Summer’s over. Pandemic’s not. No more easy porch socializing, outdoor dining, quasi-normal activities. My haunts are closed. I sing and act for audiences I can’t see or hear. My friends and family are socially distanced for my sake as well as theirs. When I do go out, my masks wreak havoc on my hair, and makeup is a thing of the past. I’m past the point where a year in my life can be easily sacrificed. I’m more at the “every moment counts” time; the time where you leave a film because it’s not really worth an hour and a half of precious time, where you dismiss non-reciprocal friendships because they take time that can be spent more pleasurably or valuably other ways, where the real question becomes how I want to spend my time and my life in this late season. An odd time to start a blog, you might think. Perhaps…but, as a phrase in one of my favorite songs (“It’s Still Spring” by the wonderful Amanda McBroom”) puts it, “I have songs yet to sing”. And oh, yes, I do, and I have stories to tell and experience to share. And, I want to share them with the people I love, and with the people I don’t yet know, but, hopefully, will.
I care deeply about what’s happening in the world, and I’m furious about what’s happening. I join marches when it’s possible, I listen, and I write. I write letters to the NY Times. They publish more of them than I think they well. I write for activist organizations, especially those concerned with the rights of women, on social media, I send petitions, postcards, letters, and make phone calls. I write plays. I’ve lived through history, and that makes me strong, and I try to pass that history on in my stories, my songs and my plays. I’ve seen the end of the world before, and lived through it, and I want to let my grandchildren, and all children know that they, too, can live through the end of the world, and change it, not just bring it back.
So, will I speak my mind? Definitely. Will I sing out? Everywhere I can, to whoever will listen. And, as to pandemic life, I’ll wear my mask, and wash my hands, and social distance to a degree, and hug my grandchildren from behind, and see my friends, the ones that feel safe coming out to see me, and I won’t embrace them, but I will love them. I’ll be careful, but I’ll live my life as fully as I can. Will I eat dessert? Oh, yes, I will! Will I go back to smoking cigarettes? Maybe. I’ve always missed them. But I won’t expose you to secondhand smoke, I promise.
So, why the blog? Simple. I’ve got songs yet to sing.