Conforming To Fashion

DAVY CROCKETT, who preferred being called "David", said: "Fashion is a thing I care mighty little about, unless it happens to run just exactly according to my own notion". In fact, this is the first line in the preface of his autobiography, a best seller since 1835. Amen to that. We should all be so independent of popular approval. David, however, was something of a hypocrite. He wore a coonskin cap to please others, to uphold his popular image. I'm the same way, generally oblivious to fashion trends, but a bit of a hypocrite, like my hero Davy. Sensing the fashionable fad of self quarantining, sheltering in place, and social distancing, I'm all in. Its easy for me, because it runs exactly according to my own notion. I could do this the rest of my life, hand at home with the cats, read, write, watch spring spring, and do little else. No offense to humanity, but I prefer my folks at a bit of a distance. A loner culture by nature, we Americans tend to be like that; free spirits, doing our own thing. Most of my friends, most of th people I know or have ever talked to, describe themselves as loners, mavericks, apart from the herd. Now is the perfect chance for us all to prove it. This corona virus thing is like a dystopian poorly written science fiction novel, in real time. Safely, comfortably ensconced, I can no longer bear to watch people suffering on television, or read about them suffering in books. I see enough of that, I sense it, all around me, on this very real new world. Anxiety, ambient, and that is quite enough. "misery too has its virtues", said Goethe. "I have learned much in ill health that I never would have learned when well"..And, "one does not always lose when one has to do without". somehow, you sense that we are all about to find out.G