“We are an opportunity for the virus. If you go on building up the population, it’s almost inevitable that something is going to say, jeez, there’s a lot of stuff to eat there. Let’s go get it.”

— James Lovelock

I’ve been telling myself the pandemic would become real to people in the U.S. once X number of deaths were recorded. When the number is too high to be ignored. I’m wrong about that. The number doesn’t matter if you don’t believe it. These are “fake deaths” in the minds of a whole bunch of people. Covid won’t be “real” until everyone knows someone (family or friend) brought down (death or serious illness) by the virus. If that doesn’t do it, I’m out of ideas.

“Great crises tend to bring profound social change, for good or ill. […] After the Black Death, nothing was the same,” Pomata said. “What I expect now is something as dramatic is going to happen, not so much in medicine but in economy and culture. Because of danger, there’s this wonderful human response, which is to think in a new way.” — (How Pandemics Wreak Havoc—and Open Minds)

I seem to recall a few courses in European History during my school days but I’m pretty sure they didn’t give much space to the Black Death. Interesting days ahead here in the USofA.

noun: the ups and downs of a pandemic. One day you’re loving your bubble, doing work outs, baking banana bread and going for long walks and the next you’re crying, drinking gin for breakfast and missing people you don’t even like.