The tendency to watch COVID news for hours on end is not a great idea.

Though rightfully concerned about how this bug is spreading and affecting life, most of us who are writers and media folk tend to awfulize. We can be like Chicken Little always worried and shouting that the sky's-a-falling. This makes it quite difficult to be at ease while smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo. Especially when few of us smoke anymore, and the good Captain has been gone for decades.

Our imagination can create and destroy. Boredom can dull us out or inspire. Even though many of us have become re-familiarized with singing Yankee Doodle while rubbing soap bubbles on our hands to get a good 20-second wash, the good it does mixes with my concerns about the lyrics. Sticking a feather in his hat to resemble macaroni is strange enough but what about the directive "with the girls be handy." Did Harvey Weinstein write this part? I don't think modern women could cotton to those words. See what I mean about imagination and boredom? They can run away with you.

Seriously, nobody knows what the future will bring. A myriad of graphic models offer varying apocalyptic forecasts. One chart rises and peaks, another shows a flattening curve which encourages people to restrict their contact with others. There is no doubt that quarantining will help to mitigate the pandemic. It is something we can all do to participate in the community and personal fight to slow and end this thing. However, since the future is unknown, we must focus on and deal with our lives in the here and now. Catastrophizing isn't going to help anyone. And it is incumbent upon each of us to go the extra mile to help those in need during these times. In so doing, keep the elders in mind.

We are all stuck at home in our still largely unexplored, sequestered, coronavirus reality. For us retired and semi-retired elders, the transition is perhaps less jolting than for our younger counterparts. At least as far as routines are concerned. Canceled meetings, closed restaurants, shuttered theatres, and cessation of other social gatherings are things we all miss. The sting most painful for elders is this distancing part. It stops us from seeing and hugging kids, grandkids, family members and dear friends. Like everyone else, we will adjust. But it would be nice if special, daily efforts were made to connect by phone. Email and messages are great, but we will do better if your live voices reach our ears.

Meanwhile, the deck of 51 is calling for another game of solitaire.

Wait a minute. I discovered Captain Kangaroo episodes on YouTube.  Sure enough, Captain, Mister Moose, Bunny Rabbit, and Mr. GreenJeans are there for my viewing distraction. Now, if I only had a Marlboro…