4/4 Covid-19 Update: You just call on me brother, when you need a hand
I was driving down to Seward Park Wednesday evening and playing an old playlist of random songs and "Lean on Me" by Bill Withers came on (full disclosure, the song was on the playlist because I used to sing it every morning to my cat, Francis, when I first got him because he has three legs and I thought it was funny). Singing along at the top of my lungs brought me a lot of joy, and I thanked Bill for his company and voice and lyrics and made a mental note to include the song in a covid email. Yesterday, his family announced that he had died on Monday in LA from heart complications. I really can't remember the last time I thought about Bill Withers before this week, and he definitely wouldn't have come to mind if that song hadn't been on, but it was strange to read that news right after thinking about him.
I know we've all probably heard the song a million times, but I recommend giving it a fresh listen if you have time this weekend. I know I've said so many times in this newsletter that we need to rely on each other during this time even if it's new and uncomfortable, and I had to figure out how to try to follow my own advice this week... to swallow my pride, and ask friends to fill some needs I don't normally like showing. The stress of work (and the state of the world) was getting to me, even if I was trying to pretend that it wasn't, and I had the worst panic attack I've had in a really long time. Laying on the bathroom floor, it was easy to come up with all the reasons I couldn't/shouldn't ask for help - everyone I know is suffering in some way right now, everyone's "help" reserves are limited, and I didn't know exactly what I needed. But even though it was 4:30 in the morning in DC, my friend Cassie still answered when I called, and I immediately felt less alone. And I think that might be what "help" looks like right now. We might not be able to step into each other's circumstances, but we can share each other's burdens.
Recommended viewing:
Bill Gates is going to be on Fox News Sunday tomorrow talking to Chris Wallace about coronavirus.
Chris Murray, the guy in charge of putting together the covid models that the White House recently started using, will be on Face the Nation on CBS (so will St. Anthony Fauci). :)
Ways to help:
Bookshop.org: A new online sales platform that makes it easy to buy books from Indie bookstores instead of Amazon. Also, Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman, hosts of the podcast Call Your Girlfriend, have a new book coming out that seems perfect for these times. Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close is about "about investing in your friendships and staying emotionally connected despite hardship and physical distance... what it really takes to stay close for the long haul."
showWalove.org: A project run by the Washington Tourism Alliance where people can find a way to support their favorite local businesses by purchasing gift cards for future use.
Recommended reading:
Between February 28 and March 27, travel in Seattle fell from an average of 3.8 miles to 61 FEET. An article in the NYT that shows how difference in state's stay at home orders have impacted travel patterns: "The divide in travel patterns, based on anonymous cellphone data from 15 million people, suggests that Americans in wide swaths of the West, Northeast and Midwest have complied with orders from state and local officials to stay home. Disease experts who reviewed the results say those reductions in travel — to less than a mile a day, on average, from about five miles — may be enough to sharply curb the spread of the coronavirus in those regions, at least for now...But not everybody has been staying home."
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