MindStillRacingintheStreet

Monday, March 7, 2022

E.O. 292

NOW, THEREFORE, I, PHILIP D. MURPHY, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby DECLARE and PROCLAIM and ORDER and DIRECT:

1. The Public Health Emergency declared in Executive Order No. 280 (2022) pursuant to the EHPA, N.J.S.A. 26:13-1 et seq., is hereby terminated.

Upon hearing Governor Murphy's declaration this past Friday (and setting aside the question as to now one can declare an "emergency's end" seventy-two hours in advance), my mind drifted back to this time way back when in March 2020, and how we spent that final Sunday, B.C. (Before Covid). What follows here is what I wrote then:

Monday, March 9, 2020

A Day for the Ages

The first Sunday of the "Daylight Savings Time" season was a rousing success, at least when viewed from the admittedly selfish vantage point of my limited perspective.

Yesterday morning, Sam I Am and I drove down to Princeton and met Jill and Rita at Mountain Lakes Estate. While us bipeds walked the 2.5 mile trail, Sam and Rita celebrated their first cousins romp of the Spring with the appropriate level of enthusiasm. They ran, they played, they wrestled, and they romped. If it was half as fun to do as it was to watch, then they had one hell of a time. Sam enjoyed a nice, extended nap yesterday afternoon, unwinding from the morning that was.

Sunday is the day of the week when Suzanne, Ryan, and their crew normally come to our house for Nana's "noodle, noodle". Yesterday, we changed things up and took our show on the road to them. While Suzanne remained home relaxing (as if that is possible when you have three children and all of them are under the age of three) with baby Rylan before dinner, Margaret, Joe, and I took Maggie and Cal to the park. What a time we had!

Not every day - including but not limited to Sunday - exceeds our expectations, which is why it is important to enjoy the ones that do.

Nothing is guaranteed, including, but not limited to, next Sunday. Plan for tomorrow but live today.

Every day.

-AK

"Nothing is guaranteed, including, but not limited to, next Sunday." Boy, I called that one correctly...with a nice touch of understatement just for good measure.

Proof, I suppose, of the old adages about blind squirrels and nuts and broken clocks being right twice a day.

-AK

Sunday, March 6, 2022

Time in a Bottle

My great friend, Jill, is a notoriously tough person to whom to give a gift. So, this year, in honor of her induction into the Double-Nickel Club on this very day, I opted to go big: I got her a parade.

Actually, that is a lie. As is the case with practically everyone unfortunate enough to know me, I got her nothing. SURPRISE! Again, no, it is not.

What is true, however, is that the 49th Annual Belmar/Lake Como St. Patrick's Day Parade steps off this afternoon at 12:30 on Main Street in Lake Como, returning after a COVID-19-forced hiatus in 2021. The parade route is north on Main Street from Lake Como, into and through Belmar. Margaret and I have gone to it a couple of times. It is really a terrific event. If you have the opportunity to get to the greater Belmar/Lake Como Metroplex later on this morning (giving yourself time to find a parking space and, then more importantly, a spot along the curb line from which to watch the parade pass by (literally, not figuratively), then I highly recommend it.

A more important truth is that (courtesy of Wilma's recommendation) I finally have secured the weapon I have long needed in my battle against chronic, recurrent insomnia

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Seeing as I was up to popping three Melatonin a night shortly before going nighty-night with little to no reward, I was desperate. Apparently, in the 21st Century, desperate times also call for a little product known as Delta-8 THC Gummies.

My magic elixir arrived in Friday's mail. I ate one on Friday night and, again, last night about an hour before bed time. I slept straight through the night (except for, of course, my regular mid-sleep cycle jaunt(s) to the bathroom - it is a sleep aid not a magic trick) each night and woke up, yesterday and this morning, rested and ready to go.

Thank you Wilma. Thank you, too, Weed.com, which might represent the single best thing the interweb has ever had to offer since Al Gore invented it. Other than videos of puppies and dogs doing funny things, of course.

The night I placed my first order created my very own Weed.com account, I smiled at the thought of how jealous college-aged me would have been of middle-aged me, and also a little proud perhaps, for having such a thing. Of course, had such a site existed three-plus decades as I matriculated my way through the University of Colorado, Boulder, I would - right now - be enjoying my seventy-second consecutive semester as a college sophomore.

-AK

Saturday, March 5, 2022

Walk Tall

…or baby don’t walk at all.

As you head out the door into March’s first Saturday, keep your chin up and keep leaning hard into the wind.

Be careful out there but show a little faith too.

There is magic in the night after all.

-AK

Friday, March 4, 2022

An Alternative to Fish on Lent’s First Friday

Earlier this week I wrote of the brilliance that is Ivan Maisel’s “I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye”. A little food for thought courtesy of Ivan Maisel to nourish your soul on this, March’s first Friday.

Be careful out there.