Now that we’ve had a couple of dry days in a row, the regional trail is walkable, no longer a muddy morass. Yesterday my wife and I walked west, at least to the next town, possibly the one after it. Now that the ice is finally gone from Lake Minnetonka, a yacht club along the way was busy prepping for the season. I doubt that they’ll be deemed an essential service if Minnesota moves from stay at home to lockdown status. Today we walked north on the trail up past the Old Log Theatre (my wife’s father was once technical director there, building sets, running lights, et cetera) and its now-empty parking lot. How many arts organizations will be killed off as the economy implodes?
I’ve long been a go to the grocery store every day kind of guy. Sometimes more than once a day. That’s had to change. Our household usually consists of four humans, two cats, one dog, and a goldfish. For the duration of the quasi-lockdown, two more people are living with us. We’re well-stocked with the basics and have pared back to occasional once a week or so runs out to pick up fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, and milk as well as things we’ve run low on (it’s been particularly hard to find flour, go figure). Yesterday’s shopper reported that Target was oddly empty. Few people in the aisles, but those there all had full carts. I guess that the panic-buying phase of this crisis has morphed into a dull-grind phase.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but cabin fever is starting to set in for me. Although I like having extra time to read, I’m really looking forward to warmer weather that will allow me to work in my garden. Given all the economic uncertainties swirling about, I’m probably going to expand our garden this year.
News and Analysis:
https://theintercept.com/2020/03/31/rikers-island-coronavirus-mass-graves/
New York City is offering prisoners at Rikers Island jail $6 per hour — a fortune by prison labor standards — and personal protective equipment if they agree to help dig mass graves on Hart Island…
”America Has a Shortage of PPE Because Trump Sent Our Stockpile to China”
A not entirely accurate headline in that only part of the stockpile was sent to China. Still.
'All Of This Panic Could Have Been Prevented': Author Max Brooks On COVID-19
Brooks says the notion that the U.S. government was blindsided by the pandemic is “an onion of layered lies.”
Some interesting maps of travel distances in the U.S. that look sort of like maps of the Union versus the Confederacy: ”Where America Didn’t Stay Home Even as the Virus Spread”
Never a dull moment in the disinformation wars: ”Fascists Impersonate Climate Group to Say Coronavirus is Good for Earth”
”You Shouldn’t Be Wearing Gloves to Go Grocery Shopping”
PeakProsperity’s Adam Taggart interviews John Rubino and Charles Hugh Smith:
