Corona Virus Diary #7

Corona Virus Diary #7

Things remain about the same this week. The sick head count and its fatal landing point continues to grow though apparently the pace is slowing. Entertainment venues remain closed where I live and where they are not I sincerely hope the governments there are right. I don't have any reason to think that they are but hopefully I am wrong. If I am, then venues will open in more places and less people will be getting sick and dying.

Across the nation there are small bands of white men and their significant others decrying governments who remain obdurate in protecting citizens and keeping entertainment and dining businesses closed. Reading the posters, seeing interviews with participants these people have no understanding of the current conditions. They do however, demand the right to do anything they want to do. Theoretically that is, so long as they are not harming society. If I am wrong in my estimation of what is currently wrong, then I can agree with the protesters. Since the messages they provide do not show evidence that they have a clue I suspect their demands are personal and inspired by politics.
I won't bore anyone with links regarding these protests since they are so prevalent in the media already.

In other straw dog news, the commander in chief remains resolute in his non-thinking and generally incoherent daily news briefs. There was never, long before the outbreak of corona virus, that he would do otherwise.

The weather is improving into a genuine spring so while it is easier to get outside, there are still few places to go. Sometimes I walk rudderless, ambling about in order to enjoy some sun and warmth. I often visit some co-residents of this apartment complex for short visits in the garden area. A couple of them are succumbing to right wing fantastical conspiracy theories all designed to assist the presumptive Republican nominee for this coming November election in winning re-election. He has done nothing that would make anyone with an ounce of analysis change their mind. His adherents of course are fueled by high octane emotionalism which may indeed get him re-elected. Americans across the board are actually that silly.

The Vancouver City Farmer's Market re-opened with very limited offering. There was no hot foods available and no fringe market booths like massages or aromatherapy which I thought would be a good thing. However I think and how little I go to these booths, I recognize that they lent much flavor to the Market. A barren market is a boring one and I realize that now that those peripheral booths are not there.

It was a reasonable attempt but being this early in the season, fresh produce is still at a premium. Opening day also was cool and raining two conditions that also do not enhance a market.

First Vancouver Farmer's Market of 2020

There are a number of articles about books and diaries of famous people who have either endured a pandemic or have written books about fictionalized pandemics. The best books that I have read include Camus' The Plague and Sinclair Lewis' Arrowsmith. I read each of these novels a long time ago but remember each fondly. Isaac Newton also survived a plague by retreating to the country side, the same method the wealthy can quarantine themselves. Samuel Pepys in 17^th Century England wrote his own diary of living through a pandemic.