One of the most astonishing things about America is that just when you think it has reached the limits of its own excess, that the hullabaloo and brouhaha have escalated to the ultimate crescendo and the tomfoolery has plumbed the lowest depths, it manages to surpass even itself. It’s a living embodiment of the saying, “Well, if you’re going to do something, you might as well go too far.” This week I’ve been gobsmacked by news reports about Americans gathering to protest the quarantine. Here in Spain, which has the strictest lockdown in Europe, possibly the world, we're all jealous of the freedoms currently enjoyed by those in the US. For the past forty days we’ve been home 24/7 except for short walks to buy essentials like food and medicine. We cannot, as we see Americans doing on TV, visit marijuana dispensaries, gun shops, tattoo parlors, and take-out restaurants; we no longer stroll or drive for pleasure, or gather in public places. If you tried to stage a mass protest, the police would instantly arrest you and slap you with a fine that would make your head spin. As drastic as all that is, the Spanish quarantine makes sense to me. I am very clear about its survival value when pestilence is abroad in the land. And while Sevillanos certainly do their fair share of grumbling, most are compliant. A quick glance at the past may explain why. During the Great Plague of 1647 to 1652 the city was rife with scoffers, deniers, and corrupt officials, and “quarantine measures were evaded, ignored, unproposed and/or unenforced.” As a result, while 5% of Spaniards perished in the pandemic, in Seville the fatality rate was 25%. Quarantine wasn’t an attractive option in 1647, before God gave us Netflix and Zoom, and we still struggle with it in 2020. This just arrived from a friend. My Self-Isolation Quarantine Diary Day 1 – I Can Do This!! Got enough food and wine to last a month! Day 2 – Opening my 8th bottle of wine. I fear wine supplies might not last! Day 3 – Strawberries: Some have 210 seeds, some have 235 seeds. Who knew?? Day 4 – 8:00pm. Removed my Day Pajamas and put on my Night Pajamas. Day 5 – Today, I tried to make hand sanitizer. It came out as Jello shots!! Day 6 – I get to take the garbage out. I’m so excited, I can’t decide what to wear. Day 7 – Laughing way too much at my own jokes!! Day 8 – Went to a new restaurant called “The Kitchen.” You have to gather all the ingredients and make your own meal. I have no clue how this place is still in business. Day 9 – I put liquor bottles in every room. Tonight, I’m getting all dressed up and going bar hopping. Day 10 – Struck up a conversation with a spider today. Seems nice. He’s a web designer. Day 11 – Isolation is hard. I swear my fridge just said, “What the hell do you want now?” Day 12 – I realized why dogs get so excited about something moving outside, going for walks or car rides. I think I just barked at a squirrel. Day 13 – If you keep a glass of wine in each hand, you can’t accidently touch your face. Day 14 – Watched the birds fight over a worm. The Cardinals lead the Blue Jays 3–1. Day 15 – Anybody else feel like they’ve cooked dinner about 395 times this month? This week my sister-in-law Deb wrote, “What do you do in an Airbnb in Sevilla during lockdown ... well, at Day 38, you carve veggies.” The result? Frankenspud. When I asked where she got the idea, Deb replied, “I just looked at the potato for inspiration. You know, like Michelangelo said, ‘Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.’” Yes, we all have far too much time on our hands. One of the ways I’m spending my days is doing random bits of research. For instance, did you know the so-called Spanish Influenza actually started in America? Patient Zero was Private Albert Gitchell in Fort Riley, Kansas, who fell ill in March of 1918. As Gitchell’s fellow soldiers carried contagion across the battlefields of Europe, wartime governments suppressed the story, feeling it was bad for morale. Being neutral, Spain had no such compunctions and filled its newspapers with gory details, giving people the false impression it was the epicenter of the pandemic. The Spanish, on equally erroneous evidence, called it “French Flu.” On the home front, US officials insisted this was ordinary flu, but as death tolls skyrocketed, medical experts finally convinced lawmakers to deal with the public health issue. Milwaukee got the message and jumped on containment early, closing businesses, sending people home, urging them to wear masks; they had the lowest death toll in the nation. Philadelphia, on the other hand, simply advised residents not to spit, cough, or sneeze on each other, then held a long-planned Liberty Loan Parade designed to raise money to cover war costs. I probably don’t need to tell you — although some of the liberty-or-death types may need to hear this — after the mass gathering, cases of the flu spiked horribly, making Philly’s fatality rate the worst in the US, triple that of Milwaukee. In any pandemic, one of the first casualties is common sense. In 1918 word went around that the flu “didn’t like” the color red. Other “cures” included noxious fumes, sliced onions, quinine, and bloodletting. All of which proved as effective as wearing red. It’s easy to scoff at such foolishness, yet our own health experts have to post warnings not to attempt to ward off COVID-19 by spraying your body with chlorine, eating garlic, avoiding ice cream, or drinking bleach. Snorting cocaine won’t help with the virus either, although it might take your anxiety down a notch. 