The Before Times

Lately we’ve been talking about the way things were before. Before the pandemic that altered much of our lives. Some things are beginning to return to the way they were, but many things have changed for good. Working from home, for those who can work remotely, has proven to be as much, or even more productive than traditional work from an office setting. We can really identify things from the past and compare to how it is today when we have a defining moment, like February 2020.

I’m old enough to have seen a few “before times”. Many of us will remember when mobile phones were just phones. And some of us will remember times where none of us had mobile devices. Then there’s the internet. The “before times” put you back in the 1980s, where people still visited libraries and read newspapers. That is a pretty significant defining moment in history. Because before the world was introduced to the internet via the World Wide Web, information wasn’t as freely available and misused as it is today.

Back when we needed to look up information in libraries and books, or by way of informational films, documentaries and such, there were always legends and myths. Most of our legends are in print, and have been for some time. King Arthur and Robin Hood, Sinbad the Sailor, Sasquatch and Odysseus – they kept us entertained for hundreds of years or longer, even before writing was invented. The stories might be just that: stories. But many of us have been inspired by such fantastic tales.

Yes, the most important development since the industrial revolution has to be the internet. We are in the “information age”, which is pretty easy to see when you find yourself reading this post on your phone while you’re waiting for your coffee order. All the knowledge the world has ever known can be found by anyone with access to the internet. In the Great Before, the average person could still find facts and bits of information, but it required a lot more effort when compared with today. If you wanted to know about, say, the Bronze Age, well, there is the link. And there is so much to absorb, you might want to limit your research to the economic aspects or the significant technological advancements made in the 4th millennium BCE. It is an absorbing topic, and you will find rabbit hole after rabbit hole clicking on links left and right.

An all-nighter of web surfing (is that term still used?) would only be possible once personal computers became widely available, much like what Henry Ford did with the automobile. He didn’t invent them, that was Karl Benz, but Ford reimagined manufacturing to a point where the Ford Model T became the first car that was seen as “affordable”. Talk about a before times! All of a sudden people were traveling without being pulled by horses or having to go where rails could take them. Now that I think about it, the car was probably one of the worst inventions ever. But manufacturing techniques from earlier in the 20th century led to the mass production of personal computers, and eventually, connections among them. And now I can have a futuristic video call with my mom and my brother, who live 2,000 kilometers apart. Pretty damn cool!

It’s fascinating to watch in real time a super defining event in history. My parents witnessed the space race in real time. That must have been exciting, except that television was in its toddler phase in 1960. Now I can watch (when it’s online) a live stream from the International Space Station, and soon we might be able to get a feed from the James Webb Space Telescope. And right now I’m listening to Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 5 in E flat Maj. on another tab. It’s actually a little distracting, and that turns out to be one of the many pitfalls of our current age. The video wasn’t interrupted by ads, but many are. And those ads are, in my opinion, horrible. If I want to lose weight I need to move around more and eat the right foods. I don’t want your crap. Anyway, you know the drill. But there is always a downside to any new age. In the before-before times they tested nuclear weapons under the ocean. What were they thinking?!

The information age will end at some point, and this will be the before times of the next great age. What can we imagine that will look like? Will it be marked by the first humans to live on another planet? Or will artificial intelligence emerge as the next milestone in human civilization along with the splitting of the atom or creating metal alloys? Who knows? But I can tell you it will be beyond our wildest dreams.

Where Are We?

Last week I heard news that the Covid-19 pandemic may be ending soon. Dr. Anthony Fauci blurted out that he believes the US is beyond the pandemic “phase”, but he later clarified that we seem to be out of the “full-blown explosive pandemic phase“. Well, I guess we’re just going to have to wait a little longer. But it looks like cases are decreasing, and the spread is slowing. However, reports indicate there have been far more deaths due to Covid than was previously reported. I mean, this thing was devastating. More than two years ago when we began hearing the news about people getting sick, we knew it would be in the US soon, but immediately people pushed back against prevailing wisdom. As a result the pandemic swept over this country like the wildfire that is currently scorching large areas of New Mexico.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, At the Moulin Rouge

What I expected back in the summer of 2020 was that we would be rid of this pandemic soon, and we were being promised that it was going to be over, and we could all celebrate. I was really looking forward to that day. I even started compiling a playlist, including Lionel Ritchie and some music from the 21st century. I was going to go to street parties and wave glow sticks and dance. I had the mother of all soundtracks ready on my phone, waiting for the announcement. And I continued to wait.

And wait.

But now that it has gone on for so long I don’t feel much like celebrating. The best I can do right now is treating myself to a good chianti. What it lacks in ebullience it may make up for in its ability to pair well with good pasta. Pop the cork, and, hooray! Well, maybe I have a reason to celebrate even if I don’t much like it. We’re healthy and alive! Most everyone I know survived it. Some things got better during the past two years, but it was stressful and difficult as well. We should all be grateful. So why don’t we feel so great?

