Welcome!
Greetings Gnusies, Gnubies, lurkers, and first-time visitors! Come on into our peaceful, supportive corner of the internet, out of the storm of horrific news, and refresh yourself to face another day of life in the stressful time of coronavirus. There is a lot of good news out there, and love is manifest everywhere.
We are waves of the same sea...
For my intro today, I’m going to steal (with their enthusiastic permission) some portions of a truly beautiful statement from the lovely folks at Future Crunch in Australia. Do yourself a favor and click the link to read the whole thing.
Last week, a large consignment of crates arrived in Italy, addressed to the country's Civil Protection Department, from the consumer electronics giant, Xiaomi. Inside were tens of thousands of FFP3 face masks for Italy's healthcare workers, a “token of gratitude to the Italian people” for making their workers feel so welcome when the Chinese company opened its first European offices in 2018. Stapled to the side of each of the crates was a quote, in both Italian and English, attributed to the Roman philosopher, Seneca.
"We are waves of the same sea, leaves of the same tree, flowers of the same garden."
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Masks are a good symbol for this current moment in time. They arrive via planes and container ships, making their way to the frontlines via a global trade network that seemed inevitable, until it wasn’t. News organisations use them as symbols of fear and uncertainty, giving us images of masked figures hurrying across abandoned streets, or swarming around hospital beds. The stories ... inevitably include some aspect of the national interest. ‘Our’ casualties prioritised over ‘theirs,’ ‘our’ people stranded overseas, ‘here’ being infected by a traveller from ‘there’ something ‘their’ society does that ‘our’ society would not. This is what our media organisations know best, and so these kinds of stories dominate our screens.
Alongside the anxiety and narrow-mindedness however, the mask also represents a world all in action at once… . When you put on a mask your features disappear, erasing the differences of skin colour or face shape that trigger so many of our socially conditioned responses to the news. The masks work just as well whether you’re black, brown or white, Chinese, Italian, or Nigerian. What we are seeing now is something truly global in scale.
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[COVID-19 is] acting as a mirror, forcing us to carefully examine our way of life. Earthquakes destroy much, but they also reveal valuable information about the deepest layers of the earth. Similarly, pandemics cause immense pain and suffering but teach us a great deal. They show us that the industrial economy we’ve always taken for granted is killing us. They force us to sit up and acknowledge that we’re sharing a planet with other species. They reveal who society’s real key workers are. Not the bankers. Not the politicians. Not the elite hedge fund managers. It’s the nurses. The doctors. The delivery drivers. The carers. The porters. The teachers. The shelf stackers. The check out staff.
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Eventually... six months, a year from now, the coronavirus will recede in our consciousness and become a part of history. We’ll rebuild, move on, and try as hard as we can to return to normal.
We shouldn’t.
We can do better. This time around, let’s not let a good crisis go to waste.
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Good news from Portland
Tape and 2 hours to transform Oregon Convention Center into coronavirus homeless shelter
From The Oregonian:
...in the Oregon Convention Center on Friday, they needed blue masking tape.
The tape was essential to making sure the homeless shelter opening there in just a few hours properly spaced residents far enough apart to maintain social distancing protocols. The Oregon Convention Center will hold 130 people in a northeast corner of the building.
It’s the second temporary homeless shelter set up by Friday after local officials realized that existing shelters would not be able to protect residents if someone inside had contracted coronavirus.
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Trucks repurposed from the Multnomah County Library -- of which all locations are closed -- and animal control entered through the loading doors and parked under the sign that said “food court” carrying hundreds of cots, blankets and other supplies.
The bathrooms are built for large numbers of people, and the rooms are built to be easily cleaned.
The next story is about the grocery store where I shop. These days I go only once a week, during their “senior shopping hour” from 8:00-9:00. This new policy is most welcome! I went there today and found even more safety measures: all the checkout counters had large sneeze guards between the clerks and the customers, and there were circles painted on the floor to indicate where people should stand to be separated while waiting to be checked out.
