and the world reopened to travel, adventure and the prospect of liberty.
DeleteGreat choice from Casablanca!
ReplyDeleteHope we don't have to hear "Play it again..."
I want to see my grandchildren, the triplets, which I didn't see since February - maybe they will be running to me (they were born in September 2019) - and even if "all people" suffer from those restrictions, it makes me individually sad.
Dear Britta, I too miss seeing my grandchildren, and you are right --it is a personal sadness even though "all" grandparents share it. Like you, I hope "Play it..." will remain verbal homage to Dooley Wilson and not portend pandemic recurrence.
DeleteInteresting metaphor about the octopi. Your musings on isolation have given me perhaps a bit of insight into a challenge I have been facing the last several days... after what is now, hmm, about 28 months away from my beautiful and friendly pipes and pipe tobaccos.... my desire to indulge has returned to a more intensive level than I have seen in many months. Do not get me wrong, I do always have a desire for them, but the INCREASED intensity of the desire the last several days has been unanticipated and a bit of a challenge. Perhaps it is an effect of the isolation? It at least gives me some new way to ponder it.
ReplyDeletePipeTobacco
Dear Prof., Agreed, our current isolation bears little resemblance to the sort of voluntary solitude people once sought to collect their thoughts. This is different. We are isolated for reasons strange to us, and it goes on and on. Moreover, we are bombarded with poorly edited news tending toward sensationalism. Back when we had newspapers and Walter Cronkite, the influx was digestible. Now it's like we're waiting in the checkout line reading the tabloid headlines --our pace is off. All this makes me long anew for habits connected to easing the cares of the day. I don't smoke any more but my liquor bill's gone up.
DeleteWhen I laid down my pipes, I basically stopped drinking too.... a) I never drank much, but enjoyed having a few drinks with my elderly father-in-law every two weeks or so and then he passed away, b) when I did drink I mostly enjoyed how wonderfully it enhanced smoking my pipe tobacco, so part of stopping drinking was to try to make it easier to refrain from pipe tobacco.
DeleteI ended up laying down my beloved pipes about two weeks after he passed away. He was my long term drinking and pipe smoking buddy. He really was like a second father to me for decades. My dad had sadly passed away, gee.... 26 years ago now. I do have many of my father’s pipes (and now my father-in-law’s as well). They, plus my own 40+ year collection of pipes sit resting here in my home office.
PipeTobacco
Understood, Prof. There is a shadowbox in our back porch that contains, among other things (like a netting shuttle I watched Grandpa --1872/1962-- whittle from a shingle). It's there, along with his pistola and his outdoor briar pipe, much mended (unlike his indoor meerschaum). These sorts of items remind us of people we knew and loved. Then, in an ampliative way, remind us of the Old West --and the whole world-- retiring into history to make room for us.
DeleteThis shelter at home, self isolation and quarantine drill has been, in this home, a kind of winnowing. What about the pre Covid Pandemic world was of most value, and what was of least?
ReplyDeleteSharing a meal and wine and conversing with friends, hugs, hand shakes, embraces are greatly missed. We are movie buffs, so while we have streamed we have missed the wonder of going into a darkened theater and being transported by the magic of cinema. Intimate concerts in our beloved Painted Sky studio in Cambria.
Just the background ambiance of sports leagues. Things that are not missed, are not missed and not worth mentioning. Now if cephalopods had come calling here on the ridge, well that's an entirely different conversation.
Stay safe, stay well, stay occupied. Slainte'
Understood, dear Tom. I miss hugging friends. The magic of theater is sadly suspended (will drive-in movies return?). Live-stage theater has shut down in so many cities where it thrived only months ago. Oh the list of beloved events in suspension goes on and on. There's much to repair, restart, rebuild and make return. We have to be...we MUST be... that clever and strong. If it takes a bit of spirits to get through it, I raise my glass to you. Sláinte, my friend, Cheers!
DeleteSometimes it can be pleasant to lose oneself, but not to metaphysical octopi. Keep reminding myself that everything has always been uncertain, just, erm, not quite to this degree. May garden calm soothe all psychic monsters xx
ReplyDeleteDear Lisa, I too find solace in the garden, especially in this time of bewildering threats and cautions. Strength and best wishes to you.
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