Many of you probably feel what I’m feeling: the absolute lack of energy that is required to maintain hope. It’s not that I don’t believe that things will get better. But it looks like we’re never going to be rid of this disease. The world will never be rid of the flu for that matter. So we’re going to have to adapt as a people, as a species. I don’t mean that in the way that organisms adapt to changing parameters over time. We are physically adapting all the time. We need to adapt behaviorally, changing the way we live in some ways. That means staying informed, but not being misinformed. Also we have to be ready to act. Maybe we can maintain our protocols: avoiding close contact, washing hands, and so on. But if you like going to concerts and crowded places, you’re going to have to find ways to boost your immunity. It’s a balancing act going forward.

Where am I? I’m in the gambling stage. I went to an outdoor event with lots of people recently. Bumping into people was unavoidable; proximity was impossible to maintain. People wearing masks were rare. It was as if everyone was certain we’re out of the woods. Yet there was a palpable mood of uncertainty and wariness, like a low cloud promising to bring rain. Even though most everyone at the event was having a good time and happy to be alive, I felt that weight of restraint, like watching your team pull ahead but knowing the other side could come back at any moment.

What we’re experiencing is somewhat of a pyrrhic victory, that is, victory at too great of a cost when you look back. This sort of win doesn’t feel like victory, and we might not recognize it when surveying the damage. In the midst of overcoming Covid we were also facing the possibility of World War III. So now we have much more to worry about. I don’t feel much like celebrating, but I can at least be glad that I’m alive.

The Night’s Watch

Night on the Street

I went out twice this week after dark, once by myself to take low-light photos, and again with my wife perambulating through one of the largest parks in our city, a 216-acre expanse with lighted, paved walking/biking paths, a small lake, playgrounds, and wetlands and forested zones, complete with wildlife like deer, raccoons, opossums, and herons. It was 20ºC tonight when we arrived at the park, about 10 minutes after sunset. The drive into the park is oddly non-urban, in the middle of the city, meandering through a wooded area, then past the small wetland. The lacrosse field was brightly lit so we decided it would be a nice, safe place to park the car. With our flashlight in hand we began walking as it became dark.

The stars began to shine, the few we can see in the city. As we walked along the path we were a little surprised to see so many other people who had the same idea we did. Dogs and their people were in the dog park; the dogs were very excited to see us, until another group showed up, and we were yesterday’s news. On we went. We came across some teens rollicking while their grandmother watched nearby. Then there were the lacrosse players practicing. Overall it was an idyllic scene, albeit one where it was dark and raccoons and bunnies made an appearance. We didn’t feel unsafe for a moment. It helped that there were others around. I wish everyplace could feel like this. And that is the paradox.

The safety we felt walking in the park at night came from the safety of our community, which allows us to be more confident. Our city has a pretty vibrant downtown with shops, bars and restaurants. There are some unique little shops like one that specializes in vinyl records, and a comic book store next to that. Any mild evening you will find people out, even if most of the shops are closed, coming in and out of the pub or window-shopping on the street. There is crime in the city, and I am not naïve. But we can take measures to lessen our chances of becoming victims of crime. The paradox is that the nice parts of town where crime appears low can sometimes become very attractive to criminals.

Not everyone thinks about preventing crime, until they themselves are affected by it, directly or indirectly. I must admit it isn’t entirely safe for me to go out at night carrying an expensive camera. And I was anxious when I encountered someone walking out of a dark corner of the park the other night. He thought I was carrying a sniper rifle, but I explained it was a tripod. I did mention that I didn’t mind if people assumed I was armed. And living in Texas, that’s a given. I do carry a knife with me, but it’s mostly for utility purposes. It’s probably not a bad idea to carry a personal siren or pepper spray just in case of muggers. In larger cities I will carry an old wallet with fake credit cards and about $18 in small bills. If someone demands my wallet, they get one with no objection, but it won’t be a big loss for me. Except that I will probably sleep with one eye open for a while.

For my wife and me, we felt pretty safe with those teens and their grandmother. The kids didn’t appear to be menacing, and anyone who goes to the park with their nan can’t be the sort who would cause any trouble. The dog park visitors come with their own protection, to some extent. A spunky terrier will take on someone 10 times their size if the chips are down. I think more people would venture out like we did if they were convinced it was safe. There is some good advice on keeping yourself safe. The basics principals are still quite sound: There is safety in numbers, crooks don’t like attention, and most people really do want to help. But it’s wise to be cautious. Just don’t get to the point that you are distrustful of everyone.

Being out in the world shows others that they can maybe join in. These past couple years have driven people away from gatherings, and those who wish us harm thrive on that. Scams abound that prey on our fears. We need to approach situations with a healthy dose of skepticism. If something sounds too good to be true, it most likely is. Beware of offers with claims of “free” this or that, or anything that promises results that sound like fantasy. There is no cure for cancer yet, so don’t fall for that one.

