It’s (almost) all about me

Wall Art #18

This another of the pictures I took a few weeks ago. At some point I want to return to that area of town and get some more pictures. Perhaps I can get another of this wall without the shadow.

***

I hope you are doing well. Some are, but many aren’t. Cindy and I are doing alright.

I never thought I would be saying this, but I am happy that we are pretty much on a fixed income. So many people are out of work due to the various stay at home orders around the country, but we still get our Social Security and pension checks (actually direct deposits into the bank) right on time. And while Cindy’s business has been forced to stop, they are trying to move it to an online format. And she is teaching community college classes through Zoom. So, financially, we are doing fine.

I do most of the grocery shopping, which is nothing new, but I always wear a face mask and only go to the store about twice a month. Cindy and I pretty much split the trips we make to the drugstore. I still go to see my podiatrist on a regular basis. Don’t want any more pesky infections in my feet. 

Trips to the podiatrist can be “interesting.” The walls between the examination rooms are thin, and you can often hear snippets of conversations between the doctor and other patients. For instance, last month I heard, “Wow! See, there isn’t a lot of blood.” Comforting words. In the room on the other side I heard a patient say something about “thinning the herd.” I sincerely hope he was talking about his livestock. When I went earlier this week, one of the doctor’s assistants told me that she believed the Coronavirus was the Chinese government waging biological war on the rest of the world. When she asked me what I thought, I said “Huh. I think Mother Nature is getting even.” She left the room without another word.

I’ll end this post without going on a (long) rant about the politicians out there who think that letting older, and other at-risk people die (thinning the herd, so to speak) is alright. I can only say, as a septugenarian with a preexisting condition, “You are no longer beneath my contempt.”

Upon spending an inordinate amount of time inside

Wall art #17

I took this picture in pre-hunker down times. I want to go back to this area of town because there are a number of murals. Unfortunately I was in a bit of a rush that day, and only had time to snap a couple of pictures.

***

Let’s face it, most of us who are of sound mind are spending more time at home, inside. When the weather is nice we go out into our yards, or take walks (maintaining proper social distancing), or just sit on our porches or decks. I can’t speak for you, but Cindy and I spend most of the gloomy days in the house. She usually binge watches home improvement shows on TV, while I am spending more time reading and listening to music. Most evenings are spent watching British mystery movies.

For some inexplicable (to me) reason I find myself listening to songs that I haven’t listened to in a number of years. In some instances they are considered One Hit Wonders. I’m pretty sure that a lot of the people who purportedly read this blog are too young to have heard some of the songs unless their grandparents played them. I mean, how many of you have heard Art & Dotty Todd’s version of Chanson D’Amour, or Danny O’Keefe’s Good Time Charley’s Got The Blues, let alone Art Pepper playing Patricia? 

I have also started posting links to music (almost) daily on my moribund Twitter account. While I believe that all of the songs are worthy of being listened to at any time, most seem to speak to me as being appropriate for the times we are in. Some of the songs that I chose to put forward are The Pozo Seco Singers’ Keep On Keepin’ On, Bill Evans’ You Must Believe In Spring, and especially John Prine’s Bruised Orange (Chain Of Sorrow).

If you are interested in listening to any of the songs I’ve mentioned in this post, they can be found on YouTube. If you are interested enough, you can find my daily song selection on Twitter at @NormHouseman.

Stay safe.

2020 Reading non-challenge

Read Chart 1

I enjoyed my non-challenge so much last year that I decided to do it again. Rather than trying to read books of specific genres, I’m just reading what interests me at the moment, mainly from my to-be-read bookcase. 

Now for the disappointing news. At this time last year I had already read 22 books; while this year I have only finished 10. I can give you reasons why there are so few. Many of my waking hours were spent following Presidential politics, which turned to almost non-stop coverage of COVID-19 updates. Plus, I had a few false starts, starting books that looked interesting, but couldn’t hold my attention. I may go back to them later in the year. 

Since I am a retiree and am hunkering-down-in-place, I’m finding more time to read, so I hope to get a few more books under my belt read. But who knows. Yard work will soon be calling.