Taking cover from a deadly pathogen

My wife and I walk down the church isle in Westbrook, Maine 30 years ago.

AUBURN, Maine — A deadly pathogen known as Covid-19 is knocking the hell out of humanity — and no nation is immune to this unrelenting scourge.

The United States, like many nations, is in the midst of a health crisis, which is an understatement.  Yeah, this is the big one and this worldwide pandemic has been in the making for 100 years, and now it has come to a theater near you. 

The Blasi family has been hunkering down at home, where we now both work. My wife is a teacher and I am sports journalist for several publications. It is has been a dark, cold spring, but it is difficult to look forward to the summer when people of all ages are dying around the planet.

We are lucky and safe — for the moment — and I don’t take that for granted.

There are 376 cases of Covid-19 in Maine and a handful of Pine Tree State residents have died. 

The sports world no longer exists and most of my stories have become Coronavirus-related. Read the column I wrote l about a sportswriter who longs to be back on the road covering high-school baseball, lacrosse and track. But my world has disappeared for a moment as fans across the planet mourn the loss of pro sports.

Here is the link: https://www.sunjournal.com/2020/04/01/timeout-missing-that-human-touch/

People in the U.S. are dying at an alarming rate, first responders are crying for relief and supplies, and millions of Americans are out of work as the world’s economy takes a nosedive into oblivion.

There is plenty of blame to go around after the U.S. appeared to ignore the warning sighs and got behind the eight ball. The people in charge should have understood the horrifying implications of what was transpiring in Wuhan, China. Other nations should have also mobilized instead of brushing off this deadly, infectious germ as a fluke. Back here, some leaders have called it hoax and have refused to order shelter in place.

Turn on the news in America and and your eyes will well up as nurses and doctors, who are also being infected, plead for masks and respirators as the body count continues to soar.

Everybody should understand to keep their distance and remain at home to stop this pathogen’s from jumping from host to host. This isn’t the common cold and the life you save may be your own — if you remain at home.

The three of us are going stir crazy and a trip to the gas station or grocery store is like a mini vacation. My heart goes out to all human beings around the globe.

Five days ago, Terri and I celebrated 30 years of a good, strong and health marriage.

I am still looking forward to another 30 years with my wife and son. So do the right thing and remain at home for the sake of all of humanity.

American writer and humorist Mark Twain had it right when he said: “Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”

It is OK to smile after reading Twain’s sage advice.

A fine how do you do from Old Man Winter

"Maine is a joy in the summer. But the soul of Maine is more apparent in the winter." 

Paul Theroux

 AUBURN — Winter left its calling card two days before the new year arrived.

Old Man Winter wanted to assure residents of New England that he was still in the neighborhood and doesn’t like to be forgotten.

The weather guys and gals got this wrong again, but that is nothing new when it comes to Maine’s fickle forecasters.

Of course, weather reports varied just like Trump’s inane Tweets. We were on the receiving end of 19 whopping inches of snow in western Maine. It took 15 minutes with two guys (me and my son) manning  shovels to clear the walkway to the street.

It is miserable, heavy snow that puts your heart through a stress test.

But, and I hate to say this, we needed the white stuff after a summer drought that I had never witnessed in my lifetime.

For the morons who don’t believe in global warming, it was the hottest year ever on the planet, and if we continue to treat the globe like a toilet, watch Florida disappear thanks to rising tides due to a melting polar ice cap. I can’t fix stupid and I fear for the environment when an uninformed and inept presidency is sworn in at the White House on Jan. 20.

China is creating 10 miles of desert each year because of its neglect of its natural resources. You have to ask yourself what is the sense of being an economic powerhouse if a nation can’t drink its water due to rampant pollution. I guess having a fat wallet can justify ignorance.

Anyway, enjoy the snow and Old Man Winter’s chilly touch as we head into another year.

Pay dirt

"A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust."

Gertrude Jekyll

AUBURN — I spent the afternoon playing in dirt like a child enjoying himself being caked in mud.

Dirt is cool stuff. Life comes from it, and as General Electric used to say in its commercials, they bring good things to life.

So don't I!

Carefully cultivated soil is life. During the winter, I have fed my loyal worms and hungry soil orange, potato and banana skins, along with wood ash. In the summer, I am like mole, digging potholes throughout my garden to bury scraps like egg shells and coffee grinds.

We are just a few weeks away from the growing season in New England. Nothing like fresh summer vegetables, and I grow the best stuff right here in my community. My tomatoes taste like sweet pares with little acidity that you get in the store-bought stuff

But if it wasn't for this beautiful dirt, I would have to rely on a grocery store to purchase vegetables from distant states.

No thanks. That's like buying fish from China. Really!

Right about now, some knucklehead is saying to himself, "Who has got the frigging time for this crap."

Hence the word — knucklehead.

Shut the frigging TV off and go outside and look what Mother Nature handed you in your own backyard. Start gardening and I guarantee you will loose weight and feel better, as well getting in touch with the Neanderthal side of your origins.

What do you mean you don't have time. Stay off Facebook and ignore Twitter and you will have time to get your damn hands dirty and get a good dose of vitamin D. The end result will be produce that is not tainted by pesticides.

The warm days that have finally arrived draw me to my yard and garden that is in dire need of tilling.

Terri and I teamed up to plant fresh lettuce in pots and decided to grow it inside our back porch, which faces the sun and often acts like a plant nursery. We laughed and discussed Anthony's night out at the prom as we plunged our hands into a fresh bag of potting soil. We also purchased Swiss chard and sun flower seeds and planted them as well in small trays. The sun flowers are Russian giants that grow to 10 feet tall.

We also spent some money on buying three new raspberry plants, which I immediately planted next to my blueberry bushes. 

In the next few days, I will knock on my next-door neighbor's door and ask to him use his industrial tiller. This beast tears apart everything in its path, aerating the soil and turning weeds into fertilizer. My lawn needs mowing every five days thanks to May's monsoons, but the grass, which offers nitrogen, is bagged and dumped the garden to smother weeds on the soil floor.

But it all comes back to good dirt that can nurtured a productive garden.

Thanks to a cold and relentless winter, the ground is still cold, but after the last weekend in May, the time will be right to plant a garden.

That's when I get down and dirty.