Meanwhile the park at night seemed pretty safe. I’ll do it again soon, but I’ll probably take better precautions when I venture out alone with my camera. Photography in low light conditions requires long exposure times with the camera firmly attached to a tripod. That can weigh you down a bit, but like I said, it could be mistaken for a weapon, so perhaps no one will mess with me, except the police. That’s another topic entirely.

I urge everyone to stay safe but don’t be afraid of venturing out. The people I encountered were probably just as nervous as I was. If they were not just a little uncomfortable being in the park at night, they probably haven’t had to consider it, and God bless them.

Good night, everyone.

When You Travel Backward in Time, Keep Your Spacesuit On

Neil Armstrong, 1969 Apollo 11 Commander

The time we currently live in, the 2020’s, is possibly the best time to be alive. Some of you will undoubtedly disagree. You will say the gas prices are too high, or that inflation is skyrocketing. Some of you will say racial violence is higher than ever, or that discrimination against certain communities based on religion or gender-identity is worse now than ever before. Still others will point to the global pandemic of Sars-Cov-2 and all its variants. And I imagine most everyone will dispute my claim.

But we are living in profoundly wondrous times. Yes, there is no end in sight for this pandemic, and people are worried that democracy is on the decline. But I have seen some amazing things. life-like robots, information at my fingertips, home delivery of just about anything, and really cool inventions. People have been getting healthier, if you don’t count Covid-related illnesses, and we have more music and art within our reach, even if you don’t want to leave the house. It is more acceptable to be who you are called to be. There is more understanding and compassion than I remember when I was a kid. Things are looking up for everyone, except for bigots and misogynists. For them, things are not great.

The past, the “good ole days”, was a time when life was harder for many people. And if you thought Covid was bad, you would be shocked by how catastrophic by comparison the Spanish Flu epidemic was 100 years ago. There are still a lot of diseases we can’t protect ourselves from as well as we’d like. But you’re very unlikely to get polio, unlike many people 70 years ago and further back. Before the polio vaccine it was a terrifying thought that anyone could contract it. Nowadays we don’t even consider it a threat, and yet there are still people who are opposed to being vaccinated, which is credited to nearly eradication the disease entirely. Yes, I would say life is pretty good now.

We’re less active than our immediate ancestors, even when compared to our parents. I know I walk less, which is to say I drive more. In the past people might walk to the store or down the street to visit neighbors. But today we live greater distances from people and places. Urban sprawl is a relatively new phenomenon, cities being built where a car is required, rather than designing a city around people. Therefore our cities are more polluted both with contaminants in the air and with noise. Streets aren’t built with pedestrians in mind. In fact it’s downright treacherous to cross a street in North America. If you’re walking people assume you’re unable to purchase a car, or you are a degenerate who lost his license to drive. And it’s not good for your health to breathe in so much carbon monoxide. We have to make up for the lack of exercise so we drive to the gym. Well, you see the problem there, don’t you? Anyway, there are some aspects of modern life that aren’t so great.

I can, however, afford to call people on the other side of the world. I can even see them, too! Video conferencing was once science fiction. Now it is a daily occurrence. When I was younger I remember my parents telling me I had to wait until after 7:00 pm to call long distance; the rates would be much lower then. But it was still costly to talk for more than a few minutes, and my grandparents would pass the phone around the room so everyone would have a chance to talk. It was an event. Traveling to other parts of the world required one to get inoculated if that were possible because of the relative infrequency of contact between peoples and the vast distances. We don’t hear much about this now, aside from the possibility of contracting malaria, but a vaccine is available for that now, too.

What’s important here to know is that things have gotten steadily better for humanity over time. As Rufus Carlin, a character on the TV series “Timeless“, played by Malcom Barrett, said, “…but I am black. There is literally no place in American history that’ll be awesome for me.” Indeed, it is decidedly more awesome these days, but not ideal.

So if you go time-traveling, knowing you might be inoculated against many horrible diseases, you might not be protected against bubonic plague. Also you might find that you can pass on any number of diseases, like how European explorers introduced many diseases to the indigenous people of the Americas. It would be a tragedy to infect people you came in contact with, so be mindful of that and wear some protective gear, like a suit of some kind. Perhaps a spacesuit, like an astronaut would wear. By now you’re probably getting a picture of what happens next.

You and your fellow time-travelers have landed in what is today Vallon-Pont-d’Arc roughly 20,000 years in the past. There are no cities, no signs of civilization, in fact. At this time in human existence history hasn’t begun, really. Primitive humans hunt wild creatures for food, and live in the safety of the caves nearby. While hunting they come across you and your team of sight-seers, in your matching red spacesuits, and the local French people (well, there is no France at this point), run away in terror. Later, about 20,000 years in the future, archeologists discover some strange figures painted on a cave wall. It remains a mystery, but at least you were not responsible for wiping out the human race, at least the humans in Southern France.