New Seasons [grocery chain] begins limiting number of customers inside stores
From The Oregonian:
Upscale Oregon grocery chain New Seasons has begun limiting the number of customers it will allow inside its stores, joining other retailers in an effort to reduce the chances of the coronavirus spreading among shoppers or staff.
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New Seasons has about 20 stores altogether, including 18 in the Portland area.
... Like other chains, it also offers pickup and delivery options.
New Seasons said it will soon adopt technology that enables customers to be summoned from their car or elsewhere nearby when it’s their turn to shop, so they don’t have to wait in a physical line. The company asked that families send a single shopper rather than come as a group.
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Good news from Oregon
Governor Kate Brown Tightens Social Distancing Measures, Tells Oregonians to “Stay Home, Save Lives”
From Oregon.gov:
Governor Kate Brown today issued Executive Order 20-12 , directing everyone in Oregon to stay at home to the maximum extent possible and adding to the list of businesses that will be temporarily closed to stem the spread of COVID-19 in Oregon. The order is effective immediately, and remains in effect until ended by the Governor.
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• All non-essential social and recreational gatherings of individuals are prohibited immediately, regardless of size, if a distance of at least six feet between individuals cannot be maintained. Gatherings of members of the same residential household are permitted.
• It closes and prohibits shopping at specific categories of retail businesses, for which close personal contact is difficult to avoid, such as arcades, barber shops, hair salons, gyms and fitness studios, skating rinks, theaters, and yoga studios.
• It requires businesses not closed by the order to implement social distancing policies in order to remain open, and requires workplaces to implement teleworking and work-at-home options when possible.
• It directs Oregonians to stay home whenever possible, while permitting activities outside the home when social distance is maintained.
• It closes playgrounds, sports courts, and skate parks, among other types of outdoor recreation facilities. Those that remain open are required to strictly adhere to social distancing guidelines.
• It outlines new guidelines for child care facilities, setting limits and rules on amounts of children allowed in care, and outlining that child care groups may not change participants.
• Failure to comply with the order will be considered an immediate danger to public health and subject to a Class C misdemeanor.
Following this order will save lives, while still allowing businesses to function if they can protect employees and customers through social distancing. While many businesses and organizations that are heavily dependent on foot traffic and in-person interactions have already closed or will close under the expanded order, other businesses that make robust plans to meet social distancing requirements—and enforce those requirements—may remain in operation, preserving jobs while ensuring health.
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Good news from around the nation
Scientific American drops the paywall for its COVID-19 coverage
If you want to keep up on the latest developments but want to avoid the daily news churn and read information from people who know what they’re talking about, Scientific American has you covered: www.scientificamerican.com/…
‘Going full-on MacGyver’ – U of M doctor creates makeshift ventilators to battle COVID-19
From the Star Tribune in Minnesota:
Upon hearing that a surge of COVID-19 cases could consume all hospital ventilators, Dr. Stephen Richardson rummaged for parts in the medical device lab at the University of Minnesota and built a homemade version.
In a first test last week, the prototype kept a pig breathing for an hour and raised the prospect that low-budget ventilators could be built to solve a shortage. The makeshift ventilator was made from $150 in parts, with a motor ripped from another device and a red metal toolbox tray as its base.
“We just went full-on MacGyver,” said Richardson, a cardiac anesthesiologist at the U. “This device is designed to give people a chance.”
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Richardson said he awoke [on March 15th] with the gut feeling that he could quickly create a ventilator using common “ambu” bags that paramedics and emergency medicine specialists use to manually resuscitate patients. All that was needed was an automated mechanism that could press the bag, and a way to adjust it to control the volume and limit the pressure of air being pushed into patients.
“This is not a device that anyone would choose to use if they had a ... super high-end alternative,” he said. But it could be sold as a cheap backup, or its plans could be distributed online so hospitals could build their own.
Richardson called friends from MGC Diagnostics in Vadnais Heights, and soon they were scavenging parts from devices and soldering them together for the prototype. After success in maintaining lung function in a pig, Richardson sought a more sophisticated prototype and gained custom parts from...[several] companies.
...Richardson said the [FDA] has already issued emergency declarations for rapid production of new diagnostic and personal protective equipment amid this pandemic, and could issue a similar declaration for ventilator equipment.
