The other day, Carol was picking up after me (I should say she was whistling a merry tune as she did so), when she said, “I can’t imagine what this place would look like if you were a bachelor.” I have photos should she be interested in knowing.

Somewhere along the line, I developed the habit of having the TV on with the sound off. All day long, most days. I’m not watching TV, mind you. I’m usually reading or writing. It’s mostly sports that are on in normal, non-pandemic times. Especially baseball, since that tends to be televised all hours of the day and night.

W.C. Fields once returned to a bar following an evening of imbibing, and he asked the bartender, “Was I in here last night, and did I spend a 20 dollar bill?” When the bartender confirmed he had, Fields replied, “Good. I thought I’d lost it.”

The seal lay on its back, taking in the sights and sounds of the inlet, flippers lolling lazily out of the water, missing only a tiki drink by its side. Just ahead a dolphin frolicked in the inlet, breaching between the party cruisers and commercial boats offering their discounts for burials at sea, among other rental options.

Our governor here in California has declared a state of emergency over the recent outbreak of 23 major wildfires. Homes have been destroyed; air quality has deteriorated. Yesterday, the temperature hit 102, and our local utility has warned of rolling blackouts.

I should have seen this coming, but what can you say about a guy who’s always thought the oncoming train was the light at the end of the tunnel.

As I continue to age, I’m losing more and more hair. That’s only natural, and I have no problem with it. What I’m having increasing problems with is that the hair that I have left is becoming more and more annoying and irritating..

For Carol and me, irrational fears of coronavirus have replaced our irrational fears of dementia from what I like to call our “everyday” neuroses.

Board games have never mimicked real life, at least my real life. I have no history of wanting to be a tycoon that would have informed me of how to win at Monopoly. As far as Settlers  of Catan, had I ever been a real life settler, I’m quite sure I would have perished with the first frost.

I’ve come to realize that I’ve been living the dream for some time now. You’d think that being cut off from the amazing opportunity to travel abroad afforded to Carol and me courtesy of Delta Airlines’ Surviving Spouse benefits would leave me inconsolably frustrated, but it has not.