THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
— Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, December 23, 1776
*
Hiking in the Sisters outback, you can forget for a moment that anything is amiss. Except Ceili is supposed to be among the Sassenachs in London. The world is turned upside down.
There is something profoundly surreal about the slow-rolling catastrophe we’re caught in. Clan Cornelius has experienced some crises. Hell, just getting Ceili into the world involved three weeks in hospital. We’ve been evacuated twice from the path of massive wildfires, living for weeks under a pall of smoke that turned our beautiful corner of the world into something resembling Small Heath in industrial Birmingham. We’ve had rough winters. Both Marilyn and Ceili have suffered serious injuries. We’ve seen some financial hard times.
In every case, there has been some evident sign of the struggle — a blanket of smoke, drifts of snow, inescapable pain and debility.
This one is very, very weird.
We’ve been having some fine spring weather and, heading out into the woods, at a more than social distance from anybody, it’s possible to forget for a whole chunk of time that anything is amiss at all. Which feels wonderful. But things are amiss indeed, more amiss than they’ve ever been in our lifetimes. We know we’re going to have to make some tough decisions. Ceili had her study abroad adventure in London abruptly cut off and now she’s looking at a future that is suddenly strange and uncertain.
At times like these, immersion in history — and Story — is both a comfort and inspiration, for me and for the Clan. We know that hard times are part of the deal, and have been since the dawn of time. We can — we must — take heart from tales of those who have faced adversity and persevered.
My workload has been intense these past couple of weeks, covering the evolving impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on our community, and working to position the newspaper as a business to face the existential threat these impacts represent.
And yet, I must take time to nourish myself on Story. Reading Taylor Brown’s Civil War novel, Fallen Land, in anticipation of his new one, Pride of Eden.
Marilyn and I deferred watching our beloved Outlander till Ceili’s return from the UK. She’s back, earlier by months than expected, so we’re firing it up. The major historical plot point of Season 5 is the War of the Regulation in North Carolina in the late 1760s.
Regulators recruiting in North Carolina. Art by Gary Zaboly.
From Documenting the American South:
The Regulators were a large group of North Carolina colonists who opposed the taxation and fee system imposed by colonial officials in the late 1760s. This political argument led to a battle between the colonial militia and the Regulators in 1771. Following this battle, a few Regulators were hanged and the majority pardoned, bringing the movement to an end.
Historians debate whether or not the War of the Regulation was a harbinger of the American Revolution. What is certain is that it was a movement of backcountry people who were fed up with a government that manifestly failed to serve their interests. Huh.
I expect in the wake of this catastrophe there will be a reckoning. Especially for the worthless pieces of shite that quietly dumped their stocks after intelligence briefings about the potential impact of COVID-19 on the U.S. economy. We used to know how to deal with suchlike.
*
We’re in a devil of a fix, mi compadres, with a long, rough trail ahead of us. Keep yer powder dry and mind yer top-knot. We all must stand by it now.
Paul McNamee says
Me and the family just stepped in from watching the International Space Station fly overhead on a crisp (still winter chill) night.
It’s quiet, of course, and there were only us four outside.
Kids wouldn’t know, didn’t know, but for me there was a surreal moment of feeling that I stood in the center of a Ray Bradbury-esque story.
Strange times. To me, it’s felt like hunkering down for a blizzard (or hurricane) but no storm ever lasted this long.
Townsend had a good commentary this week on the historical angle.
https://youtu.be/dGr-8P_vEZA
JimC says
I’ll bet that felt weird. Saw that Townsend piece. Need to watch it this evening.
Matthew says
Yeah, I’ve been relying on Story as a way to deal with this crises. The shop I work out has reduced my hours so I have too much free time. Rather than go insane I’ve watched three movies: Rio Bravo, the Man who Shot Liberty Valance, and a kung fu film. I’d seen Liberty Valance a long time ago but I forgot a lot about it. It’s basically a who’s who of Western movies John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Lee Marvin, and even a young Lee Van Cleef in a minor role.
Norman Andrews says
I took a long walk down river at the weekend ,a polution incedent killed all the fish last year, never saw a single fish, the recent storms have blown down loads of trees, my work is shut Im home until only the gods know when, I think Im in some bad sci-fi film.
Stay safe all .
Norm.