Life is probably better today. Ancient humans might agree, once they got over the shock. They might find they can expect to live comparatively longer, healthier lives. They would compare the stress of modern life to that of being threatened by other groups of humans or beasts that could make a meal of them. They would be amazed at a modern supermarket, with seemingly infinite variety and abundance. They would marvel at the notion that people can travel anywhere in the world within a day or two. They would be amazed at the colors and the noise and the speed of our lives. And they might wonder why we chose to live this way.

I like to go camping and backpacking. We have a lot of gear that enables us to live, for a brief time, like our distant ancestors did, so we think. I doubt those ancient people had rain-resistant tents and sleeping bags rated for sub-zero temperatures. Yes, even when we’ve abandoned the comfort of our house and promise of delivery so fast the food is still piping hot, we still have it better than those before us. The park is well-maintained, and the staff make frequent checks on visitors to make sure no one is less than comfortable (and no one is being rowdy). Safety is a huge concern, so they keep an eye on campfires and items that could cause problems. And campers are willing to help one another out. Much better than things in the past, I believe.

So remember to keep your spacesuit and your helmet on when you’re traveling backward through time. It’ll make for some interesting cave art.

Habit Forming

I’m not getting any younger. About 16 months ago I picked up disc golf. I played it back in the 80’s with my brother, but we weren’t serious players, not that you could say that about me now. But I have the benefit of YouTube as a coach, and the game is much more popular now, so there are courses all over. The discs are more precisely engineers these days, with ratings for speed, glide, turn, and fade. The joy in the game for me comes from being outdoors on a hike, as it were, taking in some forest bathing. I’ve also enjoyed seeing my game improve, which lessens the frustration.

In addition to just moving around, I also incorporated another aspect to my activity. As I go to pick up my disc after I’ve thrown it, I now stretch when I reach for it on the ground. I recently began crossing one leg in front of the other to maximize the stretching. Over the course of 18 “holes” (they’re actually baskets), I stretch 55 to 60 times (depending on how well I’m playing). So there’s even more health benefits than simply walking in the forest.

Now, after several months of the combined activity, I find that I stretch every time I reach to pick something up from the floor or the ground outside. What was initially a conscious effort has now become something of a good habit. I often don’t even realize I’m doing it until I feel my leg muscles and tendons being worked. I otherwise wouldn’t push myself that often throughout the course of my day. But since I’m not really thinking about it I see what a great benefit it is to put in a little extra exercise in the leftover spaces of my life.

If this doesn’t sound very strenuous, keep in mind that I am a non-athlete of a certain age. I watched Nixon resign from office. That should tell you something. But I would wager that not many of us are moving around enough these days; I don’t see many people in the neighborhood or at the park around lunchtime. And it’s quite taboo in Texas to walk anywhere. There’s a stigma to being a pedestrian here. Being ambulatory signals to others that one can’t afford a car, or that he or she is prohibited from driving as a result of some punitive action. Therefore in cities all over Texas (except Fort Worth, for some odd reason) people generally do not walk even though it is well established that this simple act will add years to your life. People smoke, too. Go figure.

Since I started playing disc golf I have sort of acclimated to whatever conditions present themselves. I was at the park just as the ice was melting last week. Today it was 21ºC and sunny, in February. I find that I’m comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt just about 360 days out of the year. It could be that my metabolism has made me feel warmer than I would otherwise. Or it might be another side-effect of being outdoors just about every day. Granted, when the ice was forming I remained indoors mostly, only venturing out to take out the trash. I found that my comfort level bottoms out around -8ºC, at least when I don’t have a coat. I’m no superhero. Then again, there’s no such thing.

Now that spring has come to Texas – that’s basically whenever we declare it to be – I hope to see more activity in my neighborhood; people walking, kids playing. I do have to hand it to the kids who insisted on playing basketball while there was still a sheet of ice on the street. They put me to shame, but then again, I have 40 years on them.

I’d have to recommend the stretch maneuver to anyone who does not suffer from a condition that makes this very difficult. Over a few weeks of bending a stretching you will find yourself doing it without thinking. And you’ll be pleasantly surprised how much flexibility you’ve gained. Also playing a round of disc golf wouldn’t hurt, unless you attempt to recover a disc from the bottom of a canyon, which I have done. This, I do not recommend. Consider it, as my wife puts it, a “cover charge” for the experience.

So You Want to Learn to Cook?

