Better Read Than Dead

The COVID-19 / coronavirus pandemic has now reached a crisis stage in many sections of the USA. The entire National Capital region where I reside is under lock down with the governments of Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia recently mandating shelter in place. No one is permitted to leave their home except to obtain foodstuffs, prescriptions or medical supplies, or to seek emergency medical service. If people have not realized it by now, they are putting their own lives and the lives of anyone they may come in contact with in mortal danger. Experts are now suggesting that up to 50% of the carriers of the virus are asymptomatic - not showing any symptoms of the disease - and are therefore unconsciously exposing and infecting others. That said, there are still those who are not taking this matter seriously and who continue to venture outside. Why? Nothing is open. Parks are closed. Restaurants and bars are closed. Events are postponed or canceled. So just stay inside at home. There is nothing worth putting your life and the lives of others in danger.

There are all sorts of things you can do so at home to pass the time. A few days ago I posted my own silver lining playbook, a list of things one can do while taking advantage of the time spent sheltering in place.
[http://lookingtowardportugal.blogspot.com/2020/03/my-own-silver-linings-playbook.html]
Today I want to focus on just one of these.

Back in the days before mandatory self-quarantining and shelter-in-place I was always trying to find time to catch up on my reading. Sure, I have been retired for the past 10 years and folks think my days are free to do whatever I want . . . read whatever I want. But such is not the case. It seems I have all sorts of things to do and never enough hours in the day. Reading for pleasure has always gotten the short end of the stick. Even though I am no longer career oriented, there are still professional articles, journals, magazine and books relative to my current work as an independent historian and research consultant. So there seldom seems to be time for anything else, and certainly not for the fiction and poetry I love.

Yet somehow, during these crazy days of sheltering in place, I am finding time to finally catch up with the books I have been wanting to read but for which I seldom had the time. I am working time into my schedule. Without direct access to archival materials and library sources, I have had to put my freelance research and consulting on a simmering back burner until the time comes when I can once again blow the dust off long buried primary historical records and documentation. I find I have the time to pick up a good piece of fiction or poetry and enjoy an hour or two (if not longer) of uninterrupted reading pleasure.

Surely you must have some books lying around for which you have never had proper time to read for enjoyment. Pick one of them up and make the time. We all have more of it on our hands these days. Stay inside and stay healthy. It’s better to be read than dead.