The Atlantic Daily conducted a leadership test: “When the coronavirus hit, these four leaders acted swiftly naming the Prime Minister of New Zealand, The Prime Minister of Germany and The Governor of California and The Mayor of San Francisco. It was such encouraging news, for although I do not enjoy being confined in my apartment, at least it appears it did some good.
There is a much lower infection rate in California and in San Francisco. I guess I wish it would all be over but I have adjusted very well to this situation and actually become stronger as a result.
I received a text yesterday from a man, met in July of 2019. It began “U are good company btw. Then went on to recount personal things and ended with: “I think I love u. It was rather startling, to say the very least, and actually more romantic than having someone say: “I love you” or, for example, writing a love poem to you or the whole world. Not sure if anything is going to come of it but it was a gift. He is, to say the very least, ambivalent in his actions and behaviour – but the words did capture me and were most tender. I laughingly say:
Me: Unlike the Sultan I actually did spend some time with the man.
Alter Ego: Not a great deal of time, as I recall.
Me: No, but it was quality time.
But then a strange ‘notification’ about the mass shooting in Nova Scotia, of all places. Is not Nova Scotia, New Scotland? I think so. I am startled and not done any research at this point. Canada has gun control ordinances – my goodness! Writing this blog is fascinating in that I am so aware of the world, almost by accident.
But again, such humour from my New Yorker – this one, speaking of sharing communications during the shut down
“It’s so nice to see a human mouth! What other human mouths have you seen today?
“I love your houseplants! Is that a peace lily behind you?” (If no houseplants: “Is that a wall behind you?”)
“How are your kids handling remote learning? I had to teach mine all fifty states and when each major metropolis will exhaust its essential resources.”
“Have you been outside recently? Were there trees? Did they rustle in a breeze?”
“I love your shirt! What else are you wearing? Pants? Shoes?”
“Have you taken up any new hobbies? I never really understood knitting before, but now I love to curl up on the couch and knit rolls and rolls of toilet paper!”
“Do you think you could draw a gym from memory?”
“I had a dream last night that I was at a restaurant, and, when the waiter poured my water, his hand accidentally brushed against mine, and I woke up sobbing for our lost world. Have you had any weird dreams lately?”
“I saw a fun thing at the grocery store last week. Oh, sorry, I told you this already. Have you seen anything fun at the grocery store recently.”
Oh, by the way, the guy that “thought he loved me” did not show up for a date today, nor even text me. But I did send him a kind message.
Me: Thank you of the wonderful words you sent to me yesterday, I read them with delight again and again.
I am slowly becoming gracious and it is because of the confinement. What is confinement? Its synonyms are: imprisonment, internment, incarceration, custody, captivity, detention, restraint, arrest, house arrest; literary thraldom, thrall; archaic duress, durance. ANTONYMS liberty.
I read the text message to Wise Man, and he was duly impressed.
He: That man captured you. Do not erase it from your phone but copy it and frame it.
Me: I shall! It was so unexpected and so unlike him. He is usually rather whimsical and has decided that I should be his Sugar Mama, supporting him for the three or eighteen years remaining in my life. He promises to keep me content.
He does not read my blog so shall not know of any of this unless we meet again.
So here on house arrest, under duress and in a thrall, but becoming more gracious, a state that Joo Kim Tiah wished for me.
For some very strange.reason I have become somewhat fixated on Sodom and Gomorrah; likening it to Dubai. “Sodom and Gomorrah (/ˈsɒdəm … ɡəˈmɒrə/)[1] were two cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis[2] and throughout the Hebrew Bible,[3] the New Testament, and in the deuterocanonical books, as well as in the Quran and the hadith.[
According to the Torah, the kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah were allied with the cities of Admah, Zeboim, and Bela. These five cities, also known as the “cities of the plain” (from Genesis in the Authorized Version), were situated on the Jordan River plain in the southern region of the land of Canaan. The plain was compared to the garden of Eden[Gen.13:10] as being well-watered and green, suitable for grazing livestock. Divine judgment was passed upon them and four of them were consumed by fire and brimstone. Neighboring Zoar (Bela) was the only city to be spared. In Abrahamic religions, Sodom and Gomorrah have become synonymous with impenitent sin, and their fall with a proverbial manifestation of divine retribution.”
For some reason I see all of those buildings, deserted with sand slowly obliterating them from the horizon. Personal Driver called during research, told him of this strange aberration, he immediately agreed. He has been to Dubai and even shook the hand of the Crown Prince of Dubai. My life is certainly strange. By the way, the synonyms for aberration are: deviation, anomaly divergence, abnormality, irregularity, variation, digression, freak, rogue, rarity, quirk, oddity, curiosity, mistake.
Because you see, if the Crown Prince of Dhabi does not bail out Dubai, as he has in the past, then Dubai will fall. Tourism is their main industry and with the contra virus being alive and well, there will be no tourism.
You all must desire my sense humour at this moment. All I can say is this, why me, a woman born in Regina (that rhymes with vagina) should be speaking of such matters as Sodom and Gomorrah? It does make no sense whatsoever. Well, I did travel to Dubai, but that makes no sense either.
