Each month, it seems, represents a newer normal. Normal wants to update itself relentlessly, much like my Windows operating system—usually at no small inconvenience and without making matters immediately better. I’ve been babying my computer along, hoping for no great upheaval that will render it non-functional. I have been less kind to myself, subjecting my system to numerous shocks and stresses attendant to life in AD 2020. Of course, I can replace my computer (however much I dread having to do so); blowing a fuse on my own Central Processing Unit would likely result in a forced vacation of indeterminate length.
I would treat myself more delicately but as a citizen of this republic I am daily commanded to Pay Attention and to Pick a Side. If you are of a temperament similar to mine (and there’s absolutely no reason why you should be) let me reassure you right now that I have no intention of heading toward the grandstand with my megaphone. I am not here to exhort and to scold. I am not a bully and this rickety soapbox (which might give way any moment due to the weight I’ve gained during quarantine) is not a pulpit. I’m not going to project my virtue on the side of a building like a free neighborhood movie—though it otherwise be assumed that I have none.
The static (such as resides in my attic) is nonetheless intense. Except for a few excursions, I have hardly been out o
