By David Fortier 

Come Sunday morning, Mary and I will almost have recovered from a bout of COVID-19. She took the brunt of the virus, with fever, congestion, runny nose, aches and pains, and a heavy cough, so much so that she was prescribed a Paxlovid regiment, which helped immensely. Mine manifested in a persistent cough, congestion, runny nose, headaches, sore throat, aches and pains, loss of taste and smell, and a general wooziness.  

Thank goodness for vaccinations and boosters; otherwise, one of us or both of us might have had to be hospitalized or worse. I am reminded that these steps, vaccinations and boosters, do not protect against contracting the virus, but lessen the effects of the damage that the virus can do to a person. We are both very fortunate. 

Regarding Paxlovid, I was under the impression that it is one miracle pill. What I learned is that it is a cocktail of two distinct medications—three pills in the morning and another three in the evening administered over five days.  

So, the week was spent in quarantine, communicating with people, mostly the kids, via text messages and FaceTime visits. For me, the week involved lots of naps, several a day through Saturday, although I was able to get some fresh air, with a walk around the block, occasionally, and one taken after the heat wave swept in. 

Out front, the nearly 100-year-old rhododendron has begun to bloom. Up the street, work continues on a renovation that has been going on for a couple months. On one walk, I chatted, from the sidewalk, while she sat in her closed in porch, with Ellie. It’s nice to see people, even from a distance. On another walk, Lee and I chatted, again from a distance, as we covered the local scene, since he had been away. 

During my walk on Saturday, I was reminded that Bakery on Maple is celebrating its first anniversary. The Heavenly Smoked BBQ food truck was parked alongside the building—it’s impossible to miss, in all its orange glory—as part of the celebration, which also included free cupcakes to the first 25 customers of the day. 

A couple of articles not podcasts for this week’s reading —again, more on the national and world-wide scenes—but still important because they do affect us and they affect the people around us. The first is a piece by Timothy Snyder, Yale history professor. It appears in the New York Times, under this headline, “Why It Matters That Russia Is Fascist.” Click here.  

Fascism, Snyder says, has never been adequately dealt with, consequently, it arises at different times and different places, especially among those who identify themselves as anti-fascist. In realty, fascists often define themselves as fighting fascism, creating a type of schizophrenic environment from which to launch their attacks. 

A second piece that also appears in the New York Times, “We Must Take Back Our Privacy,” by Zeynep Tufekci, raises another issue that needs attention despite the apparent calm that surrounds us here. Tufekci cites Louis Brandeis, prior to becoming a Supreme Court justice, who recognized that we are losing our right to be left alone. Click here.  

“Come Sunday morning” is intended to be a weekly review, a recounting of the past week and an anticipation of week to come. Among its features will be reviews of old and new books, sharing of favorite podcasts, some family news, Bristol events and happenings and issues surrounding education, work and community journalism. He can be reached at dfortier@bristoledition.org  

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