How restaurants are stepping up to help their communities during the coronavirus pandemic, from providing toilet paper to meal kits
From Nation’s Restaurant News:
...With creative solutions that can help struggling restaurants pivot to a new aid-focused business model (like becoming a community kitchen or temporary grocery delivery service), or by simply donating extra food and resources to those in need, restaurants are on the front lines of the “good news” coming out of this pandemic panic.
Here are just some of the ways that restaurants are reaching out to their communities.
Providing meal kits and groceries
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[Providing other supplies]
Newport Beach, Calif.-based restaurateur Mario Marovic... will be giving [toilet paper rolls] away for free for any community members in need on Friday, March 20.
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Opening community kitchens and restaurants
...Chef José Andrés is turning eight of his shuttered restaurants in New York City and Washington, D.C. into temporary community kitchens...
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[Anoush’ella in Boston] will now be giving away food for 60-70 restaurant workers every day for the next three weeks.
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Fundraising and discounts for people in need
...Washington, D.C.-based pizza chain &pizza has been providing free pizzas to hospital workers, and 77-unit, Washington, D.C.-based salad chain Sweetgreen has started to do the same...
DiBella’s Subs [in Rochester, NY]... is offering a 50% discount for all first responders, healthcare workers and active military.
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Some restaurant brands are skipping the discounts and directly raising money for charitable causes...
Grubhub Drops Commissions on Delivery Orders From Independent Restaurants
From Restaurant Business:
Grubhub on Friday announced it will temporarily forgo $100 million in commissions on the meals it delivers from independent restaurants as a way of helping those businesses contend with the coronavirus epidemic.
The delivery service also pledged to establish a fund to assist drivers and restaurants whose incomes have dropped because of the crisis.
Grubhub said it agreed to the concessions after meeting with the mayors of Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, Boston and Atlanta, among others. Those and other jurisdictions have been urging all third-party delivery services to cut their commissions in hopes of enabling restaurants to keep more of their delivery sales. The fees routinely run as high as 30%.
"These are trying times for restaurants," Illinois Restaurant Association President and CEO Sam Toia said during a press conference in Chicago on Friday announcing the move. "It's going to help restaurants in our 77 communities continue to pay their mortgages. But, most importantly, make payroll."
Distilleries Race to Make Hand Sanitizer Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
From the NY Times:
Craft distilleries, hearing the call of duty to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, are adding a new product to their lineup of gins, whiskeys and rums: hand sanitizer.
Many are reporting extraordinary demand for the product, which has been hard, if not impossible, to find on store shelves. Yet many distilleries are giving away hand sanitizer for free, despite losing sales of their traditional spirits because of the closing of restaurants, bars and their own tasting rooms.
“This is not an economic lifeline for distilleries,” said Brad Plummer, a spokesman for the American Distilling Institute and editor in chief of Distiller Magazine. “We live in these communities. We know these people. We’re watching them suffer, and we have the ability to help.”
And Parade Magazine compiled a list of U.S. distilleries making hand sanitizer as of March 20. They suggest you contact the distilleries directly for more information.
Florida
St. Augustine Distillery
Copper Bottom Craft Distillery
Georgia
Old Fourth Distillery
Illinois
Koval Distillery is providing hand sanitizers in bulk to the medical community, retirement homes and those on the front lines. They even created a GoFundMe to help support their mission.
Kentucky
Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co.
Organizations in need of hand sanitizer can email KentuckyAle@alltech.com to submit their request.
Old Forester
Woodford Reserve
Rabbit Hole Distillery
Maryland
Twin Valley Distillers
Michigan
Ugly Dog Distillery
Related: Avoid Cabin Fever With These 125 Ideas to Keep Kids Entertained During the Coronavirus Crisis
New York
Black Button Distilling
North Carolina
Durham Distillery
Related: How to Help Service Workers During Coronavirus Pandemic
Ohio
Karrikin Spirits Company
Oregon
Shine Distillery & Grill
Pennsylvania
Boardroom Spirits
Tennessee
Corsair Distillery
Junction 35 Spirits
Old Glory Distilling
Washington State
Glass Distillery
Bonus: Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria Distillers teamed up with B.C.-based Nezza Naturals to create a free hand sanitizer for dentists, nurses and other health-care workers.
