Barbara Ehrentreu's Blog: Rising from the Ashes, page 2

April Poem A Day Days 6&7

April is moving along and it already Day 7. So I am posting the poems I wrote for these. You can also read these on Facebook.
Intro

Day 7
Prompt: Write a poem about luck or not having it

Am I Lucky?
Growing up I heard all these songs
Saying you didn’t need much to be happy
Luck was getting what you needed
Finding a good home and a good partner
Bringing children into the world who will enrich it
Making enough money to live comfortably
I didn’t expect to win anything
Or find the gold at the end of the rainbow
Though many times I was tempted to try my luck
I didn’t win the jackpot
And at the gambling tables I lost all my money
Yet there were times when I did win
Maybe a few scratch off lottery tickets
And maybe a couple of contests
Where my poems won a prize
Or maybe the time when my screenplay won first prize
But I didn’t consider these luck
Just recently I won a prize in an international contest
Was that luck or skill?
I consider myself lucky to have found a wonderful man
Whose love sustained me for almost forty-nine years
And who gave me two beautiful and loving children
But his luck gave out too soon
And he didn’t survive the last onslaught to his body
And maybe being able to put my thoughts into words
Is lucky so everyone can see how I feel
And sometimes people can imagine feeling the same way
I am lucky to know so many people who appreciate this.
Copyright 2024 by Barbara Ehrentreu

Day 6
Prompt: Write a minimum poem
Description of a SAINO
I am not a minimimalist poet
My thoughts usually come out in droves
And I have to tame them to fit on the page
So I was intrigued by this form
Having written haiku I have squeezed my thoughts
Into 5-7-5
But here I could use more syllables
I tried it and fell in love with this form
Where you can write three lines or
Stanzas of three lines to create a poem cluster
How much emotion I could fit into these three lines
Of 7-8-9
And I thanked the inventor for creating this ingenious form
Where you can write about anything or anyone
In such a short way
SAINO changed my life
And my writing
For now it is somehow more succinct
After being condensed into such a small space
Copyright 2024 by Barbara Ehrentreu

Day 6
SAINO # 83, 84, 85,86
7-8-9
Free verse
The SAINO is a new form
It comes from Nepal from a man
Named Khemlal Pokhrel the inventor.
He wanted to give poets
A way to express their feelings
In a short and expressive manner.
Using any rhyme they could
Or free verse if one wanted to
Write it without any rhyme at all.
Try it if you want to see
How easy it is to write it
Use seven – eight-nine syllables now.
Copyright 2024 by Barbara Ehrentreu

Until the next time. Keep writing and please show me some of your poems. Comment on here or put them on Facebook.

We are up to Day 5 of Poem A Day and I have written over...

 We are up to Day 5 of Poem A Day and I have written over 5 poems. For some days I have three or four poems. Today I have only one so far. 

The prompt is: Tell--------

Here is my poem for today:

Until the next time, I hope you are writing too. Please share your writing here in the comments.

PAD Days 2 and 3

Yes, the time got away from me and I didn't post Day 2. So here are both days. Happy poeming to all!! Hope you are enjoying April, though here all it has done is rain. And somehow March is lingering with the wind.

Just a heads up for all authors who might want to be interviewed. I am starting my blog interviews in May and will keep the post up for 2 weeks. So let me know if you are interested. Put it in the comments.

Now for the poems.
Day 2
Prompt: Write a happy and/or a sad poem

Why Am I Happy?
If you ask me I’ll say I’m happy.
If you examine my life you might ask why
When so much of my life is gone
And the one I loved is laying
Probably dissipated into the
Waters of the Atlantic Ocean
Off the coast of New Jersey

But life has given me my children
A funny, incorrigible and delightful dog
And the ability to write my thoughts down
Whenever the occasion calls – like now
So yes, I am happy and can augh at a moment’s notice
I take each day as it comes
Eager to find what is new

I gather good moments together in a box
And the box is full of Post its documenting these
There is war everywhere and biological horrors
Children are starving and dying and bombs are being dropped
But still I give thanks for my peaceful life
Broken up sometimes by medical problems
Or anger at ridiculous and petty things

