The Continuous Confounding of 2020
The setting sun was dark orange amid an undefined light pink-gray haze. It was eerily beautiful, as if nature had Photoshopped the sky.
Sadly, that was smoke from wildfires out West, confirming that what we saw on TV was just one more awful chapter in The Story of 2020. And that chapter is not yet finished. Neither is the chapter on the record number of tropical storms/hurricanes we’ve seen. They’ve run out of this year’s designated names so are starting on the Greek alphabet.
And these aren’t even the worst things affecting all of us. We still are in the midst of the Corona virus pandemic, racial protests, riots, a national election and, now, a Supreme Court appointment battle. Many are out of work and money. Schools are following a mishmash of schedules. Businesses are closing.
If someone wrote The Story of 2020 as fiction in calmer times, no one would believe that this many things could happen in one year. That book would probably not sell well.
Students writing their annual “What I did on my summer vacation” reports might have had a tough time this year. Even writing this column feels different now because everything we do seems to revolve around politics and the pandemic. I may have succumbed to the dreaded “quarantine fatigue.” I’ve notice that other non-political columnists in various publications are having the same trouble. They tend to ramble. So this is my quarantine fatigue ramble.
I pride myself on keeping busy to avoid boredom but it’s hard to keep motivated, especially with noticeably shorter days and, soon, colder weather.
I have done a few useful things. I ride my bike a lot all over town. I got my flu shot. I even cleaned the fridge and freezer. But I’ve been watching entirely too much TV. We get cable, several streaming services and Apple TV. Hundreds of channels and movies and I watch reruns of Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Star Trek, The Rifleman, Wagon Train, and The Andy Griffith Show. On three channels.
I’m now pretty sure I’ve seen every episode of Gunsmoke and Bonanza. I know I’ve seen every episode of the original series of Star Trek at least three times. Catherine has done the same with M.A.S.H. I’m so desperate that I’ve even watched a few episodes of Adam-12.
Maybe I watch these reruns because, for the first time, I’m seeing some of them how they were supposed to look. You know, not grainy and ghostly. My TV can even convert the image to look like “soap opera video.” I turned the feature off. It just was too eerie. Also, I won’t watch Gilligan’s Island or the Brady Bunch. I at least have some pride.
Does it seem like these stations are purposely showing episodes related to events we’re experiencing now? I saw a Rifleman episode where Lucas McCain took in a couple with yellow fever. The McCains lived out of town but a mob still came to burn them down. Amazingly, Lucas and sheriff Micah saved the day.
An Adam-12 episode depicted a group trying to harass police and catch them in the act of performing police brutality. A couple of Bonanza episodes dealt with racism – one involving the Cartwrights’ cook Hop Sing and another about a Black opera singer. And pretty much every cowboy series has at least one episode on election fraud, corrupt politicians and judges. Expect these themes in anything you watch these days.
One positive: I stopped watching the Vikings last year and I actually felt better. It doesn’t look like I’m missing anything this year either.
At least there are a few things that make me smile. I received an email from LinkedIn (a Facebook-like program focused on employment networking), asking me to congratulate a former colleague on 44 years with his employer. I forwarded the email to him to see if he was indeed still working. His mirthful reply was that he had retired six years ago. His sister convinced him to set up the now long-forgotten account. I guess you have to keep your info updated.
Our three-season porch project is back on track after being delayed while waiting for the trusses so the roof can go on. They finally arrived but some factories are backlogged up to 12 weeks.
As you could expect, there are political lawn signs emerging like dandelions everywhere. There are the usual face-offs between some neighbors. But this year there seem to be numerous “safe zones” that develop when one neighbor posts signs for a party and other nearby neighbors supporting the same party decide that it’s safe to also post signs. In some areas one party has nearly taken over a whole block. A block away it might be reversed.
Then there are the extra-large signs, usually for current office holders. They don’t display the year, just the last name and office they hold. Their message seems to be “I’m in office now and expect you to keep me there.” At least they’re recycling.