Update in a time of the Virus!

April 20th, 2020

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

LIVING IN UNCERTAIN TIMES!

I have suspended my weekly columns, that have appeared in over 80 newspapers in Louisiana, for the next few months, just to give this “old guy” a break. Before the virus hit us, my family and I had planned on spending a good bit of time up in the mountains of North Carolina.  We have had a family home there for a number of years, and have enjoyed both the winter months with lots of snow, as well as the cool breezes in the summer. I remember at one time we thought about selling the home, and we drove up to take a look. It needed some work which we have undertaken, and found the temperature there during the daytime in the low 60s. At the same time, temperatures were hovering around 97° in my home in Baton Rouge. So it was an easy sell to hang on to our home, and give us a respite from the heat down this way.

I might share a few thoughts about our hibernation as we pray for this virus to pass. First of all, what’s with all the hostage videos? You turn on the evening news, and there is interview after interview with some guest who is obviously at their home. The picture on the screen is grainy, and the sound quality is poor. Sometimes you even see the dirty dishes or the laundry behind the speaker. Where is the pride in giving a national interview?

How has the virus affected me in my daily routine? Not a heckuva of lot. I exercise in my neighborhood, and do book editing and promotion over the Internet. I also have a large stack of books to go through in the weeks and months to come.  Being a little older, my children are almost paranoid and insisting that I not leave the house. I’m very cautious, and don’t even think of going into a store. But I think they’re overprotective. Yes, I will be 80 years  old in a few weeks. And I do need to take extra precautions. So I appreciate their concern, but I’m pretty confident I’ll be around for a number of years to come.

What do I miss most? Going out to dinner at a good restaurant with friends. We particularly enjoy spending weekends in New Orleans, with an array of really outstanding restaurants. Taking out from the same restaurants just isn’t the same. But will have to make the best of it for another month or so.

So that’s a little update from my end. I hope you and your family are doing well, and pray that we get back to normal soon. I’ll keep you posted here with updates regularly.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown