Living in Coronavirusworld 5: Have a good weekend

3/27

Still it's spring

When I left my therapy session Thursday, my therapist Marvin said "have a good weekend,” and I thought “what does that even mean now?” I said, “thanks, it’s all kind of the same, isn’t it?” Maybe I’ll just commit myself to not “work” over the weekend. But one day flows into the next. As I walk up Broadway, I pass by Shakespeare & Company. A week ago Tuesday, I was  amazed they were still open. I stopped in an empty store and bought a copy of “Where the Crawdads Sing” so I could read it with my mom.(https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078GD3DRG/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1)  I stopped to meditate at 72nd Street and heard someone say” Are you asleep?” It was Rodne, heading home. Come to think it, he’s the last the human being I’ve seen “in the flesh.” And Shakespeare & Company the last open “non-essential” shop. 

A week ago Friday was my first “ZOOM performance” on a national streaming event by the Peoples Music Network.  https://www.peoplesmusic.org/)      Great to be with people for around the country singing “topical” songs. I shared my new song Listen (still in process) :

Listen

They were the first to live the truth of this pandemic

So much unknown, so much to fear

As weeks went by, they began to listen

And were amazed at what at last they see and hear

For the air was clear

And the sky turned blue 

And the people of Wuhan heard the birds sing again.

In the streets of Assisi, voices fill the square

From open windows their songs fill the air

To tell the lonely people, sheltered in their homes

You neighbors are with you, you re not alone

          For the air was clear

And the sky turned blue 

And the people of Assisi heard their neighbors  sing again.

If we take the time to listen, take the time to learn

Turn away from all that keeps  us from what  we truly need

Heed the warning, heed the sign

That points to a new morning, and points to a new time

For the air was clear

And the sky turned blue 

And the people of Wuhan heard the birds sing again.

We’ve been given a moment to stop and catch our breath

A moment to decide between what is life and what is death

If we are truly open to a time of rebirth

We might learn to heal ourselves, we might learn to heal the earth

For the air will be clear

And the sky will turn blue 

And the people of the earth will hear the birds sing again.

So I was looking forward to tonight’s gathering. Well, it’s not a perfect world. Last night, my friend Peter’s “concert” had “buffering issues.” Tonight my friend Lara’s concert never came on.  And I could never figure out how to get into the PMN room, though I could see it and  hear it. Frustrating, but so it is.

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Spent hours on hold today trying reach New York State Income Tax staff since the message told me “workers are reassigned to assist with Coronavirus crisis”….Never did get an answer.

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Talk with my friend Uli in Berlin. Longtime peace activist, Berlin Fellowship of Reconciliation. Part of my International Sanctuary Declaration work group. He hopes that when this is  over, we will start again with new knowledge. Wiser, more caring and responsible about the earth. Well, I hope so too, but....I remember how I thought after 9-11 we (the US) would have a better understanding of the world, The vulnerability and interconnectedness we shared with the world. Instead, we bombed Iraq.  Still, we can hope.

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Talk with my friend Bill in Portland. The March Madness brackets that never got made. The games not played. He tells me he watches TV and listens to music. And the neighbors come outside and they talk across the driveway. I wish I had a porch. I'd do afternoon cocktails and document the scene like Uniwatch Paul.  Or a front stoop like my friend Paul Stein who sat out on his and played an "emergency accordion" concert. 

My son Nate attempted cornbread. I wish I had someone to cook for.

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Two of the four guys shooting craps on my street are wearing masks.

Craps shooters

Their dice game is every bit as intrepid as the postal service.