Thoughts on the Pandemic
As we enter the last week of an extraordinary year, I hasten to put down my thoughts buzzing in my head, lest they become mere nostalgia. At the beginning of the year, all I wanted to do was travel. 2020 was supposed to my year of big travel. Angkor Vat was scheduled for February. I had penciled in many other destinations in the calendar to coincide with special events. But as the coronavirus multiplied rapidly, spreading fear and death, the plans had to remain on paper. The first month was claustrophobic. The home became a prison. Uncertainty hung thick in the air. News spread anxiety and little else. As the days telescoped into one another in a crazy, disoriented jumble, it was important to anchor the mind to some purpose in order to stay sane. Bit by bit, order began to be restored in the mind. In the second month, I opened the windows wide and let them stay open all day, shutting them only at twilight to avoid the ingress of mosquitos. I sat by the window and gazed outside. A