Doing Nothing is OK

Published by Rick on Tagged Uncategorized

Our community choir (where Maggie and I met five years ago) has a communication line on WhatsApp where people are sharing photos and thoughts, or just saying hello. Since we all suddenly have lots of time to fill, there seems to be this need in some to keep busy. Maggie commented on that notion a few days ago, in reaction to friends of hers saying she should write, paint, or some other artistic endeavour: “nothing can be everything that has meaning for me – maybe nothing is the freedom to do nothing and feel everything.” Couldn’t agree more. We’re all stuck indoors for an indeterminate amount of time, and sure it could be time to write that novel that’s been floating in your head, or read every book you’ve been wanting to read, but if you want to just binge watch every series on Netflix, there shouldn’t be anything wrong with that either. I unfortunately don’t have Netflix, so that option is off my proverbial table.

I’m not totally doing nothing, but I remember thinking once the lockdown was imposed, I might be writing blogs several times a week. Well not quite. Sometimes listening to every record I have on the Chess record label and all its affiliated labels takes priority. Chess was the label founded in Chicago in the late 40’s focusing originally on blues artists like Muddy Waters and Howlin Wolf, but expanding their horizons once Chuck Berry began recording for them. The label and its Checker and Argo/Cadet subsidiaries also produced some of the sweetest soul music of the 60’s and early 70’s. So that’s been my obsession for an hour or so each day. The stuff still sounds great. When I heard Bill Withers died this week, I decided to compare the note he hit towards the end of “Lovely Day,” which was 18 seconds long, to that of Marvin Junior of The Dells, who recorded for Chess’s Cadet label from 1963 to 1973, in their 1968 hit “Stay In My Corner.” I was sure Marvin’s note was longer, but nope, Bill beat Marvin by one second! Things you do when you’re home close to 24/7. And just for the record, I would defy anyone to find a more miraculous note than white soul singer Mitch Ryder’s closing note from his cover of “What Now My Love” from 1967. It not only lasts 22 seconds, but starts on a high D two octaves above middle C, basically a note that no male voice should be able to hit. If you can find it, and navigate through the unfortunately rather boring 3 1/2 minutes leading to that note, it’s a revelation.

I have two evenings per week sewn up as well, for the choir has decided to do virtual meetings through Zoom every Wednesday, which was our regular meeting night. Zoom was a problem for me the first time out, as the laptop I’m writing this on is 11 years old, and just didn’t have the capacity for Zoom. I could get the video, but no audio. My mobile does have the capacity, though, which saved me not only for the choir but for doing my weekly Tuesday quiz as well. We had our first virtual quiz four days ago, and not only did we have over 60 players from all over the UK, but we had three from California playing along as well. I was sharing duties with my sometime quizmaster partner Mills, who has the technological knowledge to actually put together picture rounds to complement the other regular question rounds. The best part for me was during the interval, while Mills went out for a cigarette. I took musical requests from the players, especially savouring the crappy ones like “Barbie Girl,” and being amazed and a bit embarrassed that I still remembered the words to that abysmal tune.

That’s about the closest to stand-up that I anticipate doing over this isolation period. I should also mention again that the link for next Tuesday’s quiz will be available on Monday, and I’ll be passing that along through Facebook Messenger. So the three things that were occupying my time before we all went into isolation, Choiring, Quizzing, and DJing, are still in my life, though I’m not getting paid for any of them, but then the choir was always a pay-to-play venture. I’m getting by on my pension, Social Security (hopefully Trump won’t eradicate that), and other benefits combined with low overhead, so I should survive financially, even if this lasts through the rest of the year.

My final thought is I don’t know anyone personally who has been a casualty of COVID-19, though there are relatives of friends whose suffering I’m aware of. That could change, of course, and I keep my fingers crossed for everyone I know. I can only hope that things in UK and US start to level off soon, and we’re all able to communicate in person within the next couple months. Other than bumping into a worker in one of the aisles of a supermarket yesterday, I haven’t touched anybody since hugging Maggie nearly three weeks ago as we said goodbye after coming back from our holiday. Everybody be safe, and wash your freaking hands. That’s what I’m gonna do now. Ain’t life exciting?

April 4th, 2020



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