Still, I am happy and hopeful
That soon all will be better in the world
I pray each day for peace
To knit together all the broken pieces of our world
So, we can all experience the joys of sitting still
Or being able to read and go about our business
in the comfort of freedom and dignity

I am happy to be where I am
Eat the food that I have
Live the comfortable life we all deserve
And my happiness comes from being able to do this
And yes, I feel guilty that not everyone can
But right now I can and though I pray all will be able to have peace
I am taking advantage of the short time I have left in this world to be happy.
Copyright 2024 by Barbara Ehrentreu
Day 3
Prompt: Write about a musical act or a musician

Taylor Swift

Her music delighted me as I listened to
“Love Story”in the car on the radio
Captured me with its words and music
And from that first listening I was hooked

Later songs I absorbed into myself
Creating a desire to see and hear her in person
And to my delight we did do that
Saw her in giant venues with thousands of people
And every time the experience became a delight

Her music infuses into my soul, sometimes
As she writes about her life and sad love stories
And she brings me into the music
As if she were singing only for me
Yet I know I am surrounded by the thousands
Who all feel the same way

What is it about this musician that makes people feel
They are getting an individual concert?
Her music is both simple and complex
You want to hum and sing the words immediately
Older songs settle into you like you found friends
She brings something new to each time she performs
And she seems to care about every listener

More than that is her attention to detail
In her songs and her concerts
The sets and costumes enhance her music
Which is always the center of her existence
For when she stands with only a guitar
And sings as if she were in a coffee house
In a giant statdium – it’s magic

Her voice is simple and compelling
The lyrics grab you almost every time
And after the song is over you feel bereft
Of her warmth, style, compassion and overall talent
She is the essence of a true star
And she uses her power for good
As she urges all to go out and vote
Politics is an integral part of her
And she applies her clout to this
Hoping to steer the young people who listen
To be responsible and vote

And in her gentle and persuasive way she does that
With her velvet hammer of goodness
Spreading her smiling presence over the world
And creating a group of loyal fans so strong
And very powerful
But at her concerts there is only peace and love
And the joy of seeing and listening to Taylor Swift
Copyright 2024 by Barbara Ehrentreu



Day 3

Jason Isbell

In his voice are the smoky bar nights
And the sadness of overcome addiction
It barrels through me as I listen
Plaintive with a touch of a southern twang
From his home state of Alabama
And yet he sings of everyday things
His songs bring you into lives
You may not have ever seen

People who are broken or sad
Memories of good and bad times
Well and sick people and those who are gone
Tugging on you to follow him wherever he sings
With his guitar slung across his body
And his amazing talented fingers playing it

Some of his songs are too much for me
There is one I know so well the opening chords
Open up a well of sadness
“Vampires” has a man thinking about the future
And how a couple’s love will last for a long time.
“Maybe we’ll get forty years together. One day I’ll be gone. One day you’ll be gone”*
Those lines cut a hole into my heart
And dredge up the sadness I keep so tightly hidden
For my husband and I had forty-eight years together
And when that line comes my eyes fill with tears
when I first heard them, uncontrollable sobbing.

Music can do that to me and his does often
With that song and in concert I have been with my daughters
Who look over at me when the song is played
Am I okay? And one or both will hold my hand
To show they care and give me strength

Funny how one song can bring back all the pain
Copyright 2024 by Barbara Ehrentreu

https://genius.com/Jason-isbell-and-t...

I hope you are writing at least a poem a day this April but if you aren't don't feel bad. At least I am writing and I'm sharing them with you.

Also want to remind people that I have a book just published: If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor...: https://www.amazon.com/If-Could-Like-... might make you smile a little as you relive high school days. Or you can give it to your teen.

Until the next time, keep writing and enjoying your life.

April Poem A Day Begins

Every April is Poetry Month when you try to write at least one poem a day. For me it sometimes turns into three poems a day and I post in various places. This year I will be posting my poems here, on Facebook on my page and maybe in Poeming Friends. Here is my first poem. Very excited and if you want to join me in this you can go here:

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-b...

