No, I'm not so dumb to think that it's really over. I just think it has gone from a pandemic to an endemic. We have vaccines. We have better treatments. The flu mutates every year. we modify the vaccine every year, we are careful, but we don't stay home.
I'm too old to stay home another year.
So, I am back out and about. Hence the revival of the blog. (It would have been way too boring for the last 5 months.)
I have gone back to the gym (masked, although no longer required here in Riverside County) for my strength training classes three days a week,. I'm back to the senior center (proof of vaccine required, masks optional but all in the class - and the instructor - are masked) for aerobics classes two days a week. And I'm still trying to walk at least 10 miles a week....
The weather is glorious. Definitely convertible weather, cool in the morning, deliciously warm in the afternoons.
And face-to-face bridge is back. (Again, proof of vaccine required, masks optional, noone wearing them.) This is bittersweet. Lots of people not feeling comfortable enough to attend. But lots of people now playing in the great bridge game in the sky. No, they didn't die of COVID, just of old age.
Trying not to cringe when I'm hugged - we are all so fearful....
And - how could I forget - back to live theater and music (masks and vaccines required). I've mentioned Coachella Valley Rep, a small theater company nearby which I've supported for a number of years.
First to open, a play called Bakersfield Mist, about a woman living in a trailer park who thinks she found an original masterpiece in a thrift store, and what ensues. It was surprisingly good - or we were all so starved for live entertainment that we thought it so. We were all delighted.
Next, a musical revue, called Closer than Ever. Not profound, but charming, and, again, if was the being there.
No question that the McCallum Theater offerings were good. Jersey Boys is always a hit, and this production was no exception. And they have symphony here in the Desert - who knew? - and I was lucky enough to score a ticket from a friend who couldn't attend. Surprisingly, if was a mostly Russian program, well conducted and well played. And the acoustics in the McCallum are fabulous! (I will try to get season's tickets for next season...)
Classes are starting to get back to face to face - I couldn't deal with them on Zoom - so hopefully in the spring...
And, of course, the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD is back in movie theaters - Ariadne auf Naxus a few weeks ago, and this week, Don Carlos, both fabulous!
Of course, I continue to read voraciously. Peter sent me a care package from San Francisco - a box of ole New Yorkers and Economists, and between the library, the bookstore, and circulation of good reads among friends and neighbors, books abound.
In no particular order:
How to Change, by Angela Duckworth
Bubble in the Sun: The Florida Boom of the 1920's and How It Brought on The Great Depression, by Christopher Knowlton
A History of the World in Six Glasses, by Tom Standage
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know, by Malcolm Gladwell
The Elements of Choice: Why The way We Decide Matters, by Eric J. Johnson
Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman
The Sweet Spot:The Pleasures of Suffering and The Search for Meaning, by Paul Bloom
High as the Waters Rise, by Anja Kampmann
Dust, by Martha Grimes
Blood and Oranges: The Story of Los Angeles, by James Oliver Goldsborough
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, by Charles MacKay (this is an oldie - 1850's or so. I used to have it in my collection, and when I discovered it missing, reordered it and re-read it.)
(Reviews of all of the above available on request....)
And let's not forget the books I listen to - I couldn't do all that exercise - which most of you know I loathe - without audio books, downloaded to my phone from the library, free of charge gratis - and enough to keep me moving. Again, in no particular order:
Nomadland, by Jessica Bruder (fascinating, about older people who have lost their homes, wandering around America in trailers doing low paid seasonal work....);
Mexican Gothic, by Sylvia Moreno Garcia, a horror story, no less (a genre I hate, but couldn't stop listening....);
My Dark Vanessa, by Kate Elizabeth Russell, about the sexual relationship between a 15 year old and her teacher,, and its aftermath,( again, not my thing but unable to stop listening)
Calypso, by David Sedaris...
... to name just a few, and not to bore you with the romances and mysteries interspersed with the weird stuff...
And how do I feel? Well, my health is good. I had heart surgery in early February (heart valve replacement, pretty common, apparently).Mentally, not so good. The pandemic has taken its toll, leaving my good nature in tatters.
More anon. And pictures as well - as usual with a long absence, I have to learn the procedure anew. Those of you who are still with me, thank you for caring enough. The good, the bad, the ugly, all will follow.
