As spring turns to summer it has shown that my people are not capable of staying indoors and away from each other, I know, I know, procreation is necessary to further the species, but which will win? Reproduction or death from exposure to the plague? Add to this the fact that the ever present, simmering racism has boiled over yet again and the political clime has aggravated what should have been a time of mourning into a time of rioting and ooh-doggie have we got a 'summer of love' starting!

I journeyed out to the store. Worry not fellow social distancing warriors, I was well armed, covered in head to toe with a survival suit made of an old shower curtain and brief in my time amongst the unwashed.  We truly are in the midst of suffering and misery; I went to purchase tortilla chips and there were none to be found.

It has been a while since I loosened my fingers at you. Things here in the lockdown are nearing an end. At least that’s what the politicians say, soon we’ll all be out at the bars, movies and festivals like we were in past years. No vaccine? No worries, it would probably give you autism anyway and none of us wants autism. Will we have herd immunity? No, but herd immunity is for the lessor animals, so go out and cough on everyone. Yes, looking forward to the return of glory days gives me a golden globe of warmth deep in my cockles.

Breakfast! That time of the morning, during a pandemic, where I sit and ponder how much worse the world has become while drinking my coffee. I gave up breakfast eating a long time ago. I didn’t give up breakfast foods, mind, just eating in the AM (the first 12 hours of the day for you non-Americans). The problem is sleep. As in, I’m getting less of it. Not the ‘good less’ which would be me staying up until 3 in the morning playing video games or changing a carburetor, no, I’m getting the ‘bad less’.

Politics! I have discovered that while I have been passing my time in isolation a whole other ‘thing’ has been going on! I’m not so sure of the ins and outs of the people we elected, but some people say they did a bad job and the people elected are saying they are doing a great job. Who is right? I could spend years analyzing the data and probably never come up with an answer. All I know is people are dying and it is someone’s fault and the opinions on who is to blame are very much up for debate. So exciting!

Everything is the same. My options today resemble those I had every other day of this trial. Except for food of course, my options there are dwindling. I have noticed the greatest difficulty of this time is nothing changes. I wake, my room is the same, no new doodads greet my waking eyes, no new animals bound joyfully into my room to lick me into consciousness.

Today I have journeyed out from the home in search of bread and meat. I have been forced to use the local sandwich shoppe, something I am loathed to do, but they were the only establishment open. Upon entering they told me business was ‘down’. I laughed, of course business is down, people are dropping like flies and there is less demand now than even a day ago. I ordered my 12-inch sandwich and tried not to breathe the same air as the maker.

So much has happened since yesterday’s post. I have entered into day 3 now, I’m sure of it, of the self-quarantine. I am holding up well. The dog has died, one of them. A serious bout of ‘tumor rupturing’ that even the vet could not mend with thousands of dollars. Food continues to be an issue; I’ve suffered through with beef and cauliflower rice. Cauliflower rice. Let that sink it. It was reasonably spiced with ghost pepper, making the paste-like gruel barely palatable and no doubt I shall be regretting that ingestion decision during my next constitutional.

The quarantine has entered a new phase, I've lost track of the days, I am sure I must be on day 2, but with so much time having passed it can be hard to tell. Alas food supplies are already running low, with only fresh veggies, beef, pork chops, marinated chicken breast, cheese, cream, coffee, candy, chips, tortillas and other items too numerous to list, left to eat. For exercise I am forced to walk the perimeter of the property, a mere acre, though the sun falling upon my face does bring me joy, it is short lived as I look at the devastation the virus has wrought.

I posted a couple more chapters to Shiners starting with Chapter 26.