Situation Report

I just wanted to say:

• This is the calmest, most easy-going "panic" I have ever heard of.
• But I'd feel a little better if I could one more package of TP.
• Popcorn and the Duration, from one of the great online diarists, James Lileks.
• Early on in this situation, I realized with a kind of inner jolt that I was on the verge (age-wise) of being in what is being called the "at risk" population. My wife is a little beyond the verge. Not that we actually "feel" any more at risk, mind you. But it does make me realize, like any glance in the mirror, that I'm no spring chicken.
• I heard a single bird this morning, announcing the dawn. First of the season.
• The saving-power of daily rituals.
• Many have turned to blog as a means of coping with the situation. Among them: The Pietist Schoolman and On the Road People.
• The numbers. I track the numbers religiously. I put them in a spreadsheet, which makes me feel like I'm doing something constructive. I look for ways to parse the numbers in a way that, if not optimistic, at least doesn't fall prey to pessimism. 
• If I say or imply that I know something, that something is a fact even though really it's only a guess of mine, is that lying? Because if it is, the world these days is full of that kind of lying.
• We are not "sheltering in place." One has to go to the store, after all. And then we're going for walks every day. Along the way we encounter people. They're all friendly, saying hello, smiling. More friendly in fact than usual, although everyone keeps their distance. Like I said, this is the calmest panic I've ever heard of.