FIVE MORE DAYS
Jan 15
It’s cold and damp here in Northern New Jersey, and that goes with my mood I’m afraid. Trying to get a time slot to get a vaccine is like trying to get tickets to see, oh, I don’t know, the Rolling Stones, on Ticketmaster. Would any of us want to see the Rolling Stones anymore? Not me, I don’t think; though I was pleasantly surprised a few years back at a Crosby, Stills and Nash concert at Monmouth University that David Crosby, the poster child for self abuse, hadn’t lost his voice. And right now I would pretty much LOVE to see ANYONE live, in concert. Theater would be good too. So, I will dutifully wait for my vaccine and hit refresh a few thousand times tomorrow, the next day and the next.
Something else not to do on a dreary January afternoon, less than a week after the siege on the United States Capitol, is attend a webinar on synagogue security in advance of the inauguration, but that’s where I found myself, learning about the threat of domestic terrorists. I am feeling both weirdly reassured that there are seemingly intelligent people working on this and completely distressed simultaneously. Webinar is one of those not really new, but kind of, words that’s now a permanent part of the lexicon, and better to be distressed on my sofa than to have to go somewhere to become upset.
Meantime, Martin Luther King Day, I mistyped and wrote Kind instead of King and very much like that, falls between now and the 20th. Its genesis could hardly be more tragic. Despite the sorrow of its origins, it’s my favorite secular holiday. I’m not sure why, but I think it has to do with both the reflective and aspirational quality of the day– a fitting prequel to this year’s inaugural.
The inauguration is Wednesday!!! I so want to get to Wednesday. The term of the worst president of my lifetime will be over. I cannot be the only one finding even Lynne Cheney palatable this week. I’m still so nervous that who knows what will happen between now and Wednesday, but I am hopeful, and cautiously optimistic that starting Wednesday things will begin to improve.
And I’m grateful for all of us in ALTE world. Community means a lot. Esther, Larry and I love being in conversation with you. We hope you will join the ALTE Facebook group, check out the website and send your submissions for the next issue of ALTE. The theme is “the house I live in.” If you are not currently receiving ALTE, and would like to, and/or to submit poems, short prose pieces or fiction, email us at altetogether@gmail. com. We can’t wait to hear from you.
Stay well and safe until next time,
Jessica, Larry and Esther