I wish I were better at keeping up with people I love. Especially you.
Rick and I are doing very well with staying home and washing our hands every 10 seconds. We take a drive to break up the time and we have a 1000 piece puzzle we are working (slowly), and with Adreanna’s help we’ve completed the border except for one piece!
Las Vegas is a pretty sad place right now with all the casinos closed down and so many people out of work. There are food lines…so many…trying to keep up with feeding people who have no money and no work.
The world famous Las Vegas Strip- and Downtown- is empty of people and the huge concrete monoliths dedicated to greed and fun are devoid of life. No cars or magic volcanos or dancing waters. Some of the people who make up the majority of this city are not working for big salaries. They work for tips ,staying $5 ahead of their bills. They didn’t do anything wrong. They didn’t get fired. Their jobs have disappeared! Think about how many people it takes to keep all these casinos open and running well. A workforce made up of maids, bus boys, dishwashers, dealers, bartenders, chefs, cooks, pool cleaners, lifeguards, food service workers, housekeepers, mechanics, plumbers, window cleaners, shopkeepers, oh my gosh so many people! Thousands of people whose jobs just fell out from under them. Immediately! No warning.
A woman who is a special events food service worker who made good money, her husband a a blackjack dealer, with three children, they made good enough money. But Vegas isn’t a city where people save for a rainey day…we are almost always in a drought.
I don’t know about you, but I carry a whisper of anxiety with me all the time now. Sometimes I weep for what we appear to be losing.
Then my phone rings and some friend calls and says she misses me and I shake the dread off my shoulders and get back to my gratitude. Get back to my optimism. I put on my mask and head out into the world to see if I can help. Insight and wisdom ride on the back of optimism.
I love and miss you, my sweet friend . Hug Dan for me. Wash your hands, put on your mask, and go out in the world . You always help.
XO, Katy
———————————————–
Being: A Poem
Floating softly
in murky water
beneath my pain
lies the rest of my
poem.
I will be still
and let the water clear.
See what happens.
DHM 4/24/2020