In a world that has gone topsy-turvy with COVID-19 running rampant throughout we are now practising “physical distancing” to help slow
the rate of infection in our community. As we used to say in the
navy we are “confined to barracks”. Fortunately, it is still
acceptable to go outdoors and walk in the neighbourhood provided that
one maintains a separation of six feet from any individual they may
encounter on their walk. So, other than our walks in the area we have
been spending a lot of time at home.
It's been
a long time since I have read a book but with a lot of time on my
hands lately I looked for something that I thought might be of interest to me. The book I selected was Bill Bryson's The Body: A Guide
for Occupants. It has been an excellent choice. A great read just
full of interesting facts and marvels of the incredibly complex
vessel that is each of us. It is written in a way and at a level that a
poor uneducated soul such as I can understand and enjoy.
This
morning I finished the chapter "When Things Go Wrong:
Diseases". The chapter ends with these words of Michael
S. Kinch, PhD of
Washington University in St. Louis:
“The
fact is we are really no better prepared for a bad outbreak today
than we were when Spanish flu killed tens of millions of people a
hundred years ago. The reason we haven't had another experience like
that isn't because we have been especially vigilant. It's because we
have been lucky.”
A
keen precognitive observation by Dr. Kinch. Clearly, our luck has run out.
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