So many things are on hold - politics, sports, school, work (for many), vacations, weddings, etc. A truly life-and-death situation tends to put other things into perspective, as in “Don’t sweat the small stuff. And guess what, it’s mostly small stuff.”
Apocalyptic fiction has been popular ever since Nevil Shute’s On The Beach. I wonder what living through the experience - vicariously or for real - will do to demand for this niche genre? Maybe nothing.
Noting New Orleans is a new Covid-19 hot spot, some writers have indicated this shows warm weather will not cause it to pull back. I disagree, the average highs and lows during Mardi Gras are cool enough for the spread of most flu-like diseases, of which Covid-19 is one. NOLA doesn’t start to get hot until May.
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Later ... Wow, I normally pay attention to the four ‘corners’ of the calendar, the two equinoxes and two solstices. This pandemic has so swallowed the news cycle I let the spring equinox slip past unnoticed and unremarked. Allow me to correct that oversight.
This year the spring equinox, the day on which there are 12 hours each of day and night, occurred on March 19, and yes, that is early. The last time it occurred this early was 124 years ago in 1896, per The Old Farmer’s Almanac. Why is this so? CNN reports:
It involves how leap years, leap centuries, the Gregorian calendar and the speed of the Earth's rotation don't precisely align and how and when we make periodic adjustments to sync things up as much as possible.Welcome to springtime, let’s hope we all survive it. Our current situation doesn’t inspire the customary spring optimism, does it?
