I’m tired tonight and don’t want to write in my journal. I no longer cross-promote my website or poetry books, much less my radio programs. It’s easy to understand, I am the only person reading these daily entries. Me and the bots. I’m going to take day 10 off and start journalling in the morning. I’m more productive in the morning.
truth: If I go perhaps 3 blocks over, in any direction, maybe there is a house with domestic abuse happening, the shelter in place mandate is a prison sentence for these victims. There are many families rationing the food in their cupboards. Across the nation, many people went on Rent Stike- not paying April’s rent due to the pandemic and increased layoffs. Can we make it to April 30th? Will violence break out or protests? Looting? I can’t imagine that happening, but how long can you expect the frog to stay in the pot?
Good news: Twice today I heard different news sources report new cases in Washington state virus outbreaks went down.
1) an observed joy- Work kept me busy today. I did not FEEL the pandemic, it has become an accepted reality. I’m working with it and moving forward. Trying to approach it as a true stoic.
2) a real concern- My daughter’s health. She lives in a condo that shares fan ducts with the unit below her. She is sheltering in place. Between 11pm and 3am a strong chemical smell comes up through the floor and the vents from below. It wakes them up, gives them headaches, etc. They believe the neighbors are smoking meth. She has called the police, the Health Department, and the condo manager- nothing.
3) a personal challenge- We are working on a big project. I need to do research in a new discipline. The project must roll out and be in place by 4/30.
4) one personal success (no matter how small)-I walked all the way around the lake trail today; a full hour in a beautiful old-growth forest.
5) a random thought (no matter how silly)- When the pandemic is over, how will society change? Will we all be germaphobic? Will the casual hug among friends become an elevated action? Maybe we’ll make love electronically like people did in Sylvester Stallones “Demolition Man”.
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shannon p. laws 