Pandemic Reflections

Yesterday I had that feeling of living a Twilight Zone episode again. I’ve seen every episode of the original Twilight Zone. I believe I qualify as a true fan as I once owned a copy of The Twilight Zone Companion, which includes, “a plot synopsis, Rod Serling’s narrations, critical commentary…

1. Four long weeks it has been Without going out, Without eating out, Closed indoors, Wanna just walk out And breath a bit. 2. Four long shifts it has been at a single stretch. The same ward, The same beds, Wanna just get out of these (PPE) layers And breath a bit. 3. How long it has been! In this chill, On this green bed, No sights around, No sounds around, Wanna just breathe a bit. To fill my dear heart.

I was already in southern Turkey on my way to Syria when the Gulf War began in earnest in January 1991. I’d been unsuccessfully reporting on life in Eastern Europe behind the newly fallen Iron Curtain since the previous September. And there was this girl I liked in what was…

When this whole thing started, the family indulged in these long, elaborate breakfasts since there was no place anyone had to be, except maybe a Zoom meeting. Baked eggs, Dutch babies, sourdough waffles; things we once reserved only for Christmas or New Year’s. Now I’m down to half a banana…

We all know the adage “The only constant in life is change.” But there’s a difference between intellectually understanding a concept and living it. The pandemic caused most if not all of us to wax accustomed to uncertainty. …

March 13th, 2020, was the last “normal” day I taught a class. My students (primarily juniors, the graduating class of 2021) were nervous about what was happening, so I told them that we were going out for two weeks before Spring Break, out of an abundance of caution (a phrase…