April Poem A Day
Day 1
Prompt: Write a poem about optimism and beginnings

Beginnings
Before anything begins there is energy
Floating around in the atmosphere of my life
A palpable feeling of excitement fills my mind
As if bubbles had formed and like champagne
They collect and when the time
For beginnings arrives they explode
From my body as tiny shivers of expectation

Collect in my stomach as butterflies
And surround me with the most gossamer threads
Of hope and wonderment
Everything is new and fresh
The moment is a blank slate
Upon which you can write events
Yet to come and I take a deep breath

Pick up the pen of my life
And start to scribble as fast as I can
So it all gets on there
But in these moments
I am not thinking only acting

Funny how the bubbles are only there
For an instant but they carry me through
As I continue to write my story
And I know that afterward
I will look back on this time
And wonder if the excitement of this beginning
Exceeded the actual experience of
Being part of it and will ponder this
Thought as my fingers tap letters
To record those feelings.
Copyright 2024 by Barbara Ehrentreu

Until the next time. Please comment with your own poems if you want to share. Also, I am going to start interviewing authors here. So, please let me know if you want to be part of this. Contact me on here or on Facebook messenger. I am:
BarbaraJEhr on Facebook.

Republishing my book

Many of you have been published by a traditional t a year publisher and may or may not have been in my position. My book, If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor, was published in 2011 by MuseItUp Publishing as an ebook and later as a paperback. Three years ago my publisher sent me back the manuscripts on Word docs and told me she was going out of business. I had the rights to the text but not to the cover. So I went looking for a publisher for my book.

If you look on Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/If-Could-Like-... to see the rating and the reviews you will see they are very favorable. I have twenty-seven good reviews through the years. However, no publisher would do it. So I had to go with KDP Amazon, which gave me a good deal and threw in a free cover. I couldn't resist that and paid a little bit to get it republished.

We spent almost a year getting it done due to the fact that we couldn't decide on a cover. The one I had was not mine and I didn't like the morose girl on it. So we went back and forth and finally found the one I liked. Happy to say the editing of this book by Nancy Bell and Penny Ehrenkranz was so good there didn't need to be any changes at all to the original story. We did make it international print so now it has a Table of Contents and things have been moved a little bit.

Now I am happy to say the book has been launched in person and online and it is available on not only Amazon but Barnes and Noble and other outlets including maybe your local bookstore. I am extremely happy that the book has risen from the ashes.

As the years went by I have written two sequels to it and it is now the first book of The Mill Valley High series. If you notice in the 2nd edition there is the first chapter of the second book in the series: Who Is Jennifer Taylor? which is not published yet but will be soon. In the meantime, I included that in the book and it is also available on Kindle Vella for free. I may be putting more chapters on Kindle Vella so check it out.

I have synced my old blog to this one, so if you were a fan of my blog: Barbara's Meanderings, this is the same person who did that blog. I have my last posting here when I updated it in 2021. Lots of time has passed since then and I thought I would let other people know about the book being available again.

Until the next time hope you are reading and writing and publishing if that's what you want to do. All publishing is cool now.

This is a photo of me during my birthday dinner this summ...

This is a photo of me during my birthday dinner this summer. I was surprised by the sparkler on my tiny cake. So much fun and I saw my family too. Over the summer I also received the Indian Independence Day Award from Gujarat Sahitya Academy again. I am very proud to be a two-time winner of this very prestigious award. Here is what it looks like from last year. We didn't receive our individual awards yet.

During this year my focus has been mainly my computer and my family. Lately, my world has expanded and just as I feel I can go back to normal there is a new strain of Covid that is going to dampen my outlook and make me worry again. I spent months worrying and then got my shots and now my booster shot and thought I could go out again. Yesterday, I went to my Greenwich Pen Women Holiday luncheon. This was the first one we have had in two years. I saw all my friends and hugged them with and without a mask. We all had to show proof of vaccination before we could come. That is the way of the world these days. So I thought all would be okay. Then I went home and read about omicron, the new variant. Today there is news that this variant is now in the United States. We decided to move our theater tickets to another date, while they figure out how to combat this one. So it's back to online everything again for awhile. I have learned to tutor online and to have meetings online and speak to friends on Facetime. But there is nothing like hugging your friend. Yesterday was wonderful and seeing all of the people I have known for so long in person was the best. We have all learned to live with masks. We had them on and took them off and then when there were too many people we put them back on again. Masks have become so normal that people are using them as accessories. Also, the way people use them is interesting. Some hold them in their hands and some put them on a wrist and others wear them on their chins. But wearing a mask is a sign that you care about people and your own health. So having one is important if you are going out. You never know when you will need your mask. Sometimes, I walk out of the car without my mask and pretend that everything is the same. But then I get to the store and have to put it on. Actually, I usually put on my mask in the car and walk to the store with it on. It's better to be safe than sorry.

On another note, my publisher went out of business. So I have to find a way to republish my books. I spoke with someone in the business today and I am probably going to republish with Amazon or Ingraham. So, anyone who loved my books, they will be available again for readers ages 10 and up. Unfortunately, I don't think I can get them out for Christmas, but please expect the new and improved version of If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor with a new cover soon. I am hoping to publish the entire Mill Valley High series by next year. But if you are interested in reading a bit of it you should click here for a free chapter. 

I didn't have a November show, because there was too much to do that month. I am doing my annual Holiday show this year on December 23, 2021 at 4pm Eastern time. If you were a guest of mine during this last year or past years you are invited to be on this show. Please prepare a holiday story to read. For my listeners this is probably the best show of the season. Everyone reads a holiday story or poem and we all enjoy ourselves very much. Here is the link to last year's Christmas show:

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/booksandentertainment/2020/12/24/welcome-to-the-books-and-entertainment-tales-from-the-pages-holiday-show-2020

Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate. We have two menorahs this year. One is the traditional one and one is made out of cloth. You insert the candles into the fabric menorah. It hangs on the hall closet door and it's fun. 

Anyway, hope you are all staying safe, and remember to wear your mask. 

Until the next time. Thank you to anyone who has checked to see if I wrote anything new. You are all awesome. 

Hi friends. The photo is from the summer. It's been ove...

 Hi friends.  The photo is from the summer.

It's been over a year since I have posted and what a year this has been! I won't go into everything but it has been a year that I hope I never have to live again. I have received all of my vaccinations and I am free to go outside. Yet I still worry, because my daughters, who live with me, are not completely vaccinated. One had her first shot this Friday, and what an experience that was. 

I went with her and so did my older daughter in the car to Lord and Taylor's parking lot. We had to go into a certain entrance and we were in traffic waiting to go. Traffic was directed by a National Guard officer and then we went up into the parking lot where lanes of cones denoted where we could drive. National Guard officers directed us there too. After almost an hour of waiting we were directed to the place where they could speak with us. My other daughter had tried to schedule her appointment but at the exact moment that both of my daughters were scheduling their appointments the computers on the scheduling end went down and so they only got one of my daughters appointment. My other daughter had come hoping to persuade them to give her a shot but it didn't work. She was not happy but she managed to schedule one for tomorrow. So that is good. 

Getting the shot was fast and then we were directed to move through to another place where someone put this box on our car and then at the place we had to wait the designated fifteen minutes afterward to see if you have any reactions. My daughter barely felt anything and then did not have any real after effects. 

I got mine back in the beginning of March and I couldn't move my arm above my head both times for a day or two. But the second time the injection site got red and my arm got swollen and red to the elbow. It went away after a day. No other real symptoms except both times I felt tired and cranky. LOL

During this year I have also published another poetry book The Child Poet unfortunately not under my name but I co-authored and the other author published it without my knowledge. It is a wonderful book for children so please check it out. I have also been baking a lot and have rediscovered my love for this. 

April has ushered in National Poetry Month and I have been writing at least a poem a day. I have gotten out of the habit of writing this blog and since I am so busy otherwise I may not write another post for awhile. But I thought I would connect with anyone who is still reading this and will share with my new friends who do not know this side of me. 

I think poetry has kept me sane these months, since I could write whenever it got to be too much. And there has been so much that has happened that it was hard to keep quiet. Physically, there was the fear in the beginning and the constant vigilance to be safe. Hand washing has caused my hands to be dry and scaly and lotion doesn't help that much when you are washing your hands too many times to count. Using hand sanitizer also affects your hands. But everything is better than being exposed to this disease. Cardboard has come to be my enemy. Packages have to sit awhile or else you need to wash your hands after touching them. We get a lot of packages, since we have been doing all of our shopping online including groceries. I have ventured into a few stores in the last week and it has been a very enlightening experience. What I used to enjoy has become a stressful task. I am still wearing a mask in public and I am waiting for the day when I can safely go unmasked everywhere.

I have done a lot of live things online with my new friends and that is what I feel is the best thing to have come out of this. I have met so many wonderful and creative people through my position as Regional Director of the West of Motivational Strips. Connecting through writing and poetry is the best and making friendships with people who are halfway across the world is an awesome adventure. As a result of so many in person Zoom meetings too, I have become very comfortable on live videos. This has made me think that perhaps I might want to try doing a video version of my radio show. But that is a topic that has yet to be discussed with my network. But I have also been a guest on several interview shows.

On the writing side I have so many new poems I am thinking of publishing another book soon. And I am almost finished with the second sequel to If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor, The Mill Valley High Five. I am hoping to make this a series: If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor, Who Is Jennifer Taylor? The Mill Valley High Five as the Mill Valley series. Right now I am on Chapter 30 and hope I get to the end. 

I have an idea but I am not sure when the end will come. I have a feeling it will be very soon. I never know when I'm going to end a book until the writing stops. For me that is the end.

So hope you all had a Happy Easter and a Happy Passover. Our Passover was just for the three of us and we did a whole dinner. Or let me say, I did a whole dinner and also shopped for a little of it in real stores. Then I did the cooking and the cleaning up afterward. My daughters helped a little but for the most part it was me. I was happy to do it, because it is important to have traditions. I usually spend that time with family but my family couldn't come. But as we read the Haggadah and the old words were said I truly felt that it was very important to have a Seder this year. We have gone through so much and we are in a way like the Jews who were forced to leave their land. We were forced into our homes and many things were forbidden to us for a long time. We had a terrible oppressive leader that we needed to remove and we did that. Unfortunately, the venom he sewed was not that easily removed so we had January 6th. That is a day I will never forget.

January 6th and September 11th were two of the worst days I have ever spent. Add in the one where I saw George Floyd killed and the very worst day when my husband passed away. I felt grief for our country and sadness that a monument to democracy had been desecrated and lives were lost. But I am thankful that despite all of the violence and chaos we finally were able to have a new president. And now life has gone back to a more relaxed pace and I can have faith that a sane person is at the head of our government and will keep our country safe and running. It makes me feel better and I can sleep a little better most times.

What I learned from all of this is that nothing is going to last and we have to keep being vigilant to protect ourselves and our democracy. The same kind of vigilance we are now using to protect ourselves from the Covid-19 virus should be given to watching our government by every person in this country. We can't be complacent that all will turn out okay. We have to be making sure that it stays the way we want it to stay.

So that's it for now. I still have my radio show but it has a new name: Books and Entertainment Tales from the Pages. It is still on the 4th Thursday of every month at 4pm Eastern time. If you miss it you just click on the link on my page and you will hear it. My next show has two great authors: Roberta Seret and Michelle Burns. Check this out. 

Until the next time I hope all of you are vaccinated soon and that very soon our world can go back to normal. I leave you with a poem I just wrote about this:

What Does the Future Hold?For me it means walking outside without a maskAnd meeting my friends for lunchHaving meetings in person and not on ZoomThings I never dreamed would be wishes a year agoPummeled by the onslaught of so much in so little timeI have craved the idea of being normal againAs if it were an exotic elixir never to be drunkMy thoughts have caressed it as a forbidden dreamAnd though that dream is almost a realityMy brain does not completely believe it is a truthFor why should we trust when all trust has been tarnished?Our future is brighter now than a year agoand as we converse about a subject never conjured before -- vaccination status -- I picture a time when this will be a fun memory to discuss as we all laugh about the time we had to wear masks and were shut in our house for 6 months and had to wash our hands so much they were red and scaly and even lotion didn't helpWhat does the future hold?I only hope the future will allow our children to live the liveswe hoped and prayed they would haveand the world will finally accept that peace is the only wayfor us to live togetherThough if we don't act soon there will be little left for our future generations. Really as I think about it, I hope the future holds bright days and more friends and lots of writing.Copyright 2021 by Barbara Ehrentreu

IS stock from The Hour...

                                   IS stock from The Hour Detroit

I meant to write on Wednesday but I was unable to find the time. I wound up having a very full day. First, a student needed to be tutored and I got approached on my tutoring app to do it. I haven't tutored all year so I did it and the lesson went well. We scheduled a lesson for today and tech was not kind. First the girl couldn't see the whiteboard and then all of a sudden the sound on my end cut out. I had been using a computer but that wasn't working. So I switched to my iPad and that was worse. Finally, since it was obviously a problem on my end, we rescheduled for Monday. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly. 

So it's weird getting all dressed up from the waist up. I put on makeup to hide my scary eye scars. I had to had eyelid reduction surgery this summer and it made me look freaky for awhile. Now they are almost back to normal but without makeup they look scary red. So makeup, a decent top and fix my hair. On the bottom I'm wearing my Betty Boop sweat pants. So I feel like a TV announcer who is wearing jeans and a very nice suit jacket and tie. But we never see the jeans. LOL

Anyway, this is Friday and the 5th day of our complete stay in the house. My daughters are working from home and so am I. Of course, I do that all the time, except for tutoring. So after the tutoring I went straight over to this awesome website: Poetry of Dark Angel that is on Facebook and did a 15 video. You can see it there. I read my poetry and talked a little bit. As I have told many of my friends, I hate seeing myself on the screen. I guess that almost everyone feels that way. 

As I said, I meant to write Wednesday but then it was too late. On Thursday my entire day was devoted to my radio show, Books and Entertainment Tales from the Pages. Here it is for anyone who would like to hear it. I think it was a great show this week. Many times this week I have heard how the arts can heal us and I believe it. Watching the Broadway stars sing to me and hearing the exquisite violin music of one of my friend's soloists on my show was breathtaking. Art does soothe your soul so if you aren't doing anything that concerns art you should try it. 

Also yesterday I got outside on my balcony!! Feeling and breathing in the fresh air did wonders for me. And I talked with the Aetna nurse and was able to allay some of my anxiety that I'm sure many of you have. Being calm and doing some deep breathing helps a lot. The air helped too. It was great seeing that the world was still going on but it was emptier. People are still walking on the boardwalk and walking their dogs. Kids are still playing and it was fun to hear the bird and feel the sunlight. It's 65 out now so I will be getting out there again soon.

Life is going on and though I am in the house I am trying to do things to keep myself occupied. I am watching less TV and more people doing things on TV. I rarely watch a movie, though I did last night. And I am watching the news sporadically to keep up with stuff. It is too devastating to watch all the time and I hope that it gets better. Right now we are having a huge storm of disease and this one we can't run away from as I said a few times. We are in a bunker and safe for now and hopefully it will protect us and all of us will come out of our safe havens stronger.

I talked with my brother about having a virtual Passover. We are going to connect the entire family in England and Japan and Manhattan and right here in Greenwich,CT. it should be fun as it always is and we'll just do the best we can to follow a seder together. During normal times that is not always very successful so online it should be different. This is the ultimate in social distancing I think!

In closing I would just like to say how grateful I am to the medical profession who are fighting this pandemic and who are constantly updating us on the seriousness of this virus. Life in the time of Covid-19 is feeling more and more like the beginning of a dystopian novel. I think I said this before but it can't be said enough. I have never lived in such a strange time and I think all my dear departed relatives, including my late husband, would never believe this could happen. Although, I think he would have not been fazed by it. I'm getting by and each day feel a little better about dealing with this crisis. As a TV doctor says: We will get through this and we are now probably at the end of the beginning. So there's lots more to follow. I will be writing as much as I can, because this helps a lot.

Until the next time everyone please stay healthy and safe. 

This is how we should all feel and I don't. This is my se...

This is how we should all feel and I don't. 

This is my second blog post during this time of being inside due to the corona virus Covid -19. I have been anxious and not able to sleep very much. Every little body problem concerns me and causes worry. But I am telling myself not to panic and to try to realize I am still okay.

Yesterday we had food delivered and it was a lot and on a cart. The person rang the doorbell and then stood in the hall with the cart. I answered the door thinking all I would see would be groceries and saw the delivery person. I immediately closed the door and talked to her from behind it. I felt insane but I didn't want to chance that she could have it. Then my daughters took in all the bags and I was worried because this virus can last on paper. So I stayed away and didn't help with putting them away. 

But this fear has caused me to change everything. As suggested I am washing my hands whenever I am touching food or anything that could hold the virus. So I am washing my hands at least 10 times a day. At night I am slathering cream on them to keep them from getting rough, red and peeling. This amount of hand washing rubs off your outer skin. It is truly insane that we are having to do this. But this caution is necessary. 

Today I am working on setting up my radio show for this month. I am looking forward to talking with everyone. It should be lots of fun and hopefully we will have a good audience. Lots of people are at home and looking for something to do. I will put the link here tomorrow but also it will be on Facebook. I just have to do it.

My mother had a term for how I feel: discombobulated. It's when you are not sure what to do next. You start something and stop it and then start something again and then go back to the first thing. It's exhausting to be this way and I want to get back to my normal way of living. However, I have a feeling that normal is not going to happen for a long time.

I was talking on text today to a friend and said now I see why there were all those zombie books and she also brought up the dystopian Cassandra Claire books as well. I hope that it doesn't turn into that kind of world but it is getting closer and closer as I worry about human contact being dangerous. 

Anyway, enough of this madness. Please be kind to the people who are with you and be safe and we will all see each other on the other side. Until the next time...

LIFE IN THE TIME OF CORONA VIRUS CO...

                      LIFE IN THE TIME OF CORONA VIRUS COVID-19

It is now an entire week when the country has pretty much shut down. I don't think as many took it seriously until the middle of last week. Each day I learn of someone new who has contracted the virus and I am in panic mode. I have been in the house almost the entire time except for driving around with my daughters. The world has gotten different for sure. My life is pretty much the same except my daughters have now been home from their offices every day. They used to work at home on Mondays and then one worked from home on Wednesday and the other on Friday. Now they are both home and this is going to be the new normal for us I guess. 

We no longer shop at supermarkets. We are getting our food delivered. Living in a large apartment complex a lot of things have changed for us. Our complex had many amenities such as a full time gym of two levels, a community room with free coffee and free wifi with several computers available. We also have a Conference Room and a theater where you can screen your own movies or watch the broadcast they have there. It is equipped with the latest reclining chairs and a wide screen. There is also a basketball court and a squash court. 

We also have a concierge who lets in people and who takes packages. Our building has a gated parking area and that is still working. So they closed all the amenities. I have been inside my apartment since Saturday and will probably be here for the entire week. My car was started on Saturday to make sure it is still okay. But I am afraid to go out at all. I am over 70 and have diabetes. So I am in the danger zone for contracting this virus.

I have changed my daily habits. Now I wash my hands very frequently for 20 seconds whenever I do anything. I have been baking a bit so that entails washing your hands even more. I am not having any physical contact with my daughters for fear they might be carrying the germ unknowingly. They are taking precautions. I also did that. When I went out on Saturday I had a glove to touch the elevator button and the door handle and then threw it away. We bought masks before the whole thing actually escalated and we are very prepared with lots of toilet paper and other essentials. We are waiting for our food order and my daughter just said that some things are out of stock. They are not ordering as much food because people are not buying it. 

As a writer I have been writing poetry and wrote two poems about the disease. I also wrote a chapter on my WIP although now I don't feel much like writing. This is the first writing I have done in a few days. Everything seems to have changed in priority. I find that although I enjoy being in the house it is starting to get to me. I mean, what is great about this time is that creative people in the arts are stepping up. Since Broadway was closed several celebrities have started shows that feature the talents of these people. My daughters and I have been watching #Stars on Broadway and last night we spent over three hours watching Rosie O'Donell stream live so many celebrities I couldn't count. It's fun to see that the talent of these people doesn't need costumes and scenery. Also a performer is doing live performances every day at 7pm. It's just him, his guitar and his piano. All of this just soothes my soul and gives me hope that soon life will come back to normal. 

Several of my meetings have been either canceled or moved to Zoom. I, myself, will be on Facebook and I have my radio show: Books and Entertainment Tales from the Pages on Thursday, March 26, 2020. I am hoping all of my guests will be available.

Thank goodness for technology so we can get food. I guess we could live on what we have now. We have plenty in the freezer and pantry. But day to day essentials are what we are running out of and so happy we can restock. I am hoping that other people are able to navigate this situation without things getting out of hand. I am not looking past this week and hope that the country will come back to normal soon. 

Passover is April 8 and I fear we will have to cancel our seder with my niece. She lives in Manhattan and it's pretty much going to be a given that I won't be traveling and that we will not be gathering. Though we are family and my brother lives close to me I haven't seen him. He stopped traveling two weeks ago and we were supposed to get together all of us for Passover. Now I have no idea what is going to happen. I hope this will all be over but I fear that we have at least a month more to go before we can feel comfortable about going out in public. 

I'm finding it harder and harder to sleep. I woke up two hours after I fell asleep and had no idea why. I am trying to keep my mind off of this as much as possible but my body isn't getting the message. I don't usually have trouble sleeping. This is something new for me and I don't like it. Let me know how you are coping in the comments. And hope you will join me for my events. One is on Poetry of the Dark Angel on Wednesday and the other is my radio show: BE Tales from the Pages on Thursday. 

Here is one of the poems I wrote:


INVISIBLE MENACEA scourge has overtaken our worldone more deadly than nations fighting nationsIt has plunged its claws into our countrywhen we thought we were safe and nothingcould stop our freedom
Now we all sit isolated from each otherin our boxes — some boxes smaller than othersyet we must stay in them to escape thisdeadly force that is rushing across our nationforcing us to restrict our freedom
Over two hundred years we have fought for thisfreedom to be where we want to be and do whatwe want to donow we must stay inside to keep away fromthis invisible menace
No school, no work outside your home, no restaurants, no bars,no lying on the beach with your friends, no fun get togethersno talking with your neighbors or shaking hands or huggingno movies, no concerts, no festivals, no book events or poetry readingsWe must do all this virtually now
Too many have been affected by this invisible monster that seepsinto your body without your knowing and for some it is a death sentenceThe bodies piling up so high in places the cemeteries have closedAnd still it keeps destroying without care for anythingAs the brave medical profession struggles to contain it
Stuck inside my home to avoid its deadly consequencesI pray every day for an end to this awful mess that startedwith a tiny insect and now has caused the entire world tocome to a stop — creating a time to reflect and wonderand then appreciate all the freedoms we so took for granted
Like walking outside and greeting passersby, shopping without care,or hugging a loved one after a long time apartor cheering at a concert for a performer in the midst of cheering othersor watching basketball players bump up against each othernot concerned that one of them may be deadly
It will be a sad and painful time for all of usas we watch the procession of bodiesand the researchers search constantly for a cureto stop this invisible pestilence that has stumpedthe world and decimated the ease of life.Copyright 2020 by Barbara Ehrentreu
Until the next time I hope everyone is staying safe and observing the rules so we can get rid of this pestilence that has invaded our lives.