Nuttier Than a Squirrel’s Turd

Autumn-time and the living is easy
Acorns are falling and the nuts are stored high
Your boar is rich and your sow is good looking
So hush, little kitten, don’t you cry

If I had had 2020 vision instead of 2020 hindsight, what would I have done differently this year? Probably not much. With all of the crazy bad things that have occurred so far this year, I have been blessedly immune, at least so far. I have not been sick (Knock on wood!), I am not in dire financial straits and no one has shot me either, always a win-win. I have gotten a little bit stir crazy, some might say nutty, but even there I have been luckier than most. For all of these things, I am truly thankful.

A daily deliverance and a real sanity check have been everyday walks together. Anne and I try to get out as much as we can. Early in this pandemic we were more apprehensive while strolling, always striving to find the least populated locales for our rambles. Inevitably though we would approach others. On a collision course, one had to be like the Picasso of passive-aggressive karate. Playing a game of chicken, while deciding whether to be the first to turn aside or wait for the other party to do the right thing. We always tried to yield to children, dogs and old people, of which we are among, but then the indifference of youth would often get my hackles up. Now while masked, we still practice avoidance, but without all of the previous angst.

While many have suffered the scourge of disease, many more have been beaten down by its ancillary economic effects. Many people have lost their livelihoods and now find themselves teetering upon the edge of a precipice, with nothing but an abyss to greet them. Meanwhile, finance bros for whom economics is nothing more than astrology peer into their crystal balls and predict a V-shaped recovery, while counting their portfolios, as their markets rebound, leaving others behind.

There is one script for this year and that is voting. With the coming election we can turn this country from the wrong track that it has been on for too long and put it on the right track again. You should get out and vote. Vote early, like I have, if you can, but vote. Remember, voting is like driving, R goes backward and D goes forward and who really wants to relive 2020 for four more years?