ANYBODY SLEEPING?

Day 3. I wake up a lot at night now. Sometimes it's because Lisa has woken up. Sometimes it's me. We both just wake up a lot. Bad dreams. Scary thoughts. Sort of like there's a global pandemic or something. Yesterday was... Well, I can't say new normal yet, because nothing seems normal, each day is an odyssey through emotions and memories, phone calls to people I haven't called in forever, rechecking our stocks yet again, chores around the house (mostly cleaning, but also some gardening), checking my phone for some sort of new headlines besides "shit is getting worse", commenting on social media every hour about how we need to freeze mortgages and rents, cover all bills, and so on. And then we went to Lisa's dad's house for some corned beef and cabbage, keeping 6 feet between us at all times. This was the highlight of the day. Well, that, and our daily walk, where the world sort of makes sense.

Oh! I also wrote a one act play for the Quarantine Bake Off. That was fun. Went with having a group of playwrights meeting to read their pages. They break into Coors Field, cook some soup on a camping stove, make home made sanitizer, sing some Air Supply, have a run in with ball park security, and then get down to reading their stuff. And I had good talk with a producer friend about a musical we are working on. And also wrote up a bunch of exercises kids can do for Reel Kids while stuck at home. Vlogs, music videos, short films, all tailored to the current situation. So did get some actual stuff done. Fed the soul. We should all write more. And not comments on social media. I mean plays, stories, poems, songs.

I think that's key. Feeding the soul.

To that end. I thought of a game we can all play. I used to play it back in that other world called the past. Get some friends on a group chat, or in person, or whatever. Find a book of poems. Open to a random page. Have someone read the poem out loud. Discuss. Did this once with Jack Halpin and Christine Goodman and came upon "To My Old Addresses" by Kenneth Koch. It blew us away. I've read that one at a few dinners when it seemed right. A poem that starts sort of silly, then takes a left turn and opens up the world. I'd post it here, but can't find an online version of it, and don't have time to write it up. Maybe soon. Who knows. Maybe that will be today's odyssey.

Although we are most likely going to go up to the mountains before it snows. The mountains don't seem to worry about the virus.

Things that have meaning these days: Nature, music, friends, family, my dog.

Ok. More tomorrow. Love, laugh, learn. I hope your day's odyssey is kind.