Ugly Hombre says
Still can’t get my brain around the Wuhan Bat Chit Virus, I thought it would be contained like Sars but hell no it flew over here. Now much of the USA is restricted to the yard. Locked in the rude hut with my wife, she started telling me about her shoes and then what her co- workers said about so and so, and then she fired up the vacume. Oh hell no I broke. I escaped, drove around to down town recon & get take out food & vittles, found some Japanese rice got a five Ld bag and some beef jerky, visit my Thai pards, restaurants are fading take out only- hurting them bad losing $, phad Thai & war wonton take out, chat up cute pu yings they are sad, not much tips for take out- give them some shekels. No can go in the Java shop and read “Mean As Hell”- drive through only, block long line of cars with people getting complicated foo foo drinks that take a #$%^&! kalpa to make. I just want black coffee damn it give it to me now! & no one will get hurt lol. Elbow to elbow at the gun store people were POed that they had to wait, as they had been told it was easier to get a gun and ammo than a computer or a book for years by jive @$$- Surprise spankey! Ten day wait- by that time the Zombies will have you for dinner. Later, the next day seems the govner ordered all civilian gun stores to close, but lucky he mandated that the dope stores stay open, a line of interesting characters winding down the street from “Cheech and Chongs” bleh don’t use it can’t remember where I park my car unimpared. Rifle range closed, no fun.. went to the park did old man exercise ax hand very bad out of shape, coyote watching me hoping I will pass out or fall asleep, back to dog patch yard, Vacume off thank Buddha, nuked Thai food- watched Bullit.
It’s gonna be a long summer…
Dave Allen says
Glad to see your daughter is home safe! This whole mess will ultimately boil down to community. Hopefully we will see more co-op gardens this spring and increased charity from those that have it to give. Times like these bring out the best and worst in people. As far as the elected stock selling scum goes, it is hard to find tar and a bag of feathers these days but I have several lengths of rope and a pickup truck that I would be willing to use smoothing out the washboards on a dirt road somewhere. Get lots of rest and fresh air pards, prepare for the worst and pray for the best.
JimC says
Thx Dave. Take care.
Breaker Morant (David Wrolson) says
Not saying he is right or wrong, but in the last few days I have started following Jesse Kelly on Twitter. He is yelling from the rooftops that the cure (quarantines and lockdowns) will prove worse than the disease. A counter-intuitive view if you like.
https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC
A sample:
>>>”Suicides, drug and alcohol addiction, crime, malnutrition leading to more medical problems than can be counted.
Great Depressions have casualties. More than people can even imagine.”<<<<
JimC says
He’s not wrong One does not have to agree that it is “worse” (at this point, how can we really measure that?) to acknowledge that the treatment is toxic. We are so far into this now that we are truly in a “which eye do you want me to poke out” mode. As always, we have almost no control over the course of events and can only trim our sails to the wind and try to avoid capsizing. We’re ALL taking on water.
Traven Torsvan says
Scary shit though,
https://www.propublica.org/article/a-medical-worker-describes–terrifying-lung-failure-from-covid19-even-in-his-young-patients
“It first struck me how different it was when I saw my first coronavirus patient go bad. I was like, Holy shit, this is not the flu. Watching this relatively young guy, gasping for air, pink frothy secretions coming out of his tube and out of his mouth. The ventilator should have been doing the work of breathing but he was still gasping for air, moving his mouth, moving his body, struggling. We had to restrain him. With all the coronavirus patients, we’ve had to restrain them. They really hyperventilate, really struggle to breathe. When you’re in that mindstate of struggling to breathe and delirious with fever, you don’t know when someone is trying to help you, so you’ll try to rip the breathing tube out because you feel it is choking you, but you are drowning.
“When someone has an infection, I’m used to seeing the normal colors you’d associate with it: greens and yellows. The coronavirus patients with ARDS have been having a lot of secretions that are actually pink because they’re filled with blood cells that are leaking into their airways. They are essentially drowning in their own blood and fluids because their lungs are so full. So we’re constantly having to suction out the secretions every time we go into their rooms.”
Shameful, but not surprising that right wing media is trying to get its audience (mostly elderly and more at risk) to believe that Covid is some kind of hoax.
tommy says
This shit destroys lung tissue.
John Roberts says
Oddly, this plague has caused scarcely any interruption in my lifestyle. I’ve made my living sitting at home for 40+ years. I live in a tiny rural community that’s not very lively at its liveliest. Almost all my family is dead long since and the neighbors are distant. When I come back from the store or the post office I’m careful to disinfect my hands and that’s about it. Because of our age and my wife’s compromised immune system we’re squarely in the most-endangered demographic so that’s a worry. All the neighbors are polite and well-armed so that’s not a worry, but Albuquerque, one of the most violent cities in America, is just on the other side of the mountains and motorcycles can cover the distance in less than an hour, so I’ve made sue that all the arms are loaded. Hell, I even charged up my Ruger Old Army with powder and ball, just need to cap it, but I doubt I’ll have to resort to it. With my Model ’97 pump gun, my 1911 .45 and my Model ’92 .44, I’m pretty confident. Should the bad guys engage from a distance, my ’98 Mauser is quite adequate, I just wish my eyes were as good as they used to be. And, of course, a good ‘hawk and Bowie always at hand if not actually on me. Enough melodramatics. Here, it’s just a waiting game. And Sunday evenings there’s always OUTLANDER. Keep yer eyes on the treeline.
