Morning Open Thread is a daily, copyrighted post from a host of editors and guest writers. We support our community, invite and share ideas, and encourage thoughtful, respectful dialogue in an open forum.
I’ve come to think of this post as one where you come for the music and stay for the conversation—so feel free to drop a note. The diarist gets to sleep in if she so desires and can show up long after the post is published. So you know, it's a feature, not a bug.
Join us, please.
According to the CDC, isolation and quarantine help protect the public by preventing exposure to people who have or may have a contagious disease. And, yeah, we’re all about to reach that point in one form or another. Given my job, I’m sort of classified as an essential first responder for my home Parish (County to most of you)—problem is that’s because I can respond to issues dealing with storms, floods, levee breaches, pump failures, flood locks, vessel management, and the such. No one ever mentioned pandemic when I was issued this fancy ID card. Or isolation. Or quarantine.
Thing is, humans (at least most of us) are social creatures and we both need and want human contact. We want to share our day, list off the minutia of our lives in excruciating detail, and just connect in some way with other human beings. In fact we’ve evolved that very way. The “social” part of our brains is found in the neocortex (outer) part of the brain; that’s the part that lights up when we’re interacting with others and it is the part of the human brain that is much larger than any other primate. Simply put, we’re wired to be social.
So today I’d like to focus at least part of our Open Thread on checking in—just dropping a note to let everyone know you’re there, how you’re doing, and what challenges you are facing.
So, please, take a minute, a deep breath, and reach for that keyboard and let us know how you’re doing. For instance, I’m good. My teenaged son is going stir crazy because he can’t go anywhere except to work with me (but I also secretly think he likes all the time we’re spending together). My youngest sister in San Francisco is doing well, under lockdown, but enjoying her two cats and her work (from home). An older sister that lives 15 miles away came to visit on Sunday just to have some human contact and we had a long talk, peppered with some good laughs, on my patio over too-many cups of coffee. Another older sister in Houston is doing fine: she has her 2-year-old granddaughter to keep her busy and her garden. Of my four remaining sisters, they’re adjusting to the idea of restricted movement and having their grown kids around more often than usual. My nephew (and his family) newly transferred to Chile is thankful to be moving from a hotel to a house this week. Another nephew of mine in Tennessee works in a hospital and is, well, busy but doing okay. And the strays that visit me most days for food and affection at a distance haven’t yet decided if they’re going to participate in any of this madness.
So, let’s hear it—good or bad or middling. How are you doing and what’s going on with you and your family?
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Good morning everyone and welcome.
No matter the challenges you face,
I hope you have a wonderful Thursday and an even better week ahead.
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Grab your coffee or tea and join us, please.
What's on your mind this morning?