Dreaming in Covid...

Yes. Dreaming in Covid-19. It's true. I have had a few very vivid Covid-19 dreams over that last months. Maybe not surprising. Probably, like you, I have read about the virus, I have studied the graphs, I have listened to the experts, the doctors, I have poured over the data, I have speculated about a vaccine, I have wondered and worried about how this global pandemic will change USA and the world. I have changed my habits: frequent hand-washing, socially/physically distant from my fellow humans, religiously wearing a mask any time I venture out. 

I have become a coronavirus expert. Amatuer, don't you know? Last night I had another quite vivid Covid-19 dream. I was in line for a public restroom, and there was an enormous crowd waiting in line. Hundreds of folks. So strange and surreal. I was in line, trying my best to hold my place, but at the same time trying to be safe. A man walked up to me and "tagged" me. He put his hands on my chest and said: "This is how you get Covid-19." And then he walked away. 

 Funny. I am not a hypochondriac, I am not "overly" worried, or frightened of getting sick. But I think I am "appropriately" concerned, doing my best to stay safe.

A local restaurant in our neighborhood just recently re-opened for business. My friend and I walked past one day, the outdoor patio was packed with customers, people are so desperate to "get back to normal." We were a bit horrified, no one, except the waitstaff, was wearing masks.

Word is that restaurant just closed again. Turns out one of their staff came down with the virus. So back to lockdown and an intensive "cleaning." Not surprising. The virus is with us. We may be ready to get back to normal, but normal no longer exists.

"This is how you get Covid-19." Yes. It is simple. The problem is other people. You must assume everyone you meet has the virus, and act accordingly. Otherwise, you are being foolish.  Don't be a fool.

The a.m. soundtrack - Cornershop's "When I was Born for the 7th Time." (1997). I have not listened to this one for a long time. Don't know why. It is one of my favorite records. An uncommon knockout. It still sounds fresh and new. It was a record we played often, I mean constantly, when it came out in the late 90's. It is a fabulous record. So many sounds, influences all mashed up together: "low-fi funk expands into low, fat grooves, and Singh's pancultural, anti-racist lyrics become more sophisticated but no less impassioned." So tuneful, funky and groovy. Funny and smart too. It ends with a "Punjabi" version of the Beatles "Norwegian Wood." Classic song and reminds me that the first time many in the Western world heard a sitar in a pop song, it was  George Harrison playing on John Lennon's song on "Revolver." It's kind of cool that Cornershop re-claimed and re-purposed it. What a joy of a record. It sounds just perfect this a.m. in the wake, the morning after, Covid Dream Land...