Life During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Sunday Evening Happy Hour

What can I say? These are frightening, dangerous times. There's nothing like a global pandemic to make us think about what is most important in life. Every day I am grateful for my health, and for the love of my partner. I would hate to think of what it would be like to have to survive this crisis alone. Keep in mind, I have no siblings, and my parents died long ago. April and Mittens are my family, and I am so glad that we are together.

Meanwhile, we meet with our friends twice a week for a virtual Saturday night dance party, and Sunday evening Happy Hour. Seeing our friends' faces and hearing their voices help to eliminate some of the stress of worrying about everybody.

My poor friends who are performers are really suffering, especially the opera singers! They need to keep their diaphragm and throat muscles in shape. Being trapped in their apartments, how are they supposed to keep their muscles toned while neighbors complain about the "noise"? Some of them are worried if they will ever be able to go back to singing on the stage.

Our family

We are carrying our own disappointments right now, as my book launch was scheduled for April 15th. We had planned to drive across the country with our dear friend Alina Wilczynski and a car full of books. Unfortunately this will have to wait. Who knows when the colleges and bookstores where I had planned to do readings and signings will reopen? But for one piece of good news: as my book Practicing for Love is the first of a series, the next two books have been completed. I actually finished the second book Practice What You Preach before I went into surgery in January. Then, I was half-way through the third book and finished its outline in case it had to be finished by someone else. So after the surgery, I spent the first month of isolation finishing that book, Practice Made Perfect.

While quarantined, I noticed that it was important to me to write about my friends and their activities in this third book, so in it you will read of April and Nina's Salon and the various performances that took place in that space over the years.

Another piece of good news - I have an official Amazon Author page: www.amazon.com/Nina-Kennedy.

I simply must write something about the racial inequities that are being revealed in the light of this crisis. African Americans have always known about the unfair healthcare practices in this country, but now the rest of y'all are catching up. It is obvious that our Idiot-In-Chief could not care less about people of color, so what are we as a nation going to do about it? It isn't enough just to vote. We have to come up with ways to address these disparities without help from the federal government. They are content to let us die. If we are not on the front lines demanding that African Americans receive adequate healthcare, then we too are part of the problem.

In the news I recently saw that countries led by women were in far better shape right now than countries led by men. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Imagine how much better off we'd be right now if Hillary had been president!

Meanwhile, stay safe out there! And stay home!