by carol f….. April 2020 By early March, reports were growing about a novel and deeply concerning virus originating in China. It dominated the increasingly ominous news and the conversations in my senior world. As reports of the disproportionate deaths of seniors in East Coast Life Care and Nursing facilities caught our attention, my son…
Hope
by mark….. How does one stay sane amidst insanity? No, really, when things are truly insane, when the world around you seems to be turning into one heaping pile of shit, with the mound growing remarkably higher each day, how does one find comfort and composure? Or even just perspective? This is a not a secret-of-life question,…
Bullsnake Village
by ann….. The native people (First People) of Saint Helena called the area Anakotanoma, or Bullsnake Village. When I visited with Michelle, (no masks, but distanced) she told me a tale of her own Bullsnake Village. A giant, six foot Bullsnake appeared and began slithering in plain view around her garden. Although Bullsnakes are not…
Duplex On Living Alone
by ellen gilbert….. There’s nobility in a life spent alone With all my possession in tact on my back. On my back in tact my vital possessions And before me a rocky and vagabond road The vagabond walking the road to unknown Sustained by the sun and the quiet The quiet sun…
The Vaccine Is An Egomaniac
by ellen gilbert….. My deepest desire is to be famous. But I take pride in your desire for me My origin is vaca – cow COVID needs the cow, NOW! Residing in a sick body I could be transformed so I can heal. My deepest desire is to be found. There is no prize of…
Tuna, Masks and Paper
by lorrie s…… I’m not a writer. I can ramble on but I am by no means a writer. I love Nicole and her creativity and this project just seemed like a wonderful way to remember the pandemic. Or maybe it’s an excuse to remember/dissect the year and my life during it. I am not a “journaling” person (apparently…
Modification
by suzy….. Something to know about me as we embark on this writing idea is that I am not a writer. I am a nurse. But I think my thoughts about how the pandemic has impacted me are worth documenting/writing about/sharing. I have thought about doing this throughout the past 6 months, but like I…
A Prayer
| sylvie astrid…..Things were already bad when the coronavirus pandemic hit. Heart-achingly bad. A chasm between the left and right, hate crimes on the rise, our most basic rights under threat. And through it, I felt my feelings (a superpower, you know.) Rage, Disappointment, Awe, Soul-shaking grief. — Now 6 months in and things are…
33 Days and Counting
by J…… Since it began three years ago, I have waited for it to fix itself. I have followed the doctors’ orders, taken the medications, and skirted the surgical option to correct a heart arrhythmia. There was always something that got in the way of that surgical option…my job, our travel, selling our California home, relocating to…
beginning in the middle
by nicole….. Dreams: I knew that I only had a certain number of “expirations”. You never know how many you have, but it’s finite. Once you’ve reached your last expiration, your body makes a popping sound and after a short period of time melts into a puddle. And that’s it, then you’re gone. So I…