March was a tough month. The reality of COVID-19 began to tighten a noose around the neck of America.

The west coast suffered first: the states of Washington and California, Pacific Rim destinations for people fleeing China. But, the east coast wasn’t affected – yet. The man in the White House expressed no interest and/or concern. His advice, “Stop panicking and all of this will go away.” His arms swept the matter aside and his tone was put down and paternalistic in March, like the climate change denier that he is.

That was then – in March – and by now – in June – the prez knows what we suspected then. “It” did not go away.

The dominos began to fall, amping the presence of doom:

  • on March 8, the vacation destination of many who wished to escape the ravages of frigid winter ‘back east’, Disneyland closed. We have local friends who are Disney freaks. They reveled in being among the last to enter the gates of “the happiest place on Earth.” No one knew at that time if/when Disneyland would open re-open, but it was a certain sign that Disney execs took ‘it’ seriously.
  • On 9 March, most global markets reported severe contractions, mainly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and an oil price war between Russia and the OPEC countries led by Saudi Arabia. This became colloquially known as Black Monday. At the time ‘it’ was the worst drop since the Great Recession in 2008Three days later another drop, Black Thursday,  Wall Street experienced its largest single-day percentage drop since Black Monday in 1987. Let’s call that a double domino drop. As retirees, my husband and I almost dry-heaved.
  • on March 19, at the midnight hour, California became the first US state to mandate homestay. ‘It’ was a wise move because COVID-19 had gone viral in New York – and not in a good way. Hospitals were overwhelmed, awash in death, and hobbled by lack of supplies.
  • On March 24, after worldwide discussion the 2020 Olympics to be held in Tokyo, was deferred until 2021. Clearly, athletes didn’t want to deep-breathe COVID-19. The Olympic Committee took ‘it’ seriously.
  • on March 26, the Indianapolis 500 race, was delayed until August. the race is the single largest one-day attendance of any US sporting events, bringing millions of fans – and billions in revenue – to Indianapolis, Indiana. The race officials and Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce. took ‘it’ seriously.

The march of COVID-19 was insistent. And, as the American people tired of homestay with attendant boredom and inability to pay for rent and other essentials, the states began to re-open.

This caused another domino to drop on our heads. The number of COVID cases increased when people began to mingle with abandon.

Omg, the stock market recouped all its losses… and no one can truly say why. What a topsy-turvy, tilt-a-whirl time!