In the movie ‘Captain & Commander. Far Side Of The World’ the plot is set around 1830 on board the 10 gun British war ship, HMS Beagle. At the time, France and England were at war and the movie revolves around the Beagle and a 44 gun French frigate. On a foggy morning the English Captain (Russell Crowe) is alerted. For a split second the dense fog had eased and something, maybe something, had been seen off the bow in the distance but the fog closed in again and they all stood there, straining for a glimpse of something, maybe. Crowe asks the watch, “Did you see it or did you not?” The young sailor replies in effect, “Maybe” he wasn’t sure. The Captain grew intense, “Damn it man, yes or no.” It could be after all, a matter of life or death. Again, the sailor couldn’t commit to what he did or did not see. Crowe’s character squints through his spyglass, ponders, waits and looks again.
Imagine on the foggiest of nights you can barely see across the street. Looking left and right all there is, is fog-soup. Then, many houses down on the next block someone blinks their little, 40 watt porch light several times in a two-second display and all goes dark again; you question, did I really see that? Captain Aubrey, (Crowe) saw the faint, distant flashes in the fog and knew exactly. He screamed out for all to hit the deck and cover their heads. As they were diving for cover a volley of cannon fire ripped across the deck and through the masts and sails, followed by the rumble of far away guns. They had been seen first and the French Captain had drawn first blood. Captain Aubrey and the Beagle escape in the fog. Mismatched and outgunned, the Beagle ultimately prevails but being the underdog certainly improves the plot.
With regard to Covid-19, I feel like the Beagle’s crew when daylight came and the French frigate was nowhere to be seen, spared. I was mismatched and outgunned (high risk) so I took prudent action, face down on the deck. There were no “Hoax” pretenders on the Beagle that day and anyone suggesting the attack was no more than “Sniffles & sneeze” would have been thrown overboard. But that was a movie. This past year has been cloaked in the reality of pandemic, straining to see through the dark with a foggy spyglass.
I take comfort is some restored freedom and my newly acquired immunity but like ‘Yogi’ said, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” I don’t know when I’ll wake up and move on, ambivalent to social distance aftermath. The new normal won’t feel right until the old one has lost its salt. How am I doing! I’m good, a year older and my gears need some grease but then, maybe that’s the good news.
Imagine on the foggiest of nights you can barely see across the street. Looking left and right all there is, is fog-soup. Then, many houses down on the next block someone blinks their little, 40 watt porch light several times in a two-second display and all goes dark again; you question, did I really see that? Captain Aubrey, (Crowe) saw the faint, distant flashes in the fog and knew exactly. He screamed out for all to hit the deck and cover their heads. As they were diving for cover a volley of cannon fire ripped across the deck and through the masts and sails, followed by the rumble of far away guns. They had been seen first and the French Captain had drawn first blood. Captain Aubrey and the Beagle escape in the fog. Mismatched and outgunned, the Beagle ultimately prevails but being the underdog certainly improves the plot.
With regard to Covid-19, I feel like the Beagle’s crew when daylight came and the French frigate was nowhere to be seen, spared. I was mismatched and outgunned (high risk) so I took prudent action, face down on the deck. There were no “Hoax” pretenders on the Beagle that day and anyone suggesting the attack was no more than “Sniffles & sneeze” would have been thrown overboard. But that was a movie. This past year has been cloaked in the reality of pandemic, straining to see through the dark with a foggy spyglass.
I take comfort is some restored freedom and my newly acquired immunity but like ‘Yogi’ said, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” I don’t know when I’ll wake up and move on, ambivalent to social distance aftermath. The new normal won’t feel right until the old one has lost its salt. How am I doing! I’m good, a year older and my gears need some grease but then, maybe that’s the good news.
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