I’ve been a cook for most of my life; although, looking back, I wouldn’t say I was any good at it in the early days. I grew up in Texas, so my usual fare leans toward Southern American cuisine. But I like to make dishes from other parts of the world, like France, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and Morocco. If you have a well-stocked kitchen you will most likely have many ingredients on hand, like dried herbs (or a small herb garden), some root vegetables, butter, eggs, milk, and maybe even buttermilk, flour, corn starch, and rice. The list will keep growing, but it’s important to make sure you have fresh ingredients. Even flour gets stale after a while, so unless you use it regularly, you might find yourself throwing it out.

For anyone who is new to cooking it might seem like it isn’t worth the trouble or the expense. I remember encountering this when my sister-in-law, who had never cooked before, decided she wanted to make something from scratch. Following a recipe she trusted, she compiled a list of everything she would need to buy, which was just about everything in the recipe. She complained about how expensive it was to obtain all the ingredients, saying it was going to cost her more to cook the meal than it would to just order something from a restaurant. She became very discouraged after projecting this cost over time, not considering that many of the items on her list were enough to make other meals many times over. When you weigh the initial cost of stocking your kitchen you might be discouraged at first, because it is an expensive endeavor. Now I shop at a market where one can buy items in bulk. That means I don’t pay extra for the container. A jar of bay leaves can cost more than $4 or $5. You can buy enough of them in bulk to last for months of cooking stews and soups, and the cost can be just a few cents. This strategy can mitigate the initial pain of setting up for cooking at home, but be prepared to spend some money.

You really have to make it a part of your lifestyle to make this worthwhile. If you only intend to cook for a night or for a holiday celebration, expect to spend more than you wanted in order to make one meal. Of course it depends on what you’re cooking. And some dishes call for special cookware, like a roasting pan, a sauteuse pan, or a spaetzle maker. You just might need a Tajine pot once in a while. For someone learning to cook, I would recommend purchasing a standard frying pan, a medium sauce pan, a baking dish, measuring cups and spoons, and serving/cooking utensils. Many recipes advise to use a wooden spoon, so pick up some of those while you’re at it. Also it would be a good idea to get a decent cork screw, because people like to bring wine to parties. Okay, so now you’ve spent about $300, and we haven’t talked about ingredients. Let’s say you’re going to make Chicken Saltimbocca, because you saw it on Instagram or some shit. You’re going to need a mallet to pound flat the chicken breasts. (I don’t know why someone would make this for their first attempt at cooking, but go with it). After flattening the chicken breast pieces, you’ll want to select some large fresh sage leaves, and place two each on the pieces of chicken. Then place thin prosciutto slices over the top, pressing them so that they kind of adhere. Dredge the chicken-sage-prosciutto assembly in flour and cook in a hot pan with butter and olive oil, top side down. See? Simple.

I won’t go into the rest of this dish here. There is a sauce that goes on top, and it’s divine. I’d recommend some sides, like sautéed Brussels sprouts with garlic, or grilled ratatouille salad. Mashed potatoes are nice, or maybe try baba ganoush. But this is your first time cooking, so perhaps keep it much simpler, and make baked ziti. Pasta dishes are far more forgiving, and you probably already have some of the necessary ingredients and cooking utensils anyway.

By now you have probably managed to silence the smoke detectors by opening a few windows. My aforementioned relative was not very attentive and decided to go outside for a cigarette while the onions apparently sautéed themselves! Cooking requires patience and perseverance. If you fuck it up, just scrape it off the pan and call it a learning experience. I’ve burnt many dishes, but I used that ordeal as a way of remembering how not to make something. My early attempts at making pancakes, for instance, taught me that the batter is best if simply combined, not thoroughly mixed. Too much stirring makes them tough and unpalatable. This is just one of innumerable lessons you will only remember if they happen to you, so my advice is to just start cooking.

Start with some basic dishes and work up from there. Don’t declare that you’re going to make Thanksgiving dinner next year if you’ve never successfully boiled eggs or made coffee. You need to craw before you can walk, as the saying goes. Better yet, be a helper in the kitchen for someone who has cooked for a crowd. Don’t be too proud to peel potatoes or chop celery. It’s probably the best experience you will get for free. You can of course sign up for cooking classes, but it is my opinion that you will learn more by jumping in and trying it out.

Some of my friends have come to me for advice about specific dishes. They call me to ask how long they should let things boil, or what a loaf looks like when it’s ready to bake. I’m happy to help. It makes me happy to know that people are willing to put in the effort to make a meal from scratch. I like to give them some motivation to stretch by trying to make something they’ve never considered. If something scares you, a mentor told me once, then you know you will grow from the experience. Remaining well within your comfort zone will keep you from becoming a better cook in time. You may gain confidence, which will inspire you to make something exotic and unexpected. You might have to special order some spice or a particular cooking implement. You might have to drive some distance to get the right ingredient, maybe even traveling to a coastal town for fresh fish or oysters (probably difficult if you live in Nebraska). I don’t eat a lot of fish, living about 500 km from the sea. But frozen fish isn’t as bad as some people claim.

