Quarantine Diary #306 Hunched Over & Paying Attention

I am going to write some Quarantine Diary entries again. There’s a lot going on and sometimes it helps to hear a small voice as well as the big voices of journalists, pundits, networks, the other public media we follow.

I have had a small headache off and on for days. I worried that I might have contracted Covid, except dang it, I haven’t gone anywhere! And then, thinking about it, I realized I am hunched over my phone much more than usual. These mild on-again, off-again headaches are from eyestrain and weird posture.

I mentioned this to my Nurse Practitioner. (I was in for my annual checkup.)  She said she’s been scrolling, too, and also has a kink in her neck.

So Pals … if you are also spending more time on social media than is normal for you, maybe use a laptop or pad? Maybe prop your arms on something? Pay attention to your eyes, back, neck, and shoulders. 

We have a nation to love and save here. We can’t do it waddling around like pissed-off, near-sighted, hunched over eagles.

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This photo was taken today by Emily Cochrane of the New York Times. 

Rev David Chevrier was pastor at Wellington Ave UCC in Chicago when Len and I (and some of you) were there. I remember him saying “Immigrants renew the American Dream in every generation.” 

Looking at this photo today … Wow.  Who is defending out Constitution? Black men. People not born to a life of privilege. Those women with their tightly pinned hair, at the feet of Frances Willard. 

It chokes me up. It makes me so angry that they have to be there and so respectful that they are.

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Small gestures.

Len likes a certain kind of toothpaste which only costs $1 per tube. We ran out months ago and our grocery store doesn’t stock it and it costs a stupid amount to order online. Today, while picking up the grocery order, I checked the dollar store where I was pretty sure they might have Len’s toothpaste. Yup. I bought a bunch.

Our driveway is narrow. When snow is piled along the strip by our house and the strip by the neighbor’s fence, it’s hard for me to back the car out. Lately, I ask Len to do it and he does. Doesn’t make jokes about women drivers. 

He has a good sense of where the car is going backwards.

I know where to get wierd things.These are small gestures of love and civility. Neighbors gave us tamales for Christmas. We gave cookies to a friend. New Jersey Representative Andy Kim cleaned debris at the Capitol after the chaos of the riot. He said, ““When you see something you love that’s broken you want to fix it.”

What and who do you love? What are you doing, fixing, giving, paying attention to? I swear, somehow, this little stuff is important.  I think it helps to change the river of karma.

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How are you?