And here I thought Corona Virus was what you got when you drank too much Mexican beer!  Not to be confused with Montezuma’s Revenge, which is a water-based bacteria, not a virus, but certainly another reason to stay home.  Seriously, it’s nothing to scoff at, though we all need to maintain a sense of humor, and the editorial staff of The Skinny Island Post hope you all are heeding the CDC warnings here in the states, and the equivalent elsewhere in the world.  We truly all are in this together, as we always have been, but maybe that realization will stick and carry over this time.

It does make for some interesting observations, however.  Around these parts there are actually quite a few more folks out walking, jogging, and biking than we usually see.  That can be attributed in part to the absolutely fantastic weather we’ve enjoyed here on Skinny Island, which happened to coincide, come to think of it, with the realization that this pandemic was for real.  But it’s not just the weather.  People seem to be embracing the change in our lives, and making the most of it.  It’s like everybody is on an extended vacation, even the retirees, who are always on vacation.  That’s what I’m choosing to think, anyway.  It’s very engaging.  Long-time morning walk acquaintances still stop to say hello, but from a mutually accepted distance.  And the strangers we encounter almost comically give us a wide berth, but with a cheerful greeting.  Most, anyway.  Some eye us with heightened suspicion.  I made the mistake of coughing as I approached a 60-something couple a few days ago, and their collective glare could’ve melted cold wax.   “Boo!” I said, as we passed, a good eight feet apart.

The truth is, we’ve been living like this here at The Little Hacienda for years; the hunkered down, stay-at-home thing, I mean.  Sure, we used to have to go into town for work– we haven’t always lived carefree on the government dole– but even then it was go out, get it done, and get back home.  We rarely ate out; socialized even less; and cocooned our little hearts out.  We believe it’s the way to live; comfortable, and less disturbing of the universe, with unexpected benefits.  Chapter 47 of the Tao The Ching says it best:

Without going out of your door,
You can know the ways of the world.
Without peeping through your window,
You can see the Way of Heaven.
The farther you go,
The less you know.

Thus, the sage knows without traveling,
Sees without looking,
And achieves without Ado.

I first heard this little piece, with slightly different wording, when I lived in the attic of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house at Florida State University in 1968.  It was a song by George Harrison called “The Inner Light,” the B side of “Lady Madonna,” and as a result not too many people heard it.  It’s very Indian, of course, as that’s what George was into at the time, and quite lovely.  I didn’t know then, having not yet read the Tao, that it was a verse from that ancient text.  Imagine my joy when I did read it some years later.  Give the song a listen.

* * *

OK, as promised here’s the Garden Update.

We have prolific lettuce,

kale, Swiss chard, and spring onions,

cilantro, basil, and garlic,

and tomatoes and squash, which came up on their own in the compost we built since last summer.

Namaste from The Little Hacienda.  Stay safe, breathe, and look around.