Now that you’ve stocked your kitchen, and you’ve successfully made a few dishes (and people enjoyed them), you’re a cook. Keep going, and you will discover how good food can be. You might find that you have lists of favorite dishes to make and a different list of favorites to eat. After the pandemic is history, you can invite people for a tasting party where you make small batches of many things, and everyone gets a few bites of everything. Have a good selection of paired wines, a nice offering of cheese and fresh-baked breads, and crudités. You will be very popular. Invite a couple of guests to assist, and provide them with small gifts for their extra effort. Set a table with cloth napkins and even chargers if you desire. Some people insist on having the correct glass for each wine, but nowadays that doesn’t seem to be so important. Make sure your guests have enough to eat. See that they are safe to drive home, too. That’s very important. If you have the space for it, you can set up sleeping arrangements for inebriated or exhausted dinner guests, even if that means crashing on the sofa.

Bon appétit!

Who’s in Charge Around Here?

Is it possible there is a world where dogs are in charge? What about cats, too? Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home posited that humpback whales are aliens visiting from another world. Actually I think jellyfish are more alien than anything science fiction has dreamed up.

Whales and other cetaceans are believed to be highly intelligent. That’s probably hard to measure. In fact I’m not sure if we can know when a human being is intelligent. I’m half-serious about that. But if there is a spectrum of human intelligence, I’m sure the same exists for other organisms. Are there some pigeons that are smarter than the rest? Probably not, now that I think about it.

Intelligence doesn’t seem to have anything to do with dominance. Humans appear to dominate this planet, until you consider the effectiveness of insects and microorganisms. Bacteria are very successful in many respects. And they outnumber us significantly. But we don’t communicate with them. Nor they with us. Meanwhile, I have begun to understand the language of cats. (Please don’t judge.)

Communication perhaps is not the hallmark of intelligence. It has been used in defining human smarts for millennia, at least for as long as people have mastered the ability of conversing in whatever way was deemed acceptable. Signing has been used in many countries over several centuries, mostly among deaf communities, but it has also been used by people who are unable to speak otherwise, with or without the ability to hear.

If we can measure intelligence by way of communicating with other species, or by observing their behavior, then we might be able to prove we are intelligent, tangentially at least. But humans have fully owned arrogance in declaring we are alone in our level of consciousness. How can we say other creatures do not possess that glimmer? Maybe horses and horseshoe crabs are wise in their ways. Or perhaps not.

But I am confident that human beings are both fully capable of evolving to a higher plane of existence or destroying ourselves. In my country there appears to be a widening rift between two camps of ideology. We don’t seem to be very good at making life better for everyone. Herd animals make better choices than we do, global pandemic notwithstanding.

If there is a world where life evolved from non-apes, maybe they will have made it all work. Perhaps because they couldn’t make or hold weapons. I think, therefore, primates were doomed from the beginning.

How Shall We Proceed?

Some of the wisest philosophers, theologians, and artists have suggested that human beings are special. That we are beyond animal, more than the sum of amino acids and proteins. Some of the great thinkers of antiquity, and even some modern ones, have concluded that the answer to life’s mysteries, why we are all put here on this earth, is love. We are here to love one another. But more than that, we are – and there are gnostic texts and within accepted orthodox scriptures (that were not destroyed by the early Christian church), and beyond Christianity – children of God. Human beings are special. Each of us is a vessel containing the whole universe and all its richness.

Now, I have a difficult time accepting this when I witness clashes of ideologically opposed assemblies of said children. It is very hard to imagine that God resides within the cop who is overreaching his authority by stepping on someone’s throat, or a priest who is molesting children. Is God in them? Is there even a God in the first place, one who would allow the Holocaust or the Khmer Rouge? Would a supposed loving God be able to stand by and let atrocities to take place while innocent people are killed, or worse, left to suffer terrors that affect generations.

If we are all here to love one another, as Jesus of Nazareth taught, why do we see some so-called Christians ignoring this? The love mentioned in the Bible (parts of it) and in other texts is different from romantic love we see in movies and TV and romance novels. We should show love to those who hate us. “Love your enemies,” it is said. But how are we supposed to do that without compromising what we believe in? How am I supposed to love someone who tells me I am going to hell for what I believe? How can I tell that person that they are following the wrong path? Dare I be so presumptuous? If I am a child of God, and so is my enemy who would see me dead, how can I believe in God at all?

Where is the common ground? And how shall we move forward to that goal?

Is there a place for those who are strong in their faith and who are questioning it?

Is there a place for those who want to belong and those who wish not to belong?

I wonder if those wise people of antiquity faced the same struggles we do in the 21st century. Anyone who has watched “The Good Place” might feel like we humans have the deck stacked against us, that we are unfairly judged in a world where temptations abound, and we couldn’t possibly achieve enlightenment or qualify for redemption. The truth is I have struggled to find my way all my life, and I’m still unsure if I’m even close. I can confidently say that many people in my culture are so clearly either traveling down the wrong path, or they are going nowhere. I shouldn’t judge, mostly because it’s not my place, but also I am not where I want to be, not that I know where that place is anyway. In the meantime I am working on becoming more generous (because I am not), living a virtuous and moral existence, exercising patience and tolerance, exercising physically (energy), focusing my thought (meditation), and becoming more insightful (wisdom). I admit these goals are taken from Buddhist philosophy, but they are worthy pursuits, and similar tenets must exist elsewhere.

I must get out of the house more often to achieve any of these objectives. I think the pandemic is suppressing my personal growth, except that I am getting fatter.

Pandemic Shopping

During this pandemic (the current wave of the 2020 Sars-Cov-2 virus, in case there comes another), I am forced to make strategic choices, like deciding why I’m going out, what I need to get, where I will go, and so on. Today I went to several stores, one Indian market to pick up saffron and paneer, then another where I get bulk legumes, and finally a night-time run to Kroger for a special mission.

So as to protect my home from any exposure to the virus, I follow these precautions: 1. I always wear a mask; 2. I wash my hands for 40 seconds, and 3. I change clothes, setting the “public” clothing aside in case I should need to go out again. This has proved to be very effective, even though we have no way of knowing how much so.

The last grocery trip was to pick up avocados and ice cream. The store was unusually pleasant at 9 pm on a Saturday, not that anyone should be out, but there isn’t much else going on. I cannot watch basketball games where no one is cheering for their team. That’s called practice. There were only a few people in the store, and everyone was there for the same reason, and with the same objective: get your shit and get out quick. So there is this harried feel among the shoppers as I’m staring at the ice cream freezers. I think to myself that there must be a special hell for anyone who sends her husband to the largest supermarket on earth with the instructions, “get ice cream”. At least she qualified it with “vanilla”, which sort of narrows the field of choices. So I picked up something called French Vanilla, and hoped this was exactly what she wanted. (It was, as a matter of fact).

The process of gathering food and provisions goes to our foundation of basic needs. But we probably don’t really need ice cream. We don’t need beer, but no one would dare tell Americans they can’t get that during a health emergency. Our needs are all relative and subjective. Meanwhile I am stocked up with 7 months worth of beans and other dry goods. At least my doctor can be pleased with my dietary choices. Actually, he skipping town – no idea where. So I’m kind of on my own, and I’m eating Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

I needed it.

The Thing Is…

A few years ago I was really sick. I went camping in what some people will refer to as the desert. (In Texas we have desert landscapes, and Palo Duro Canyon might qualify.) During the camping trip I enjoyed mountain biking through the canyon with my wife. Because she wasn’t very experienced riding on trails, our trek took us longer than I expected. We spent hours in the intense September sun and heat. For those who live in places like Boston or San Francisco, mid-September might be pleasant, with fair weather and cool breezes. In West Texas, especially in the canyon, the sun is brutal, and heat can be overwhelming. (Conversely, I was there one April in recent years, and the overnight temperature was -5 Celsius!)

Happy Trails

During that bike ride I began experiencing leg cramps. I have been riding for decades, and I don’t remember this happening before – I focus on staying hydrated. I had been sipping water continually from my hydration pack (CamelBak). I also carried a couple liters of water in bottles on either side of my backpack. My wife carried water on her bike, too. We had more than enough for our ride. What I didn’t consider was that when you sweat, not only are you losing the water you consumed, but you also lose sodium, potassium, and magnesium, to name a few. These electrolytes are essential for our bodies to function properly, from muscle contractions (including your heart!) to your nervous system. Electrolytes are crucial to keeping our bodies strong.

After I began feeling muscle cramps I realized something wasn’t right. I wasn’t sweating in spite of the heat even though I had been drinking plenty of water; I remembered that sodium was a vital element to staying hydrated. I opened my pack and pulled out a bag of sunflower seeds. As soon as I had a handful of the salty snacks I began feeling much better. My legs stopped cramping, and I started sweating again. I was relieved because I felt I had dodged a bullet.

Oh What a Night!

That evening we returned to our camp, and we enjoyed dinner from the grill. But soon after we started cleaning up after dinner, I started feeling very tired. I went to lie down in the tent, while my wife finished clearing the plates. You really can’t leave dirty dishes like at home. There are wild animals that can’t resist an easy snack. The food was locked up in the car; meanwhile I was getting worse.

The canyon has a normally fascinating phenomenon where strong, hot winds are channeled through the floor of the canyon. We had heard a storm was nearby in the Texas panhandle, so we needed to secure the tent. My wife struggled to put up the rain fly and tether it to the ground; all the while I was delirious with a wicked fever, aches, and chills. Somehow she managed to batten down the hatches. The wind buffeted the tent, and we were considering bailing out to spend the night in the car. Eventually, the wind died down, but we never saw a drop of rain. Strangely, we slept very well.

The next day, as we left the park, my wife had to drive us back home. I was still pretty delirious and somewhat impaired. I remember that the highway was closed in one place because of flooding from the storm the night before. There was all that rain we missed! We stopped for lunch, and I remember feeling very cold the whole time. I wasn’t sure whether it was my experience or just strong air conditioning. Once we arrived home I scheduled an appointment at a nearby 24-hour medical clinic. They performed a test for flu, which came back negative. While I was curled up in the examination room, the doctor came in and told me I most definitely had a viral infection, likely coxsackievirus, which is uncommon in adults. The doctor also mentioned the virus had an incubation period of 3 three to six days, and that I was probably already infected before the camping trip.

Even though dehydration is one of the possible complications of the illness, I believe the extended sun exposure and the episodic dehydration were the cause and not the effect.

I am not a doctor

But we are the best guides to our own bodies and minds, much like we are experts on our home towns. The doctor knows about the chemistry and mechanics of the human body, but the patient knows when something isn’t right. The relationship between doctor and patient is therefore somewhat symbiotic, one relying on the other for how treatment should progress.

The doctor instructed me to get rest and plenty of fluids. There is not much in the way of treatment for viral infections, at least not this one. In addition to my 40ºC fever (I always run hot, which alarms medical specialists), I also had aches, chills, and painful blisters in my mouth and throat. Apparently, coxsackievirus is usually not severe in children, but when it affects adults the range of symptoms is harder to predict. It would be more than a week before I felt more like myself. And I continued to have some aftereffects for almost a year.

What about coronavirus?

When the novel coronavirus began making headlines in January, I didn’t pay close attention. The last SARS epidemic in 2003 affected about 25 countries and resulted in 8000 cases. I wasn’t alarmed, because normally flu outbreaks are normally far more virulent.

As of writing this, worldwide we are seeing 3.4 million COVID-19 (sars-cov-2-related illness) cases and 238,730 deaths.

My wife and I are staying safe by remaining in our home most of the time. We go outside briefly, spending time in the garden. But interaction with other people is limited. We wear home-made masks anytime we have to go out for food and supplies. But back in that tent when I was suffering from infection of coxsackievirus, my wife never became infected. She thinks she might have contracted a weakened virus because she remembered having aches and a slight fever. But why did it affect me so intensely?

Many of us are walking around unknowingly carrying several viruses. I probably have a flu virus in my system right now. I have no fever. I don’t have any aches or pains. I don’t have a cough. That’s the thing with viruses. The virus can be living inside your body and have little to no effect on you whatsoever. Like that coxsackievirus I had, it was waiting for an opportunity to get a foothold. My sun overexposure and subsequent dehydration threw off a normally balanced level of sodium, calcium, magnesium, and potassium in my system. As a result I was knocked down by a something 40,476,191 times smaller than I am.

Other viruses out there: Hepatitis B (2015: 257 million cases and 887,000 deaths), Herpes Simplex (2016: 3.7 billion cases under age 50), and rhinovirus (common cold). We are constantly exposed to microorganisms and viruses. We have E.coli bacteria living in our intestines. Staphylococcus bacteria live on about 30% of adults, and they live on our skin, just crawling around. Have I grossed you out yet? Yeah, even I don’t like looking at parasitic infections. That’s one of many things that keep me from visiting the tropics.

What’s next?

At this point the best thing we can do is take care of ourselves. Eat healthy foods, stay hydrated, get enough sleep. Being healthy is really about maintaining balance. If you lose that balance, it takes more effort to regain your balance, if you can. Like a tightrope walker, the goal is to stay upright as long as you can.

My wife supplies homemade masks, and we have a “decontamination” routine whenever we come back from the store. I wash my hands often anyway out of habit from working as a cook for so many years. And I’m really conscious of how and when pathogens are transmitted. Interestingly, after I read The Andromeda Strain several years ago I began to see things in a new light. I observed the five-second rule with greater flexibility. I wasn’t bothered by how many bacteria lived in and on me. I embraced the notion that there are more bacteria cells than human cells in my body.

There is so much we can do. This coronavirus has spread quickly, and it has killed many people. The best advice so far has been to keep a distance of about 2 meters from everyone else. This makes mass gatherings basically impossible. So no concerts. No parties. No cinemas (unless you’re the only one on your row). No crowded restaurants and bars. And no church services. Human society has been reshaped for a generation. People will look back at 2020 and study it. Books will be written, and documentaries will be filmed. Countless stories will be told about how we all coped. And we’re going to make it through this, not together, but separately, 2 meters apart, or over Zoom. We’ll eventually look back on this and be glad it’s over, and maybe we will celebrate, except we must first mourn. It’s going to get better. We need to have patience.