https://nypost.com/2020/03/13/italians-sing-in-solidarity-out-of-windows-amid-coronavirus-isolation/
The evening is quiet and the streets are empty in this clip from Siena, Italy, where residents are quarantined---but still connected by music and joy. According to the New York Post, "The song, “E mentre Siena dorme” (“And While Siena Sleeps”), is a traditional folk song for the people of Siena, usually sung in a show of local pride. Also called the “Canto della Verbena,” or “Song of the Verbena,” it celebrates the flowering herb, often used in traditional medicine or perfumes, which once grew spontaneously in the Piazza del Campo neighborhood of rural Siena, outside the walls of the medieval city center."
I write this entry from the couch in my mother's Arizona apartment where she spends the winters. I planned this short weekend visit several weeks ago. Two days before departure, what we were finally learning about the Coronavirus situation started to look pretty scary, but we decided to go ahead as planned. They day I flew, I found myself feeling more and more uncertain that it was the right decision. By the time I landed in Phoenix, Disney had closed, all professional and college sports had ceased, universities and colleges across the country were emptying their dorms and calling back their students studying abroad, and toilet paper aisles were barren.
When I got to my mom's apartment, we had a long conversation about her planned return home to Wisconsin, which was set for April 1st--by plane. My mom is 85 years old, and while she is in good health, she is high risk for serious complications should she be exposed to COVID-19. After lots of discussion, we decided that I would stay a few extra days, help pack up her belongings, and drive her back rather than putting her on a plane 3 weeks from now.
Like most things, it is nearly impossible to separate the events of the day from the political times we are in. Pandemics are spread or stopped by shared community infrastructure at the city, county, state, country, and international level. There is no question that we will look back on this moment and see many systemic failures, and many examples of systems that succeeded and sustained. We can pick it all apart later--and hopefully learn from it. But right now, we are all a little bit frightened, a little bit confused, and a little bit needy.
That's why this clip of "And While Sienna Sleeps" is so moving--it reminds us of our collective humanity, our sense of community pride, and our resilience. It also reminds me why my life work is about the collective rather than the individual--because when we care for one another and build communities that support that care in times of crisis--life is better, and all, eventually, will be well.
We should all do our part to slow the spread of this virus through social distancing and extra attention to hygiene; but social distancing need not be equivalent to social isolation. Please be extra kind to those who are keeping things running or are losing their livelihood due to closures--the janitors, sports arena workers, orderlies, nurses, doctors, hospice workers, restaurant workers, police and fire, grocery store and Costco re-stockers--the list goes on and on. Please be careful. Please pay more attention to the good than the bad.
I hope you are all safe and well.
p.s. If you have audiobook recommendations for our road trip, leave them in the comments.
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