Day 504: January 25

1918 Influenza Pandemic Day 504 You read it right--504th day of the pandemic. But it's not ours in 2022 but theirs, or rather your family's at that point, in 1920, a half-thousand days into the influenza pandemic. Let's match your family's life then to you and your family's life now. Warnings: I want you to be sitting down when you read this. Also, put away any light, throwable objects that … [Read more...]

Twice Rhymed: November 2–2021 and 1919

The past makes sounds in history. These sounds rhyme. Yes. These sounds repeat. No, no, and no. Today, across the 102 years spanning 2021 and 1919, we'll hear two rhymes of pandemic. I want you to remember the pair of rhymes as you move from this year now (the present) to this year next (the future). Please follow below for just a few minutes as I guide you through image and text. ...the … [Read more...]

Wave Two–From 2020 To 1918: November 19

Gettysburg 1918 Now And Today, November 19, 2020 The mud sticks to your shoes. Hard to walk in the gray shadows between sun and night, night and sun. Can't remember which they are. You try to scrape the mud off by rubbing one shoe against the other. A few steps and stop. A few steps and stop. The third time you realize something. The ground you're walking on is getting softer and wetter and … [Read more...]

TTP: The Pandemic Presidents

POTUS 45 and POTUS 28 They are the Pandemic Presidents, Donald J. Trump and T. Woodrow Wilson. We'll get to that in a minute. First, I'd like you to go back and breathe in the early winter air of late 2016. That's when I got the first whiff, invisible yet detectable. Time tracks forward, in a line from one minute to the next, one day to the next, and on we go. In reality, though, time flows … [Read more...]

A Year Ahead

The fog of the future A pandemic afflicted Americans in 1918. The worst of it was in the fall, especially October. By year's end, the worst was behind them. They looked forward to a new year, the next year, the future in its first frame. We do the same thing in 2020. Ready and eager to leave this year behind us, we anticipate 2021. In a recent speech delivered online, POTUS 45 Donald J. … [Read more...]

The Lost Holidays Of 1918 And 2020

Erased, wiped out, altered to a great extent. Our tradition and celebration of two holidays have been deeply affected by the pandemic. It's a shame. These words describe the influenza pandemic of 1918 and the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. Let's take a closer look at the two pairs of days that usually help track our year. The holidays 1918: Halloween and Thanksgiving 2020: Memorial Day … [Read more...]