Skip to content

Monthly Archives: March 2020

Contagion

Sunday, March 29, 2020

If you don’t want to watch the 2011 film “Contagion” right now, that’s certainly understandable. However, I watched it last night, and I found it to be more educational and encouraging than scary. Clearly a lot of research went into this film. I’m guessing that the screenwriters worked with experts in communicable diseases to work […]

Filed in Culture | | Comments (2)

Cinnamon rolls

Saturday, March 28, 2020

I wish I could say that I made these cinnamon rolls, but I didn’t. I had my share of them, though. It is my good fortune that, by pure accident, I’m not sheltering in place as a household of one, plus one cat. There are travelers sheltering here, too, and do they ever have skills.

Filed in Food | | Comments (0)

Rock Castle Gorge

Friday, March 27, 2020

Yesterday was a get-out-of-the-house day. The hike was to Rock Castle Gorge near Floyd, Virginia. The trail is near the Blue Ridge Parkway and is on land owned by the National Park Service. The trail follows a fast-flowing creek through the gorge. Many years ago, the area was sparsely settled. Now the pastures are mostly […]

Filed in Uncategorized | | Comments (4)

A real-world test for the authoritarian mind

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

There are three conditions of the human psyche that are puzzling and frightening to those of us who don’t have those conditions. Those conditions are authoritarianism, religious fanaticism, and not being very smart. All three of these conditions are commonly found in the same person. To have even one of them can be debilitating. To […]

Filed in Culture, Political issues | | Comments (3)

Are you focusing on food, too?

Saturday, March 21, 2020

Cabbage, just planted I confess that, a week ago, I felt as though this all might be just a game of Doomsday. As the news gets worse, everything has started to feel more and more real. After thinking about it for a while, it seems likely to me that food is even more important than […]

Filed in Pandemic | Tagged | Comments (6)

Some light and color for Black Monday

Monday, March 16, 2020

Just as the self-quarantine began two days ago, a car rolled in with the abbey’s best friend, who promptly got to work on the overgrowth. If such a bleak and scary time had to occur, what good fortune it is that spring (rather than a winter) is bursting out all over. The neighbors are out […]

Filed in The land | | Comments (12)

Goodbye, Pete Buttigieg

Sunday, March 1, 2020

I am saddened this evening to learn that Pete Buttigieg has dropped out of the race for U.S. President. I admire him for doing it, though. He is a realist, so he has taken a realistic look at the numbers. I feel sure that one reason he announced this decision two days before Super Tuesday […]

Filed in Political issues | | Comments (6)