Plague Diaries, Issue 53: May 5, 2020

Got perspective? Try wine. 

Today was one of the most unremarkable days since the Apocalypse, Version 2020 began. And unremarkable in the best way possible. Other than checking the news, nothing bad really happened. And nothing gloriously exciting happened either. That's okay, too! It was just a regular day, nothing remarkable. Had it not been The End of The World As Know It, I would have gone in to work and maybe run an errand or two, and then come home, puttered about, and gone to bed. Also a regular day, also unremarkable. In that scenario, I would have perhaps wondered if my unremarkable life was not being lived to its fullest--even as I chuckled over the fact that really, what else have I craved for years but a quiet life of Midwestern anonymity--and then I would have counted my various blessings and pleasant things that had populated my day.

Well, really, apart from the fact that in one scenario the world is burning more vigorously than normal and I am hiding inside my home all day, there's very little difference between the two scenarios. So why not treat the end of the day the same way? It was an unremarkable day, but there were still lovely parts to it, so here they are:

• Tacos. Apocalypse Tacos. Atacolypse? Apoca-tacos? Whatever. Tacos.
• All day, it was rainy and cloudy and downright chilly. I wish every day could be this dreary. 
• Cuddly cats who let you poke their floofy soft belly-chonks. 
• My friends delivered a gift basket from Oliver Winery, as a very lovely birthday gift. It was such a kind reminder of the loving people in my life, and of the existence of happier days, spent on the sunny grounds of the winery. One day, I'll go back. One day, we'll all go back.
• Sanditon. By this point, we all know I'm a whore for historical British costume dramas. This year I've gobbled down Downton Abbey, The Crown, Vanity Fair, Belgravia, and now the 2019 Masterpiece Production of Jane Austen's unfinished, final novel. This was a nuanced production with some delightfully three-dimensional characters. In so many productions of this, there's so much one dimensional shallowness and snobbishness and venality, and as well, mean-spiritedness for its own sake. But I like to see kindness, spontaneous and directed from stranger to strangers, in real life and in entertainment, and there was plenty of it to be had in this production. The funny thing is, while its the complicated motives of complex characters who drive the plot, it's the good-hearted, more guileless people who are the heart of this show and make it stand out above the rest. I finished watching Season 1 this evening, and there is unfinished business, but it sounds like there shan't be a Season 2. Much like Ms. Austen's final novel, the tv show will probably remain incomplete, but it's no less a pleasure for that. 

Anyway. An unremarkable day, but when I factor in the good things--and I highly recommend doing so--a rather nice day, all around. But after Sanditon...I guess it's back to Tiger King. End times, indeed. 

Daily Indiana COVID-19 Counts:

Total Number of Cases: 21,033 (up from Monday's 20,507)

1,213 people have died. 

Daily Funnies: