“Lions and Tigers and Rhinoceroses...

Oh My!”

On November 9th, 1874, The New York Herald’s front page headlines blared out, “Awful Calamity,” “The Wild Animals Broken Loose from Central Park,” “Terrible Scenes of Mutilations.” 

The eye catching and gut clenching article went on to describe in Pulp Fiction detail the mayhem wrought upon Gotham’s men, women and children when feral animals pull off a Great Escape. 

According to the news source 49 people had been killed and 200 more injured. Most readers dropped their newspapers and sought a safe refuse. Others grabbed their guns to try their aim at big game hunting. For the few who possessed a longer attention span, here’s what they read.

“Of course the entire story given above is a pure fabrication. Not one word of it is true. Not a single act or incident described has taken place. It is a huge hoax,”

We live in times of Fake News. Misinformation can now circle the globe faster than a speeding virus. There’s heaps of BS now being generated from the giants of social media.  Followers of these falsehoods can get sick or worse die. This is a good time to become a “Doubting Jeffy.”

I’ll use the social networking gargantuan Facebook as an example of how things can go awry. 

Remember it’s called Facebook, not Factbook.

You can be anything you want to be on Facebook. That being said, there’s folks who aren’t Doctors but play the role on Facebook. I’ll use the following FB post as an example.

Me being me, fact checked this report. (Remember the source is a Fox Fear Network station). I found this on the MedRxiv site. (A non profit preprint server for Health Sciences, which is supported by Yale University.) 

Basically, the above medical report has yet to be reviewed for accuracy and validity by fellow researchers. For now, don’t get worked up about the correlation of blood types and Covid-19.

Use common sense. Wash your hands, maintain social distancing and be civil and polite to your fellow humans from six feet away.

What we don’t need is someone in power referring to this malady as the “Chinese Virus. There is never an appropriate time for needless finger pointing. After all the 1918-1919 Spanish flu didn’t originate in the Land of Paella. 

https://www.livescience.com/spanish-flu.html

BTW. There’s been a surge of hate crimes directed towards Asian Americans.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/fbi-warns-potential-surge-hate-crimes-asian-americans/story?id=69831920

My dear readers, words and posts matter. Be truthful, be curious, be a seeker of fact and information. Worse comes to worse, you will bore people in conservations like I do! 

Check out this quote from James Gordon Bennett Jr. (Publisher of the New York Herald).

Lastly, folks we are going to be dealing with this for a long time. It won’t be over until Big Deborah sings.

Hang in there!

Jeff

We are in a History Making Moment in which...

none of us want to be in. (Except the Toilet Paper Black Marketeers). 

I had a premonition the end was near. 

When I noticed the rapidly expanding list of States shutting down, I knew Colorado wasn’t far behind. On a warm gauzy sunny day, I headed to my favorite Happy Hour venue. Inside Carver’s Brewpub, less than a handful of customers relaxed at the bar. Normally, it’s close to a SRO crowd. I ordered an IPA and sat alone on the curbside patio. In the span of an hour and a half, the “Daily Specials” were erased from their outside blackboard. The words “Take Out Only!” replaced them. Fifteen minutes later, the blackboard was brought inside and the front door was locked. It was 6 pm. 

I entered the now closed pub in an open gap in the patio door. Inside the waitstaff were wiping down tables, vacuuming and putting things away. I noticed a few were crying. I paid for my beers with an above average tip. I said “I’m sorry!” to the always friendly bartender. I was Carver’s last paying customer when Colorado shut down.

I wasn’t happy about this.

Now we all feel like prisoners for a crime we didn’t commit. We’re allowed outside for good behavior activities such as buying groceries, medicines and other essential items like weed and alcohol. In Durango, a 29 mile trail system which begins three blocks from my home remains open. It’s a sanity salvation for me and others. 

On my way to Horse Gulch this morning, I saw two young BIGLY men advancing towards me on a narrow sidewalk. Upon noticing me they turned hard right into the street. They passed me in a social distancing acceptable way. I looked over and said, “it’s not everyday a guy my size can intimidate two guys your size!” 

Of course, they laughed. 

So here’s my point.  Being civil, polite and even making lame jokes is always in vogue. At times like these, it’s become more so. No one is happy about what’s going on. We are all on edge. Try to go the extra distance to be kind, generous (from six feet away), and show appreciation to all. The sooner we all get through this the better.

OK. I’ll get off my soapbox now. A sincere thank you for reading my blog. (Especially when I know how BUSY you all are!).

Hang in there!

Jeff

Seeking Sanctuary in Virulent...

Times.

Back in the day when I was a firefighter, my life at times could be stressful. 

A rough work shift might include:

Responding to a horrific accident where you really don’t want to see what happens when two speeding vehicles try to occupy the same space at the same time. 

OR...

The occasional house fire where one of the occupants doesn’t make it out in time.

OR...

The wrestling match with a belligerent drunk.

OR...

 The all-nighters where all the so-called emergency calls don’t add up to one emergency. 

So... after leaving the fire station I required a Happy Home.

My 1902 Old Town Fort Collins abode was the relief valve from the working mode craziness. I kept my house obsessively clean and clutter free. I had family photos,  posters and artwork which soothed me when I gazed upon them. There was an abundance of natural light. I lowered my blood pressure by puttering around in my flower and vegetable garden. Overall, the noise level was turned down low. 

It was my sanctuary from a chaotic world.

Now we are all faced with an unseen enemy. The apparent solutions to the Covid-19 health crisis are closures and cancellations. We are being told to “social distance” ourselves from each other. 

Ionically, social distancing comes naturally to me. One might say, I’ve been social distancing before it was cool. In any crowd setting, you’ll find me in the least occupied spots or on the periphery of the action. I’ve been known to turn a quick 180 degree in order to escape the masses. Being surrounded by people is not my position of comfort.

Here in Durango, I’ve discovered many social settings that lie within my comfort range. IE: volunteering at the Library or Durango’s Green Drinks. (A Happy Hour featuring people with a conservation minded passion.) Both have ceased operations for the time being.

So...like so many others I became proactive.  I  stocked up on food and non-perishable items. I purchased cases of IPAs. I checked out five books prior to the Library’s closure. My TV still works minus the March Madness Basketball. (That really hurts.) There will be heaps of hunkering down time.

This is why I’m heading back to sanctuary mode. I obsessively cleaned my townhouse. I organized what few items of clutter I had. The noise level is now set at a windless night in Death Valley National Park low. 

So far, so good. Now I breathe a sigh of contentment when I close my front door to the possibility of pandemic. I’m alone with my books, I Pad, IPAs and weeks worth of comfort food. I’ve done a lot of wondering too.

When I heard President “Stable Genius” (he’s neither) pronounce the tiny troublemaker to be a “Foreign Virus,” I had to Fact Check this. Wadya know it. He finally told the truth. If you look at the Covid 19 virus under an electron microscope, you’ll notice itty bitty flags intertwined within the strands of malicious DNA. Not one would be “Old Glory.” Once again illegal immigrants are creating havoc within our Nation. 

So...I have a proposal to assure America will never be caught with our Orange Comb Over down again. Let’s build a virus proof Wall! We will hire the best people to construct it. It will be beautiful. Best of all, we will make the virus pay for it! 

Finally enjoy this “Daily Show” You Tube. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR2Hn39_P_PuZ8vjjbP5PZsQW_CV4gQMNDd_S3rf1-Uo7hfTYR69HVhKW20&feature=youtu.be&v=VcEnG7qxnLY

On a more serious note.

Stay safe, sane and most of all healthy.

If you need advice on social distancing, feel free to reach out to me. I’m a subject matter expert. Plus I now have plenty of time to answer.

Jeff

Lastly a dating line of 2020.