25 May 2020

It’s Memorial Day. Under ordinary circumstances, I’d spend this weekend in one of three ways: at a lake house with my in-laws, at the beach with my side of the family, or enjoying a neighborhood-wide cookout in a local cul-de-sac. But this being 2020, the time of Covid-19, I’m doing none of these.

I don’t mind, actually. Of course, I miss seeing friends and family but the disruption from these customary habits prompted me to reflect more about the whole reason for Memorial Day. I wonder what those who’ve died for our country would make of our current lack of cohesion and the willful disregard for the well being of others, the converse of which used to define Americans in time of crisis. That willful attitude, fortunately, is by no means representative of the majority, but it sure looks like it from media images circulating online.

Instead: Today I watched goats-for-hire eat my neighbor’s overgrown front yard. Next time I’m bringing a lawn chair and a beer, because those guys are hella relaxing to watch. Also: painted bookshelves. Read a depressing article about locals defying lockdown orders, who’ll bring a new bloom of cases to a county that had otherwise had very few to manage. Then I quit reading news. Had an hour and a half Zoom call with dear friend from college, as is my new Monday habit. Did research for a new novel. Potted up tomato plants and gave them away to the neighbors. Solicited homes for more tomatoes and cucumbers. Put up netting to deter deer from eating my own tomatoes. Tomatoes will define my summer.

Watched Quantum of Solace with the family. I am sure I saw this in 2008 but remembered almost nothing about it. Pros: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, and the fact that the female lead (Olga Kurylenko) is mostly an action hero and not a typical Bond Girl. Cons: Plot was overwrought, and I had a hard time taking the villain seriously because all I could think about was how he looked like Matthew Broderick would look if Matthew Broderick had undergone a botched plastic surgery procedure.

Verdict: The Daniel Craig Bond flicks remain better in the aggregate than all the other Bond flicks and QoS is worth the hour and 45 minute run time. What are you doing to entertain yourself these days?