The kitties say hello.

Zimba and Carlton.

Watch out for Spots.

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Written Saturday 4 April 2020.

Reuben Sandwich

Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, St. Patrick's Day was essentially cancelled. Almost no one was at work. Restaurants were limited to take-out.  So I walked over to our usual lunch spot, The Cornerstone Deli, across from City Hall and the Public Library.  Sadly, almost empty. Got a Reuben sandwich to go. Delicious.

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Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%80%9320_coronavirus_pandemic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick's_Day
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuben_sandwich
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Written Sunday 22 March 2020.

The Search for the Grail

Movie poster for Monty Python and the Holy Grail

As the corona virus pandemic continues to gain momentum, I was inspired to return to the movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Somehow, it seems our society is headed towards a New Dark Age. There are several scenes that are related to what is now happening:

• Castle Anthrax (the name, not the girls)
• "Bring out your dead" (I'm not dead yet).
• The quest for the grail, a shrubbery (and a vaccine).
• Castles as protection: Shelter-in-place (social distancing)

I saw this film when it first was released in 1975. A bunch of us went to the World West theater that existed at that time in Kamm's Plaza shopping center on the West Side of Cleveland. I think there were only a couple of places that were showing it and that was the closest theater for us.

At the time Monty Python's Flying Circus TV show was broadcast on PBS. I think it was on Sunday nights at 11 pm. On Monday at school, we'd repeat and act out all the funny bits. Later, I obtained a album (vinyl) of the film soundtrack which helped me memorize quite a bit of the dialogue. 

Over the years, I've seen the film on video and DVD. For this current viewing, I was not able to find my DVD copy (did I give it away when I was trying to pare down my junk?) so I had to watch it via YouTube (over a couple days).

Somehow, I think the insanity of this movie will fit right in with this pandemic.

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Links:

http://www.montypython.com/film_Monty%20Python%20and%20the%20Holy%20Grail%20(1975)/15

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python_and_the_Holy_Grail

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Written Sunday 5 April 2020.

Barren Saturday

Afternoon walk on the Fastrak Path

The weather was very pleasant this afternoon for this time of year. The temperature was in the 40s but the wind was calm; mostly overcast but still bright. I thought it would be healthy to get out for some fresh air, exercise, and daylight. 

Along the path there is a wetlands. My camera was not able to capture the spectacular lighting on the reeds (see pictures above and below). While I walked I was able to call my mom and a few minutes after that call, my sister Susan called me. So I was not alone during my walk. I came across a handful of other people also enjoying the trail.

Everything looked monochrome, stark, and barren...like the shelves in the grocery stores. 

On the way home, I popped over to our local grocery store to get a few things and to see if they had restocked from earlier. No produce or any sign of bottled water (of any container size), paper products (T-paper, kleenex, paper towel), bleach, soap, pasta & sauce. Even the frozen food section was barren.

This aisle should have held all the bottled water.

This aisle should have held the paper towels and other paper products.

The frozen food coolers were nearly empty.

Continuing towards home, I stopped at our local Dollar store to see if they had any of these scarce items but their shelves were also barren.

Just a few rolls of paper towel but no toilet paper.

The last time I encountered stores this barren was when I lived at the shore and a hurricane was headed our way. The empty shelves today are a bit disconcerting because there is not hurricane, or earthquake, or snowstorm.

I'm hoping that the panic will calm down in a few days when the shelves are restocked.

Written Sunday 22 March 2020.