"Pandemic by the Numbers - My Numbers"

Sydney M. Williams

www.swtotd.blogspot.com

Essay from Essex

“Pandemic by the Numbers – My Numbers”

June 21, 2020

“Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do

but never gets you anywhere.”

                                                                                                Erma Bombeck (1927-1996)

                                                                                                American humorist

                                                                                                           

We have all found different ways to spend the time we have been given but didn’t want. My wife and I have now spent thirteen weeks on Essex Meadows’ property. Caroline had blood work done on March 19^th, which was our last time off the campus. During these past three months temperatures outside have ranged from below freezing to the high eighties. While my official temperature has remained normal, my internal engine has become heated. I have enjoyed the time with my wife, and have kept busy writing, but the monotony of the days is getting to us, so I thought it would be fun to jot down some of things done – how the days have been spent, a look at the Pandemic by my numbers.

Reviewing the list, I am amazed at how much I did, and thought how little I must have done before. I shouldn’t be surprised, because lists tend to exaggerate. If I had kept all the empty bottles of wine I drank last year, my wife would call AA. Nevertheless, a quote from P.G. Wodehouse, when he was interviewed in 1974 by the Paris Review, did come to mind: “I know I was writing stories when I was five. I don’t remember what I did before that. Just loafed, I suppose.” I was not loafing before the pandemic arrived; it is the listing that makes it seem that way. Keep in mind, however, every number is an estimate. As to whether the numbers are underestimated or exaggerated, I leave for the reader to decide:

600,000 – estimated steps taken in walking about 250 miles (two and a half miles a day = 6000 steps) on Essex Meadows property and trails through the Preserve. The Health App on my 1-Phone has kept me (relatively) honest.

30,000 – estimated words written during the past three months, which include fifteen Thoughts of the day, six Essays from Essex and five Burrowing into Books reviews.

3,250 – crunches and about half as many leg lifts, based on five workouts a week.

1,625 – pushups, see above.

1,000 – number of sheets of paper used (and thrown away) in writing the above essays.

300 – essays of others printed out and read on matters dealing with politics, culture, education and climate.

200 – two daily newspapers read (the Wall Street journal, the New London Day, and the Sunday New York Times)

175 – an estimate of the number of poached eggs cooked by me and eaten by same.

100 – TV movies or shows watched after getting into bed, usually around 8:30.

26 – number of times we received groceries and sundries from our son and his family who live in Lyme

25 – loads of laundry. (When we moved to Essex Meadows, my wife put me in charge of laundry.)

10 – books read and begun – five fiction, five nonfiction.

5 – Zoom calls with our children and grandchildren.

3 – virtual high school graduations.

3 – pedicures given my wife.

3 – number of pounds lost since the lockdown began.

2 – webinars participated in, courtesy of the Hayek Institute of Vienna, one to be broadcast this Thursday.

1 – miles driven around the parking lot, trying to prevent batteries from dying, unsuccessfully in one car.

0 – our Master Card bill for April and May. (I cannot say the same for American Express.)          

Of course, time for this exhaustive list was made possible because of things not done:

We have not visited our children’s homes.

We have not hugged our children or grandchildren in over a hundred days.

We have not filled our cars with gas since mid-March

We have not been in a grocery store, drugstore, newsstand, liquor store, dry cleaners, barber shop (my hair is getting bushy), dentist or doctor for three months, though both my wife and i did have one experience each with telemedicine. (We prefer real visits.)

We have not been out for dinner, by ourselves or with friends.

We have not been to the beach club, which opened with “proper distancing” on Memorial Day.

I have not been able to attend weekly ROMEO (retired old men eating out) lunches for three months.

A planned trip to England and Scotland in April was cancelled.

At some point this nightmare will end, and we will look back as at a bad dream. But while in its midst, we should make the most of what we can do to keep ourselves productively (or even nonproductively) occupied. Do not lose faith and do not worry. Remember, what some have rent asunder, others will rejoin.