I woke up with a weird feeling in my ears, like they were clogged. I Googled the symptoms of the coronavirus and this is not one of them. I’m hoping it’s nothing. But it makes me think I picked up something at the grocery store, the only place I go.
Despite morning drama, today was all about getting out of the coronavirus-induced-funk and running outside, doing my core workout, writing and reading. I did it all today. Plus tons of dog walking.
While I walk the dogs I pick up trash. In the wake of disaster picking up trash has lifted my spirits. There seems to be so much trash on the streets in Concord. With all the wind from last night and today, I’m sure there will be more.
What also lifts my spirits is watching Parks and Rec. I started watching the first season, again and it is seriously so funny. My favorite quote is from Leslie: “I get to build a whole park from scratch. This could be my Hoover Dam.”
What I love about her character is she is so hopeful and always looks at her problems from a wide lens. How can I translate that in my world and get through the pandemic?
“I get to write a new book. This could be my Eat, Pray, Love”. That is my equivalent to Leslie Knope’s Hoover Dam.
My second favorite Knope quote from Parks and Rec Season 1, Episode 1 that illustrates how much I love her character:
“We’re a nation of dreamers and it is my dream to build a park that I one day visit with my White House staff on my birthday. And they say, ‘President Knope, this park is awesome. Now we understand why you are the first female President of the United States.”
What also lifts my spirits is reading stories about people doing amazing things. Jessica Wheeler Russell of Concord, wants to help by connecting people who want to help and those who need help. Wow, just an amazing story. Unfortunately the story doesn’t list her organization and I couldn’t find it while searching.
There are stories all over about people doing kind things to others. These stories make me sane as I read news online at least 10 times each day.
And finally, there is this from the NYT. An opinion piece written by Kiley Bense about the nuns who turned into nurses during the Spanish Flu in Philadelphia, 1918. Many of the nuns died while helping but later were honored for saving so many lives when they left the safety of their church and helped the people of Philadelphia, with no medical training. The author of the story parallels the crisis today with 1918. We need to help protect and care for people in our community, she writes.
“While most people have no reason to fear the coronavirus, we have a responsibility as a society to protect and care for those who do have reason to fear it. The sisters’ quiet, determined selflessness is what is needed now, and what we will need more of in the weeks and months to come, not only from doctors and nurses but also from ordinary people, who will be asked to alter their daily lives in ways both large and small, giving up comfortable routine for the sake of the vulnerable”.
For now, I’m going to pick up trash. I know there is more to do and I will be a helper.
But in the meantime, I might just stay away from the news for a bit. I just found out Showtime is free until April. I’ll be watching The Affair (love Josh Jackson) and Homeland. Escape into the world of affairs and CIA operatives. Escapism at its best.