These are dark and desperate times. Sadly, the banner headline from Monday, April 20th, was that deaths in New York State failed to reach 500 for the first time in two week. These days, that’s what qualifies as “good news.”
And yet, we carry on--muddling through and finding a smile wherever we can.
If I have a function--if this quiz has a purpose--it’s that. Laugh--so we don’t cry.
Monday was back to work for my daughter Annie who is a psychiatric social worker at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens. Like my daughter-in-law Erica who is an ICU nurse in suburban Detroit, Annie is on the front lines--which is hard enough--but Annie’s also got to deal with me and the fact that I am “off” in the morning and can be a bit of a wildcard. On Monday at 9:01AM, I Facetimed her by mistake. She picked up, thinking something was wrong. Nothing wrong, just Dad.
In Quiz #29. “These Things Happen” on April 15th, I told the story of how I called Annie at work to ask her what was on the front of a t-shirt she had given me 4 years ago. This weekend in a phone call with Sara, Annie revealed that she was actually in a conference room waiting for a staff meeting to start when my call came in. She stepped out into the hall, but her coworkers could see her through the glass wall. They could tell she was concerned--and then stunned. Why was her father calling her at work from a dog walk to find out what was on the front of a t-shirt that he had at his house? When she walked back in, they asked her what had happened. When she told them, they laughed--in a way that most adult children do when they’re older parents are, well, foolish.
Sorry about that.
Each morning, I pass John in the hallway as he goes from his bedroom where he sleeps to the dining room table where he works. I give him a “traffic report” on what’s happening on the stairs so that he can navigate his new commute.
As noted in Quiz # 12. “Stayin’ Alive” on March 28th, in these stay-at-home days, John hates the Friday question, “So, what are you doing this weekend?” So of course, that’s what I ask him every Friday. (I am like a vaccine. Just enough of a nuisance to get you a little bit annoyed but prompting a begrudging chuckle so when the real question comes from a seemingly-well-meaning friend, it doesn’t drive you crazy.)
This weekend, John tried his hand at a jigsaw puzzle. He also picked up Will's old bass guitar and is teaching himself how to play. He’s told us he’s going to start a one-man band, “Big ‘Rona.”
On Facebook last week, I saw an ad for an indie movie called “Band Aid.” It’s about a married couple that decides to turn their fights into rock songs. Not exactly the sort of thing most people might recommend for a married couple practicing socially distancing together in a house for the last five weeks--but then again, I am not “most people.”
I suggested to Sara that we watch it. On Friday night, she said she needed a break, but on Saturday night, she relented. We sat down to watch it--and 30 minutes in, I fell asleep. Sara turned it off.
Monday, Sara and I had a socially distant visit in our backyard with Betsy who has been teaching her 4th grade students at the local elementary school from her apartment in Hoboken. At the end of her visit, Betsy enlisted my help in pre-recording Tuesday’s Pledge of Allegiance for her school that gets posted to the school’s Instagram account each morning. We walked down to our neighbors Joe and Danielle who have an American flag out on their front stoop. (They also had a new baby and Joe is the author the phrase, “a baby aquarium” featured in Quiz #24. “A Baby Aquarium,” April 9th.)
Betsy’s Pledge post made it to Instagram today and I shared it via text with family and friends. People started following the school’s account and Ted found the post from Ms. McDonald, the music teacher. It’s worth a boost if you need it--and who doesn’t. (It’s the second video in this Instagram post.)
In our house, Will’s been making home-made pizza and baking bread for the four of us at night. There are a lot of dirty dishes in the morning, but it’s wonderful to go to sleep to the smell of bread baking--and the toast is slappin’ for breakfast.
Ashley, a coworker, has 2 boys at home, both under the age of 5. One of them, Lucien, has started recording his own cooking show which Ashley posts to Instagram. I try to watch the show on my daily run through Instagram. Monday, I was on a video conference call with Ashley and other coworkers when I spied Lucien walking behind her. I stopped the meeting and asked, loudly, “Hey, is that the chef from the cooking show?” Lucien gave a sly smile and Ashley told me afterwards, the shout-out (literally) had made Lucien’s day. Wait until he finds out his cooking show is now on Substack! (Ashley is aware and has approved this message.)
“Voila!”
It’s all a diversion--a diversion in the face of disruption, devastation and death. A sea of sorrow. As always, my thoughts turn to the kids. What are they thinking? How will they remember this strange time? How will this impact them when they grow up? (Growing up, after all, is not all it’s cracked up to be).
My pledge:
Stay foolish.
Stay curious.
Stay alive.
What did not happen?
A. I recorded Betsy’s “Pledge” in one take;
B. Joe and Danielle have a Ring doorbell and sent me the video of Betsy’s “Pledge” from their doorbell;
C. When I texted around Betsy’s Pledge, I also took note of my step-mother Judy’s 96th birthday. Sara texted, “Happy Birthday Judy! We pledge allegiance to you!”
D. Sara offered to be the singer in John’s band.
E. Sara is the editor of this quiz. I write it as a Google doc and then share it with her. She adds her comments in CAPS. In the 3 parts of my closing pledge, where I now say “Stay foolish,” I’d written “Stay young” in the first draft. My editor’s comments, “REALLY? OK BOOMER.”
Want the answer?
Answer #33. The Pledge, April 21, 2020
If you’re a subscriber, the answer will be sent to you as a separate email when the question is published.
Want more?
Here’s the next quiz in the series: Quiz #34. Brooks.
Here’s the next quiz in the series: Quiz #32. Jukebox.
Here’s the first quiz in the series: Quiz #1. Stella and Social Distancing, March 13, 2020
The quiz is explained here: Steve’s Stay-at-Home Coronavirus Quiz.
Here is an archive of all the quizzes.
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