In The Weeds

Minecraft. That is what I remember from the earliest days of quarantine. My son set up a server and he and his sister played for hours with their friends. Every night we would hear them upstairs. It started with the energy of a vacation. They even gave me a copy of the game for my birthday in May. March 12, 2020, was a Thursday. It was the last full day of in-person school for my daughter and my wife in Waltham, and my son at Framingham State. Every day leading up to the 12th  seemed to be trying to out-shitshow the previous one. Things were spiraling rapidly downward in a way we had never experienced before.  I had first become aware of the coronavirus while reading a story on the Drudge Report website right before New Year’s. I remember a feeling of dread upon reading it and thinking “we will have to keep an eye on this story”. Then on January 23rd a new customer came into my shop and over the course of his visit, after shaking my hand,  he told me how he had been on th...

  Sweet syrup sitting on the table. The waitress brings it with the pancakes and cornbread. We love to sit at the crowded table at Joseph's and eat the butter-soaked pancake. The noise inside makes your head vibrate. This place is so busy the line stretches out the door and down to Main Street. It is a popular Sunday breakfast spot. It should be. They have the lightest and fluffiest pancakes in the city. Their red bliss home fries are pretty damn good too.  I miss going there. For the past year, we have not eaten inside a restaurant due to the pandemic. I cannot remember the last time we had breakfast at Josephs's as a family. I know the last fast food sandwich I had was a Big Mac at McDonald's the day we brought Cal home from the shelter. Since then we have ordered pizza a couple of times, Marios a couple of times, and Chinese food probably a dozen or more times. Also Mexican maybe three times. But sit inside? Nope.  They are progressing with opening things up in the sta...