Beans

What are we losing? As many of us try to cope with the fallout from COVID 19, and I say many of us, because there is still a portion of the American public that thinks there’s nothing wrong right now, we have to ask ourselves what are we missing? What have we lost and what are we still losing? I think about where I am in my life, and luckily I have been minimally affected. Sure, my job has changed, and I have been asked to do things differently in my everyday, but I can still do many things that I would be doing ordinarily. Generally I operate on a steady diet of alone time, which, as an introvert, is fine with me. I didn’t go out very often beforehand, so that is not a big deal, and I feed off of things that are readily accessible, Twitter, MSNBC, North Woods Law, and my history books. I try not to need other people, because I generally don’t. But what I am losing is the time with my family. My mom is getting older, and I can’t spend any time with her. My nephew is getting older, and I can’t spend any time with him. We lose that subtle smirk and the side eye, the shared enjoyment of taking in the sea and ships and perhaps some fried clams afterward. Our relationships exist over the phone or with Zoom, and while that fills in some of the gaps, it doesn’t replace the times sitting out on the porch at dusk, taking in the sweet summer air and the delicate light. The uncertainty of knowing when we can spend time together again is heavy. Watching this administration flounder and flail makes it worse. Nobody is doing anything. We rely on our local and state governments and public health officials to try to keep things under…