Finish what you start!

Immediately upon skiing being shut down for the season, I moved our skis down to my workshop in order to repair them following a fantastic, albeit shortened winter. I started with fixing the bases by filing the holes with a P-tex candle.

Many gouges I saw and repaired could be associated with great, reckless, but thrilling moments, in which consequences paled in comparison to another fleeting moment of fun. You know what I’m talking about.

Then, because of the coronavirus confinement, I became despondent and left the skis waiting for the rest of their rehab. My wife noticed it and kindly reminded me about that unfinished business.

Yesterday, I took the file and bravely sharpened the edges on one pair of ski. The rest should follow soon…

At the same time, a friend of mine sent me this message, meant as an internet joke:

“Heard Dr. on TV saying in this time of Coronavirus staying at home we should always finish things we start and we all could use more calm in our lives. 

I looked through my house to find things I’d started and hadn’t finished, so I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of Chardonnay, a bodle of Baileys, a butle of wum, that mainder of Valiumun srciptuns, and a box of chocletz. 

Yu haf no idr hw feckin fablus I feel rite now. Sned this to all who need inner pizz. An telum u luvum. Ant two hash yer wands, stafe day avrybobby!!!”

Which President for a post-coronavirus America?

If and when the dust settles, next November on COVID-19 and we all realize how badly America is hurting, who will be strong and talented enough to lead the Nation?

Of course not Trump, he should be showed the exit door in a Democrat landslide victory, but who should be that victor? Biden? Sanders?

I doubt neither one of them will be equipped to pick up the pieces and have the required leadership to take the country forward.

Who else then? Govenor Andrew Cuomo, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey? You tell me...

Ralf Lauren, an American value?

A few nights ago, we watched “Very Ralph” a self-serving documentary lauding the story of Ralph Lauren, born Ralph Lifshitz, was a son of Jewish emigrants without any formal education in the fashion industry.

What he had, and still seems to possess, is an incredible good eye for good and one-of-a-kind design. This is all well and good, and while the movie is a tribute to lifestyle-creation and to personal vanity it’s a fascinating lesson in American ethnology.

This narcissistic view, in many ways, has been and is now more than ever before, a prelude to the downfall of first-world countries in the era of coronavirus.

Good looks, superficiality and glamorous lifestyle are a dangerous, thin veneer upon which our entire Western society has been skating its heart out, without noticing the growing cracks all over its surface...

The rich countries pandemic

In looking at the global map of COVID-19 cases compiled and updated daily by the Johns Hopkins University, it’s easy to see that it mostly affects the richest, most developed countries on earth.

As I mentioned in my blog from yesterday, the coronavirus is a syndrome of “jet-set” societies in which most of us are living.

In my opinion, it’s an other way for Mother Earth to tell us “Stop messing up with natural resources, the environment and put an end to waste, or else you’ll end up as waste yourself!”

A powerful message we should now heed...

Park City and Covid-19

Like other major ski resorts in the United States, Park City has seen records number of visitors coming from all over the country and the planet, in the early months of 2020, until the ski area operations came to a screeching halt on the morning of March 15.

That happy mixture of skiers did a great job at spreading the virus into our community. In fact that Covid-19 began as a “jet-setter” malediction, mostly carried by wealthy individuals who did business or had contact in Asia or Europe and had enough financial wherewithal to come visit and ski with us.

Summit County where Park City is located, just issued a “Stay At Home Order” to all its residents requiring all of us to stay at home and cease non-essential travel and operations until at least May 1. This Order goes into effect today, and applies to non-essential businesses, services, and visitors in addition to residents.

This decision was not made lightly but is in the best interest of public health in Summit County,” Summit County Health Director, Dr. Rich Bullough, said. “When you look at the data, Summit County is a hot-spot for C-19 statewide, nationally and globally.

At this time, Summit County has 20-times the number of cases per capita as Salt Lake County. Our cases per capita rival those of the worst areas of New York City and many parts of Italy.”

That might sound a little bit of a stretch but since most of the 100 coronavirus cases in the County happen in the greater Park City area with a population of 28,000 people, it’s worth paying attention to it!

Is Trump sinking into insanity?

Always pragmatic, Trump pegs his chances of reelection to the economy and Wall Street performance.

Currents protective measures against the Covid-19 pandemic are impediments to his sole governing objective, HIS second term. Me, me, me!

Therefore, he could care less if thousand more people die or get sick. They’ll be just collateral damage for his reelection.

Shame on the Senators who failed to impeach this fool by keeping on enabling him. What else is left to get rid of this insane man? The 25th Amendment, I guess...

The more I meditate, the more I learn…

I should almost title this blog “Adventures in Meditation”.

Since January 20, when I (successfully) resumed my practice of meditation, it’s been a wonderful journey in discovery and appreciation. This couldn’t have come at a better time since it pretty much coincided with the disruption caused by Covid-19 into our much sheltered lives.

As I’ve told you before, I progressively found a full unity of body and mind, a total absence of passion, envy, fear, regret, and nothing remotely negative. I also found peacefulness, total acceptance and I feel that I have returned to my original state, just when as was born, regardless of where I spent my life and what I learned, over the years and until today.

My long life experiences has in no way altered a bit who I originally was and still am. There’s a core element or a “blank page” if you will, that remains true to me and hasn’t changed.

This alone is truly fascinating and help me go through these challenging times stress-free, and give me great power to cope well.