One neighbor was mowing as I walked by the house on That Way. She saw me, killed the mower engine, and ran out to offer me home-grown tomatoes. I waited while she ran to the backyard to pick a bag of fresh ones for me. In some ways the lockdown has made us all a little friendlier.
Yet, the case count goes up and up in Brazoria County. The preponderance of cases is in the north (Alvin and Pearland), although we are getting more down our way with each report. Many of the cases in the county are with younger people who are more involved in the workforce, are more in need of social life, and expect to have milder cases. And while they may not feel personally threatened, the disease seems satisfied to be able to hitch a ride on a healthy young carrier as it stalks older folks, big crowds and institutionalized populations.
All that leaves us to our life as hermits; but we are not really hermits. We are social people and we need contact from friends. Friends at the Center for the Arts and Sciences have been especially helpful in that regard. They are a special group of friends with whom we have joined in the necessary work of making the world a little more civilized. I don’t feel fully human without being in touch with their work.
Lately we have started Roku-bingeing as the solution for keeping the Orange Narcissus from sneaking into our living room via our electronic devices. We have been watching British things for some reason. With no particular plan, I have noticed the pattern we have fallen into. Maybe we will learn to speak British English. Sometimes it’s hard to make out the dialogue. I wonder if Duolingo offers lessons in the King’s English.
A little over a week ago, Chapelwood honored its high school graduating class with a drive-by salute. I mounted my 70-200mm lens on the camera (my social distancing lens) and went down to the church parking lot. This was a special group in 2020. I am happy to turn the world over to them. I expect they will do a better job of than we did.
You can find some of the individual pictures in my Flickr account here.
One of the saddest things I have had to do is call and withdraw from my Sunday night visits with the church youth. Hanging out with teenagers in the age of coronavirus is no country for old men. But I miss them already.
But for now, it’s off to HEB to pick up the grocery order.
South of Town: Notes and Scenes from Texas' Upper Gulf Coast 