Show Notes - Week of March 30, 2020

There are those words that you say without thinking about, and then one day you think about them, and all you can think about is how weird that word is. "Hunker" is definitely in that category. We are definitely into the "hunker" phase of our global COVID response, in which we are, to use the North American use of the word, taking shelter in a defensive position. See the full definition in the "New Words" section at the end of this post. 

With that, greetings from 53.5° north latitude, in a spot in the world where it is still solidly winter with cold temperatures, snow, and ice that can cause both the short of cycling mishaps that rip through two layers of pants and at least one layer of skin, and an intensely beautiful vistas. 

The world zipped past 1,000,000 confirmed cases of COVID earlier this week, and passed 1.25 million this morning. There is a growing realization that we will be in this state of isolation until the end of June and that some form of public health measures will extend for some time beyond then. 

Even with all of the news, the messages from public health officials, the pleas from celebrities, there are still people who just won't get it. The blistering editorial this week in the Thorsby Target from Thorsby Mayor Rod Raymond this past week was a welcome read. It seems Mayor Raymond does not mince words. Pin heads, indeed!

​To the pin head who returned from vacation without going into 14 day isolation, and came into the town office to enquire about their water bill; YOU exposed our staff and forced the closure of the town office. To the other Pin Head who returned from Africa and came to buy a furnace motor; YOU risked infecting a pregnant woman!!! For the people who returned from Mexico and wandered around town; YOU are potentially are spreading the virus. What is the matter with you people? Don’t you care about anyone else but yourselves? Fortunately, no one encountering you, has shown any symptoms, yet. 

Thorsby Mayor, and Speaker of Plain Truths, Rod Raymond

I talked about the economic impact in the last two weeks [here, and here]. The Edmonton Chamber of Commerce released some staggering survey results this week. Nearly half of Chamber members surveyed feared that their business would not survive, and a quarter surveyed do not have cash to meet their next payroll. ​

The world will change as a result of this. The world is changing as a result of this. It will be imperative to engage to do as much as possible to influence the changes to be positive and inclusive. If we fail to that, what we are living in now may be the real-world equivalent to the prequel to a haunting dystopian science-fiction story. 

Reading Pile:
I had a good week as far as reading goes. I dove into "War and Peace" and "The Count of Monte Cristo" and should be caught up in the respective Reddit reading groups in a few days. Monte Cristo is revealing itself to be a beautiful book filled with evocative imagery and phrases. Below are two of my favourite from my readings this last week. The first one is strangely recursive, discussing how a heart can break and then itself causing hearts to break. 

​The heart breaks when it has swelled too much in the warm breath of hope, then finds itself enclosed in cold reality.

The second is darker, highlighting a fatalistic view on the world and the thoughts that maybe the world should just be burned down. 

​If only the sky would rain gunpowder for two days and fire for an hour, and we could have done with it all.

Beyond those two novels, I did finish another novel this week. Book #12 for 2020 was "Future Home of the Living God" by Louise Erdrich. This was a book that I thought was wonderful as I was in the act of reading it, but as I stepped away from it I reflect on a few flaws. There were a few plot points dropped in and not explored, such as the massively changed fauna (sabre-tooth cat, anyone?). I also would have liked to have the role of the theocratic church explained more, and how the monitoring and surveillance technology was a surprise and also so surprisingly effective. I still don't know with certainty which characters in the book were "good", but I suppose that is no different than real life, where every person we encounter is both wonderful and flawed. 

But ignore that. You should read this book even with its flaws. The timeliness of a novel where the protagonist is locked away and isolated is certainly worth reading right now, as are the hints at how quickly and how completely our world could change for the worse. Don't take anything for granted, even those crummy gas station granola bars, and especially the rights of the individuals. 

And since I am apparently big on quotes this week, here is one from this book that can hopefully remind us of all that exists that is worth fighting for. 

---

I think we have survived because we love beauty and because we find each other beautiful. I think it may be our strongest quality.

New Words:
More reading this week, and therefore more new words as well. Plus leading off with that word that seems really weird when you really think about it. 

hunker
[ˈhəNGkər]
VERB

1. squat or crouch down low.
   
2. (USA) take shelter in a defensive position.
   
3. (hunker down) apply oneself seriously to a task.

​chiaroscuro
[kyärəˈsk(y)o͝orō]
NOUN

1. the treatment of light and shade in drawing and painting. An effect of contrasted light and shadow created by light falling unevenly or from a particular direction on something.

funereal
[fyəˈnērēəl]
ADJECTIVE

1. having the mournful, somber character appropriate to a funeral.

enervate
[enervate]
VERB

1. cause (someone) to feel drained of energy or vitality; weaken.
   

ADJECTIVE

1. (literary) lacking in energy or vitality.

gravid
[ˈɡravəd]
ADJECTIVE

1. (technical) pregnant; carrying eggs or young.
   
2. full of meaning or a specified quality.