2020's "infodemic" includes a myth that we may have to trade human lives for faster economic recovery. You’ll be glad to know this is not true. Just this month a study by MIT and the Federal Reserve found that in 1918 “taking care of public health first is precisely what generates a stronger economic rebound later… Indeed, cities that implemented social-distancing and other public health interventions just 10 days earlier than their counterparts saw a 5 percent relative increase in manufacturing employment after the pandemic ended.” Myths, misconceptions, and conspiracy theories spread faster than the coronavirus. For instance, it’s not true, as Jimmy Kimmel jokingly suggested, that the virus was started by Netflix. Nor is it a government science experiment run amok; it passed to humans naturally in China’s quasi-legal wild animal market, and has nothing to do with 5G technology, GMOs, or a sinister plot by Bill Gates and/or Dr. Anthony Fauci. It’s not a fake. And you can’t make it go away by announcing an end date, as if it were Daylight Savings Time. Whenever I’m overwhelmed by loony cures, farfetched conspiracy theories, and the furious clamor of those who want the freedom to spread more coronavirus across America, I like to visit reality-based resources such as Snopes, BBC News Reality Check, FactCheck.org, CDC, and WHO. And here’s what I’ve learned. The science community has figured out that the spread of coronavirus is based solely on two things: 1. How dense the population is 2. How dense the population is
UPDATE! Deb's sister, Cyndie, has carved this wonderful Frida Kahlo parody potato, with licorice eyebrows and a radish rose in her hair. Marvelous! Just had to share it with you all.
Nancy Solak
4/23/2020 06:14:08 pm
I'm laughing so hard I'm crying. Feels good. Thanks, Karen!
Karen McCann
4/24/2020 05:24:59 pm
Nancy, that's just the reaction I was hoping for! Glad you liked the post.
Andrea Murphy
4/23/2020 06:17:14 pm
Great article Karen. Very enlightening. Thank you for that.
Karen McCann
4/24/2020 05:27:49 pm
So pleased you liked it, Andrea! I learned so much about the 1918 pandemic working on this. Someone sent me cool vintage photos and that sparked an interest. Who knew the Spanish flu was from the good old USA?
Faye
4/23/2020 07:02:59 pm
How can there be a great economy...dead people can’t make that happen! People who are arrogant and psychologically and spiritually lazy (the trouble makers of the world, I call them) will never get it. (Its hard not to call them just plain stupid!)
Karen McCann
4/24/2020 05:37:21 pm
Knowing you love Deb's spud, Faye, I just had to post the photo I just received — her sister 's potato parody of Frida Kahlo, licorice eyebrows and all. I added it onto the bottom of the post, so be sure to take a loo; it's a gem. Maybe we're launching a whole new art form? Anybody else out there want to take a stab at it?
Faye
4/24/2020 05:45:18 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...😂😂😂TKS, Karen!
Dorothy Solak
4/23/2020 07:03:40 pm
I loved the photo vacuuming the roof. Now where did I put my vacuum?
Karen McCann
4/24/2020 05:38:19 pm
How did I not think of vacuuming my roof until now? I guess it's true, Dorothy, that great crises spark great inspirations.
Jo
4/23/2020 07:31:34 pm
As always, a great mix of levity and interesting history. I'm using this time to write in a way I couldn't before so I'm in no hurry for it to end.
Karen McCann
4/24/2020 05:42:24 pm
It's interesting you say that, Jo, as so many of my writer, artist, and musician friends report that are enjoying that aspect of quarantine: time to work on their projects. My brother couldn't be happier spending weeks getting familiar with his new guitar. I think creativity and a rich interior life really help at a time like this.
Dave Palladino
4/23/2020 07:34:01 pm
Great commentary as always. I made a video showing how to make easy eggplant parmigiana for a Monday through Friday meal.
Karen McCann
4/24/2020 05:45:23 pm
Wonderful, Dave. I'm always looking for new recipes to try. One of the silver linings of this quarantine is all the cooking I'm doing. Italian dishes are a real favorite of mine, so thanks for this!