JMR
JimC says
Good to hear from you JMR and enjoy that Outlander…
.lane batot says
Very weird indeed. I’m fine, so far, but I’m worried greatly about beloved elderly friends and family–not so much about meeself–although I JUST joined the “higher risk age group” a coupla months ago! I am very fortunate to have a job as “Mandatory Personnel”–SOMEBODY has to go tend the critters at the Zoo! And the Zoo is now closed to the public, isolating us even more, and we are far out from major population centers(although as contagious as this stuff is, I don’t think that matters so much…..). And being a State run Zoo, I am in no immediate danger of losing my job, like so many other unfortunate people. As for my home life, I have already been practicing “social distancing”….for DECADES! I AM something of a Hermit, after all! No humans in my home(although if some canine spread pandemic erupts, I am DOOMED!), and I live isolated out in the country(and love it!), and have always kept my town runs as brief as possible–just for groceries and animal food and home as quick as possible has been my long term way of life! My cure for cabin fever is to GET OUT IN THE WOODS, and as an incorrigible trespasser(by necessity, alas, where I now live), I am already quite practiced and adept at avoiding people(especially irate land owners!). My out-of-control library of BOOKS and DVD’s is more than enough inside entertainment for me–always has been! But I’m not making light of this situation, just more adapted to the present restrictions. I certainly hope it’s over before long. No telling WHAT ALL might yet occur because of it–people that pooh-pooh it are FOOLS! I was most sorry indeed to hear Ceili’s adventure abroad had to be aborted, but it sounded like a wonderful experience while it lasted, for sure! And hopefully can continue once this all blows over……
RLT says
In the middle of “Outlander” ourselves.
Saw the pic of your kid and went, “Oh thank god.” Hadn’t asked ‘cause I figured it was stressful enough, but wasn’t sure if she was gonna be able to get back.
We’re hanging in there.
JimC says
Appreciate the concern RLT. We’re glad to have her home, under the circumstances.
Glad you’re hanging in.
Dave Allen says
You have some old guns, John, but good ones by God, tried and true. Lets all hope this doesn’t come down to defending our families and meager supplies against ” Bug’s Boys”. Nonetheless it is a good opportunity like so many have said here to catch up on some reading and take in some good Frontier Partisan video and film!
Beverly Rampey says
If everyone is really enjoying “Outlander” just wait until you read her books in the series. They make the tv program seem like reading comic books are to the classics. The books are terrific.
Bev Rampey
JimC says
My brother and his wife were early adopters on the books. They, like so many others, traveled to Scotland because of them. I’ve read up through Voyager.
Jean says
To me the answer is have faith that things will get better. Hard times don’t last forever and we always come out of them a little bit smarter. Though there are people who take advantage of these times, most people work hard to do the right thing and help others. We are so spoiled here in America that these times can help us appreciate how well off we really are. In the end, faith will show you that life is really pretty good.
JimC says
Thanks Jean. Stay well.
Breaker Morant (David Wrolson) says
https://twitter.com/BNODesk/status/1242573124786413569
I follow BNO Newsroom for up-to-date news on the virus. The linked short video of a park in Britain shows how carried away this has gotten (in my opinion). Park goers are widely scattered (social distanced) and enjoying the sunshine and the police are trying to chase them away.
Historically, every year, the flu season goes away with the onset of warm weather and people being outside more and so forth.
For their mental and physical health, people need to be able to go to the parks and so forth and enjoy being outside.
JimC says
Yeah, that’s counterproductive. I’m going shooting.
Rick Schwertfeger says
The old “You really know how to hurt a guy!” line. I shot sporting clays 2 weeks ago on the 11th. On the 16th I began my own Sheltering in Place due to my assessment of my risk and the risks. So I did not go to Capital Clays on the 18th. I’m still sheltering in place – and the Club closed anyway on the 24th due to a county-wide Stay At Home Order. And, the rifle range requires driving, all of which is prohibited except for “essential” travel.
I gave my shotgun a really extensive cleaning last week. Yesterday, the same for the rifle. Now I’m dying to shoot. But no can do. Ugh.
JimC says
Ugh, indeed.
Norman Andrews says
I agree living the UK has got very difficult ,it’s fast becoming a police state
Norm.
tommy says
Yeah Jim those shite should be on the rock pile making littluns out biguns!