Harbor Freight donates PPE to hospital emergency rooms
From a diary on Daily Kos:
I occasionally buy tools and building supplies from Harbor Freight, and am on their mailing list. I today received the following email from the owner:
Dear Harbor Freight Community,
As we’ve been following the news over the last few days, we’ve heard about the severe shortage of protective gear for hospitals, healthcare workers and first responders as the impact of COVID-19 is being felt across the country. America depends on these heroes every day and in the days ahead we will depend on them even more. At Harbor Freight, we want them to know that they can depend on us too.
So we’ve decided to donate our entire supply of the personal protective equipment items listed below to front line hospitals with 24 hour emergency rooms in the communities served by our stores.
• N95 Masks
• Face Shields
• 5 and 7 mil Nitrile Gloves
If you work at a hospital with a 24 hour emergency room in need of these items, please ask the office in charge of procurement at your hospital to click here so they can provide us with the information we’ll need to determine if we can make a donation. If you’re not with a hospital, but would like to give us the name of a hospital with a 24 hour emergency room in your community that might need our help, please email us at hospitalhelp@harborfreight.com, identify the hospital’s city and state in the subject line, and our team will follow-up.
And in non-coronavirus news, here’s good news on the voting front:
Wyoming makes it easier for Native Americans to vote
From The American Independent:
The governor of Wyoming signed legislation supported by the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes to clarify laws surrounding the use of tribal IDs to register to vote, KPVIreported March 13.
The law now allows a tribal ID to be used as identification to register, so long as the ID has either a driver's license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number printed on it.
"What this bill does is provide clear expectations to the tribes, every county and the state regarding tribal IDs," state Rep. Andi Clifford (D) told KPVI.
Tribal leaders would have preferred that Native Americans be allowed to use a tribal ID without additional information, but "we kind of met halfway to some degree on this," said Eastern Shoshone Business Council co-chair Karen Snyder.
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A little humor
Shower Cap frequently makes me guffaw out loud. Here’s Cap at his best from last week:
Perhaps worried that the American people were placing TOO much faith in a federal government that has not only stumbled at every turn, but actually sought out heretofore undiscovered turns simply to stumble at them, Florida Senator Marco Rubio figured he would helpfully use his Twitter platform to dispel rumors of the imminent imposition of “Marshall Law,” in the event anyone was terrified about the possibility of conquest by a zombie army led by underrated character actor E.G. Marshall.
Randy Rainbow hits the nail on the head as usual, riffing on “Adelaide’s Lament” from “Guys and Dolls”:
At the end of a week of quarantine, you may wind up playing tic-tac-toe with your cat.
Good news from around the world
Good News Network has collected inspiring stories about the pandemic, both from the U.S. and from abroad. The article is too long to quote, so just open the link. Here are the headlines – there are several stories under each headline in the article:
1) World Health Organization (WHO) Officials Say There Are Now 20 Coronavirus Vaccines in Development
2) From Individuals to Countries and World Governments–Everybody is Sharing Face Masks
3) As Cities Close Up Amidst Outbreaks, Pollution Plummets
4) As Physicians Worry About Potential Ventilator Shortages, Researchers Develop Several Low-Cost Solutions
5) Communities and Countries Opening Up New Lanes of Free Entertainment for the Masses
6) More Than 100,000 People Have Already Recovered From the Virus Worldwide
7) Nobel Prize Winner Who Correctly Predicted COVID-19 Trends Says ‘We’re Going To Be Fine’ [if we self-isolate!!]
8) Celebrities and Businesses Have Contributed Millions Towards Feeding and Caring for At-Risk People
9) No Matter Where You Look, People Are Being Kind to Each Other
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Musical break
Niftywriter inspired me to watch some of the Metropolitan Opera free live streams, which in turn inspired me to search out some videos of Pavarotti. Here he is singing the aria that first made him famous, “Che gelida manina” from La Bohème. This is a 1979 performance at La Scala, when Pavarotti was at the absolute height of his incredible powers. And listen to the effect it had on the audience!
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Self-Care: Enriching your life while isolating
If you’ve never dipped your toe into the digital ocean of the Internet Archive, now’s the time you probably have the leisure to do it. It’s absolutely amazing!!! Here are some goodies they gathered to keep us entertained while isolated:
7 Things To Do If You Can’t Leave The House
From Internet Archive Blogs:
“Quarantine,” “isolation,” “social distancing”—there are a lot of names for the same problem. Millions of people are being forced to alter their schedules and stay indoors due to the spread of COVID 19 (coronavirus). If you’re stuck at home, you may be asking yourself exactly what you’re going to doall day… and the Internet Archive is here to help!
If you’ve got an internet connection and some time to kill, there are plenty of ways to keep yourself entertained. Here are some of our favorites!
1. Celebrate Cinema
2. Become a Bookworm
There’s nothing like a good book to take you somewhere else. Both the Internet Archive’s Book Collection and Open Library feature thousands of engaging reads, from ancient classics to popular new additions. Browse thrillers, romance novels, biographies, self-help books, science fiction, political works, educational material, or whatever other genre sparks your interest; check out what’s popularand what’s recently available. And even if you don’t know what you want to read yet, then try picking a book at random—or even just asking a question and seeing what you find!
3. Let The Games Begin
If gaming is more your speed, then check out the MS-DOS Games in our Software Library. This collection includes dozens of classic favorites such as Pac-Man, Sim City, The Oregon Trail, Doom,Prince of Persia, Donkey Kong, and Tetris, as well as many more lesser-known titles such as Aliens Ate My Baby Sitter! and Freddy Pharkas, Frontier Pharmacist. Enjoy simulations of popular board and card games such as Monopoly, Stratego, Hearts, or Mah Jong, as well as flight simulators, sports games, and this treat for Monty Python fans.
4. Tune In To An Old Radio Show
5. Pick Up A New Hobby
6. Listen To Live Concerts
Want to enjoy a musical performance without having to leave the house? The Live Music Archivecontains thousands of concert recordings for hundreds of artists. Our most popular collection by far is The Grateful Dead, but you could also explore Smashing Pumpkins, Robert Randolph (and the Family Band), Disco Biscuits, Death Cab for Cutie, John Mayer, or Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. (If wizard rock is more your style, we also have several concerts from Harry and the Potters.) Take a look and see if any of your favorite artists are in here!
7. Do Some Exploring
This list only scratches the surface of what’s available within the Internet Archive. Relive the 80’s and 90’s (and learn how to style your scarf) with the Ephemeral VHS collection, or roam the cosmos with the NASA Image of the Day gallery. Learn about the history of advertising with this collection of retro TV ads or enjoy some psychedelic screensavers. No matter how long you’re stuck indoors, the Internet Archive will have something new to offer you—so happy hunting!
Art online
We’ve all shared a lot of links to museums lately. One of my favorite museums in the entire world is the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the world's leading museum of art and design. Their textile and costume collection is fascinating to browse through, and now you can do it online. The photo shows decorative slashing that was popular in the 17th century – perhaps today’s version is jeans with frayed hems and knee holes?
I also love Japanese netsuke, the carved ornaments that were used as toggles on kimono sashes. I found a link to a collection of over 1,300 of them! Here’s a sweet example: three puppies!
Wildlife live cams
Goodie mentioned some fascinating wildlife live cams on Saturday. Here are a few more:
Gorilla Forest Corridor, GRACE Center, Kasugho, Eastern DRC
Sea Otter Cam, Elkhorn Slough, CA
Sea Lion Beach at OrcaLab, Hanson Island, BC
NE Florida Bald Eagle Nest Cam – there are two eaglets!
More for bird lovers
The Macaulay Library from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is an online resource where you can:
- Archive your own bird photos and videos
- Explore bird species – Maps, stats, photos, and sounds for any bird in the world
- Explore regions
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Good news for and about animals
Alone no more: People are turning to dogs, cats and chickens to cope with self-isolation
From the Washington Post:
Forget toilet paper, milk and hand sanitizer: There’s now a rush to stock up on real necessities, such as cats and dogs. And rabbits and fish, and even a couple of chickens.
