I know this is my chance, everyone’s chance, to sum up an entire year of life. Except, who’s counting? Or to be more precise, who’s following this particular calendar? Yes, 2021 may be a convenient parcel. But I’m not sure I really see it that way. In fact, when I think about it, and I rarely do, these years have been marked by the falling or rising of a curtain vis-à-vis COVID-19. So, my years in virology started long about March 2020. And then there was the same thing last year, that is to say this year, 2021. So if we are going to play this end-of-year game, let’s ask a question. Where will things be in about three months, March 2022?
Here I can respond with something suspiciously like optimism. This virus may take its toll between now and then. And I hope the COVID-19 bell doesn’t toll for me. However. As everyone seems to agree, there is a point at which a pandemic becomes endemic. And that point is likely to be this year. After which, we can start living with the unthinkable, or make constant background disease as thinkable as, say, influenza. And then, one hopes, we can go on to worrying about other things. Such as fascism in America. The heat death of planet earth. And other lighthearted concerns.
I know things are looking up, or I am looking up, when I contemplate the next opportunities to see live theater. There are several. But several is too many with the virus still lunging about. So I have narrowed several down to one. The Avett brothers’ new musical play at that Berkeley Rep. Mid-February, for us. This seems like an acceptable risk. What makes it acceptable I don’t know. Except that I already have the tickets. I and I don’t happen to have tickets for Twelfth Night at San Francisco Playhouse. Which is too bad. Because I wouldn’t mind being forced to see what everyone says is a great show. Never mind. A bit of ticket purchaser’s wisdom will do. Otherwise, I would throw epidemiological caution to the winds.
Which brings us to London 2022. August and September. Are we really going? Far, far too early to say. Are we really going to travel home on the Queen Mary 2? Because according to the Centers for Disease Control, setting sail on the HMS Petri Dish may not be the wisest. So what?
And another thing. Consider what’s happening in the Sierra Nevada. Highest snowfall ever recorded at Donner Summit. Yes, this is part of the general planetary heat death, and let’s not think too much about the 600 houses that went up in flames yesterday around Boulder, Colorado. No, let’s do. What is it going to take to save us? A global strike? Everyone walking off work at once? With emphasis on the walking part. No driving home from work. Maybe public transiting home from work. Never going to happen, of course. If all politics is local, unfortunately we all have locales. Which defeats us, in a way.
This also brings us to Voltaire whose Candide had it right. Tend to our own gardens. As for mine, here there are the usual troubling signs. The worst of which is the downy mildew. This represents one of the lowest moments in single-cellular evolution. If you were growing fava beans, the scourge would manifest in this sort of rusty powder that consumes leaves and deposits its residue everywhere. I was just staring at its microbial handiwork earlier today. Not a pretty sight. On the other hand, inside the greenhouse, there is a sort of hothouse miracle.
I refer of course to the cauliflower. This is a non-bunching variety. The cauliflower version of broccolini, if you know what I mean. And even if you don’t, just imagine broccoli and a bunch of little shoots, each entirely edible. More like individual florets. That I think is the proper term and description. Anyway, I got these vegetable plants via mail order. Yes, the entire plants arrived in their infancy. And damned if they aren’t all thriving. I’m sure there’s a downside somewhere, but I can’t imagine it so far. As for the lettuce, well, lettuce grows in winter. But so does discontent. Lettuce is best harvested young. That’s my advice. But watch this space. There will either be more vegetables…or more space.