Words & Music by Mike Power

Day 55 – Total confirmed cases in US: 1,283,929

On the first day of my quarantine, March 16, there were a total of 3,774 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the US. The rise of that number has been sickening in more ways than one. If the people in charge of our federal government – the Republican party – had more faith in science and less faith in the malignant growth in the White House, many more Americans would be alive today. Much of our suffering has been, and will continue to be, needless.

In the 55 days since I began practicing social distancing, I have been out of my building three times to gather supplies and twice for a walk in the woods. Today, I am going on my first social visit.

I will continue to distance myself after today, to wear a mask when I leave my apartment, to work (and do everything else) from home. But I will not be keeping a plague diary.

The people who read this diary – you know who you are – have given me great comfort. It would have been easy to feel like I was talking to myself, banging my head on a brick wall, screaming into a void. Instead, I felt part of a conversation, even if I had to imagine your side of it.

Thank you for that.

Come back to visit my blog once in a while. I’ll still be posting a few times a week. I am working (remotely) with a drummer on a couple of songs so there will be music, and paintings, and poetry, and probably reviews of 19th Century novels, waiting for you when you return…