As schools close and millions of people across the United States work from home, the promise of companionship even in a time of isolation is prompting some to take in animals. Many say they finally have the time to properly train and care for a new pet. Animal rescuers across the country say they are seeing spiking interest in adoption and fostering, as well as offers to help everywhere from open-admission shelters to smaller nonprofit groups.
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The decision to adopt pets flies in the face of some conventional wisdom that discourages adding a new animal to a household during a stressful or busy time of the year, such as the holidays. But the novel coronavirus has created an almost parental leave-like situation for many people — where, instead of dealing with a sleepless newborn, they’re teaching a dachshund puppy not to chew on the ottoman.
Mouse found atop a 22,000-foot volcano, breaking world record
From National Geographic:
Last summer, scientists reported finding the world’s highest-dwelling mammal, a yellow-rumped leaf-eared mouse, which was seen scampering among the upper reaches of Llullaillaco, the world’s highest historically active volcano, straddling Argentina and Chile.
It’s incredible that anything could live that high, at 20,340 feet—there is no vegetation, and seemingly nothing to eat. Here, at the edge of the Atacama Desert, there is little rain, and temperatures sometimes plunge below minus 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
“It’s hard to overstate how hostile an environment it is,” says Jay Storz, a biologist at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and a National Geographic Explorer.
Intrigued by the discovery, Storz organized an expedition to the volcano in February specifically to search for rodents. ...he encountered another yellow-rumped mouse even higher than previously sighted, atop the very summit of Llullaillaco, at 22,110 feet—breaking the record announced just last year.
The research, described in a study published this week on bioRxiv, where papers can be seen before peer review, is the beginning of a scientific quest to understand how these animals adapt to and survive such grueling conditions. The results could help us better understand how other creatures adapt to extremes, and could even have medical applications for humans coping with low levels of oxygen, for example due to disease, exertion, or altitude sickness.
Exotic Creature In Antarctica Has Survived More Than 30 Ice Ages
From Scientific American:
In 1964 entomologist Keith Wise flew to Shackleton Glacier to see if he could find animals in one of the most secluded inland places on the continent. On December 13 he skied several kilometers up the glacier from camp until he arrived at the bottom of the Mount Speed ridge. Snowmelt trickled down a cliff, wetting the soil at its base. There Wise found two species of springtails: gray Antarctophorus subpolaris, which he had seen before in other places, and ghostly white Tullbergia, new to science.
In the decades after Wise's discovery, scientists tried to piece together a rough history of the landscape where Tullbergia was found. Seafloor sediments revealed that Antarctica had experienced 38 ice ages in the past five million years.
This is a long article, and the story of how scientists came to their current theories about how this tiny animal, smaller than a sesame seed, survived in such harsh conditions is impossible for me to summarize here. But it really is a fascinating read.
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Seen in my neighborhood
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Obligatory pet photo
Since I’ve been especially close to our critters this week, here’s a three-fer of extreme close-ups:
Words of wisdom
This is from David H. Rosmarin, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, and the founder/director of the Center for Anxiety in New York. It was published in a March 22nd article for Scientific American:
It may seem hard to stay sane when so much is unknown, but I would argue that COVID-19 presents a tremendous opportunity to build our emotional resilience. The current crisis calls upon all of us to recognize and embrace the fact that nothing was ever certain or clear. In fact, human beings don’t need to control or know anything with certainty. We just need to do our best and live in the moment. Once we do, we will have the inner strength we need to face the current challenge.
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Final musical offering
Thanks to an email from National Geographic, I got a link to this heart-healing video of members of the Rotterdam Philharmonic coming together online to perform Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”. May we all keep joy in our lives as we help each other through this difficult time.
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
Thanks to each and every Gnusie for your smarts, your hearts, and your faithful attendance at our daily Gathering of the Herd.
❤️💙 RESIST, PERSIST, REBUILD, REJOICE!💙❤️