Fortunately for the world at large, I've no time or inclination to crochet any sort of cozy (including car cozies!). :D I'm too busy writing them. Cozy mysteries, that is. I'm still working through all this (or trying), murdering people willy nilly (fictionally, of course, and in a very nice manner). I think it's helping keep me sane-ish. :D
Karen McCann
4/24/2020 05:53:02 pm
As always, Shéa, I like your perspective. Cozy murder mysteries (reading or writing them) provide a great way to survive a quarantine. And thinking of all the plagues the planet has suffered through the ages is a great reminder of how astonishingly resilient humans are. As you say, this too shall pass.
Phyllis
4/23/2020 08:23:59 pm
Have you heard this one?
Karen McCann
4/25/2020 08:20:37 am
Love it, Phyllis!
whitey
4/23/2020 08:30:13 pm
Tell your roomy ...there has been a...Palace Coupe at PC...the Dominicans due to mass jealousy have removed/fired Rev Brain Shanley OP as president of PC...this is a huge bad move...the guy was great for the college.....it will take years for the college to recover...Im not sure what options Brain has before him...he may be burned at the stake !!!!
Karen McCann
4/24/2020 05:55:47 pm
Always good to hear from you, Whitey. I am passing along your message to your old school chum Rich. I can only assume it is in some secret code he can decipher. Am hoping nobody is literally being burned at the stake. In any case, take care!
Mark Peterson
4/23/2020 09:09:53 pm
Hi Karen! (Ukulele Mark here. :^))
Karen McCann
4/24/2020 05:59:41 pm
Great to hear from you, Mark. Yes, these are worrying times indeed, with pestilence ravaging the land and human foolishness compounding the danger and pandemonium. Good luck to you and all the sane people in Wisconsin; may you prevail over the folly of politicians.
bill kimball
4/23/2020 09:18:56 pm
Thank you again Karen for your wicked sense of humor and spot on reporting. For those interested in scientific information about cv-19, the current issue of MIT Technology Review, which is only available on line, is dedicated to looking at the virus scientifically, from many angles, and debunking myths while surprisingly supporting other whispered stories that are circulating. Best to Rich. Bill
Karen McCann
4/25/2020 08:24:38 am
Glad you enjoyed the post, Bill. And thanks for the tip about the MIT Technology Review, another serious, solid resource for science-based info. [For other readers: the link is https://www.technologyreview.com/] If there was ever a time we needed reliable, factual information, it's now! 4/24/2020 05:48:15 am
Such a breath of fresh air! I shake my head in wonder as I scroll through my FB feed and see the reports from the US. . .as you've said of Spain, we are on such a close shut down here (and stats show it working) that I can't imagine such events happening without major arrests and fines. (Your comment came through loud and clear on my post - thanks).
Karen McCann
4/25/2020 08:27:14 am
Yes, many parts of the US seem to have lost sight of their own best interests; let's hope they figure it out soon. Lots of lives are at stake! In the meantime, good to hear from you, and I'm glad my comment came through on your post, Jackie. It's maddening when technology gets frisky and decides it has its own agenda.
Karen McCann
4/25/2020 08:28:30 am
Good to hear from you, Steve, and I hope you and Pia are weathering the quarantine well. Don't worry, I will never run out of material to write about and I plan to keep these posts coming for the duration.
Kitty
4/26/2020 08:27:31 pm
I enjoyed this so much on a Sunday morning. Somehow the other day when I started the Blog it was later in the day so I was saturated and inundated with CV for that day. I was called a Soothsayer in an email last week so Naysayer is funny to have come up in your title. I do quite a few things you do most days but I do take the cat out in our yard on a leash. Haste manana but not really because you would be in the US and I would be in Sevilla. Comments are closed.
|
This blog is a promotion-free zone.
As my regular readers know, I never get free or discounted goods or services for mentioning anything on this blog (or anywhere else). I only write about things I find interesting and/or useful. HOT NEWS!
My new book is an instant bestseller! I'm an American travel writer dividing my time between Seville, Spain, and California. I travel the world seeking eccentric people, quirky places, and outrageously delicious food so I can have the fun of writing about them here.
My current topic is The Amigos Project, an exploration of expat life and how it helps fight the epidemic of isolation. Don't miss out! SIGN UP HERE to be notified when I publish new posts. Planning a trip?
Use the search box below to find out about other places I've written about. And check out my other bestselling travel books
Winner of the Firebird Book Award for Travel
#1 Amazon Bestseller in Tourist Destinations, Travel Tips, Gastronomy Essays, and Senior Travel
BLOG ARCHIVES
February 2025
CATEGORIES
All
|