April begins with the sobering news that the United States is looking at the possibility of between 100,000 and 240,000 deaths from coronavirus if all we’re trying to do doesn’t slow down the spread of the virus. That glorious Easter celebration that a certain someone was predicting, will have to wait until next year. Doctor Fauci and other medical professionals managed to convince Trump that his belief, “We can’t have the cure be worse than the problem” could push the fatality numbers to over a million. Polling data also showed the majority of the American people were willing to stay home longer to make sure we could get a handle on the spreading virus. So a very different Trump told us about the tough couple of weeks ahead as we try to get our arms around the pandemic. He was very sober and serious. This from a guy who a month ago was waving off any concern saying it was like the flu and it will go away when the warm weather comes.

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As I write this, I’m sitting on my deck with the sun shining and birds singing in a gentle breeze. We are feeling like prisoners in our homes, working from home, kids doing lessons on line. It helps to get outside. Everyone is trying to find ways to distract and occupy themselves so we don’t drive each other crazy in this time like no other. People are scared and worried their lives will never return to normal. There are all kinds of stories of people helping neighbors, and making masks and bringing food to the front line warriors, the doctors, nurses and other first responders who are risking their lives to save others. There are thousands of videos on line of people sharing stories and doing things to make us laugh, and even cry as we struggle through the uncertainty. Musicians are steaming live to soothe our souls. Watching the news can get overwhelming. The numbers get worse every day. The lack of national leadership has just added to the chaos and confusion.

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Most 79 year old doctors have been retired for years. The healthy ones are traveling the world, and enjoying their grandchildren. Right now, they’re stuck inside like the rest of us except for one, Doctor Anthony Fauci the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. I’m sure many people never heard of him before the coronavirus crisis. But he’s one of the most well known and respected medical experts in the world. He’s the scientist who finally got President Reagan to wake up to the AIDS epidemic in 1984 and was a leader in tracking HIV and developing treatments. He has been the leader in dealing with outbreaks of Ebola, SARS, MERS, and Zika. Now he’s dealing with coronavirus and Trump.

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Well it’s taken less than 15 days for Trump to get sick of dealing with the virus. The daily briefings are starting late and rambling on for two hours. Much of these briefings are Trump or Pence saying what a great job Trump and his administration are doing in dealing with the outbreak. Everyone noticed that America’s Doctor, Anthony Fauci the country’s leading expert on infectious diseases, was not at yesterday’s briefing. There is reporting now that Trump may be losing patience with Fauci politely pushing back with scientific facts when Trump talks nonsense about the virus and how to contain it. When asked where Fauci was yesterday, Trump said he was just in a meeting with him. Fauci may be happy he wasn’t there. He has said he’s asked the White House more than once to stop the unhealthy optics of the people supposedly in charge of breaking the cardinal rule of social distancing. They all stand shoulder to shoulder at the podium telling the rest of us to stay away from each other.

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There have been great rallying cries in our history to challenge Americans to take action against an enemy or in a national crisis. “Taxation without Representation .” “Give me liberty, or give me death.” “Save the Union.” “Remember the Alamo.” “Remember the Maine.” (Even though history tells us the Spanish didn’t blow up the ship, it was an accident). But, hey it got us into a war which apparently some of us wanted at the time. Our most recent rallying cry, “See Something, Say Something” after 9/11. We were all urged not to be afraid, to go on with our lives. Go to work. Go out to restaurants. But be out there and be vigilant. Don’t let the terrorists win by taking away our way of life. In all of these cases, our leaders were urging us to take collective action. Do something for the good of your fellow citizens. Be part of something bigger than yourself. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Not sure where that got started. But every football coach has used some version of that during a losing streak. Now it’s different.

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It’s only a few hours away. What we have all been waiting for, the first day of spring. Of course, this year it starts in darkness at exactly 11:50 tonight. Many of us will be in bed trying to get to sleep after a long day of looking out the window. There is never a good time for a pandemic, but springtime may be the worst. We all look forward to spring after the dreary winter months when we are struck in the house. We look forward longer days and warmer weather. They actually make us feel better. A study at Brigham Young University a couple years ago found students getting counseling found longer days and more sunlight reduces mental stress. Now we get longer hours of sunlight we can’t enjoy. We usually look forward to getting outside, flowers breaking through the earth, birds sweetly singing, spring training baseball. Opening Day has been delayed at least until mid-May. We look forward to March Madness. We now have silent arenas. We are probably looking at an Easter with no egg hunts or big family dinners. Students look forward to the end of the school year and proms. Seniors look forward to graduation. Now they are stuck in the house taking courses on line on their couch that they have to share with their parents who are working from home, who also have to home school their younger kids at the kitchen table.

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As we all get ready for a new week, all the medical experts tell us the spread of the coronavirus will only get worse. We still have to figure out how to test people. Then we’ll  how know many more people have the virus. So those who have symptoms or been exposed and get a doctor’s approval, can look forward long lines in Walmart parking lots as people in hazmat suits stick a long swab in their mouths to take a sample. Oh, and that great web site that a Goggle subsidiary is working on to tell us how to self diagnose and what to do and where to go to wait on line that the president said would be up and running tonight, not so fast. Trump never says anything that doesn’t need a follow up, correction or explanation.  Google says they’re working on a prototype that will be tested in the San Francisco area. They don’t know when it will be ready. Oops.

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As concerns about the coronavirus grow more alarming each day, we are encouraged to back off each other. Guard your personal space. Touching is off limits. We are reminded about how to wash our hands, sneeze and cough. Stay home. All this comes at a time when the country is more divided and than ever. People can’t talk politics without worrying about getting into serious arguments with family and friends. But this virus is threatening the universal sign of friendship, agreement, cordiality, and welcoming which is already in short supply. The handshake may never come back. It was already on shaky ground even before coronavirus.

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Super Tuesday was a trip back to the future. Everyone thought Bernie Sanders would would be the overwhelming favorite this morning for the Democratic nomination with a commanding lead in delegates after yesterday. Then people voted and showed they weren’t ready for a revolution. The theory that moderate Democrats had to unite around one candidate to stop Sanders proved true. After Joe Biden showed his muscle in South Carolina, Amy, Pete, and even Beto realized Democrats had to stop fighting each other to come together to first stop Bernie, then beat Trump. Elizabeth Warren is still hanging on with no chance of winning. She is probably helping Biden by taking votes away from Bernie. But eventually the money will dry up for her. Mike Bloomberg spent $500 million dollars to win American Samoa and a few delegates. He realized this morning that money couldn’t buy him love and he dropped out. He’s committed to beating Trump and his millions can help buy love for Democratic candidates around the country as he did in 2018.

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A street fight broke out at the Democratic debate last night. There was the smell of desperation which lead to chaos. Seven adults yelling, talking over each other, raising their hands as we used to in elementary school to get the teacher to call on us because we knew we had the right answer. They expanded the time for an answer to 1:15. The moderators found it impossible to get the candidates to shut up. The pack was clearly after front runner Bernie Sanders. They also turned on each other to try to show they were the only real alternative to a Social Democrat who is too far left to win a general election against the crazy “very stable genius” president. Trump has to love what he’s seeing. Frank Bruni of the New York Times wrote “… if I were Trump, I’d edit into a campaign commercial and blanket the airwaves. It’s tag line would be: “Even Democrats don’t trust Bernie Sanders. Why should you?”

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