Why Coronavirus?

In a way, I am addicted to Nightly News, an American daily news program on TV available on YouTube. Maybe it’s a hangover from my life in the States. Also I find Lester Holt, the newscaster, attractive. In the US not too long ago all the news was about impeachment. Then the Democratic candidates for the next US election, which now has taken a backseat to the coronavirus. I am not addicted to any local news program because local news just gets on my nerves.

When Lester Holt first began to talk about coronavirus, it didn’t really touch me. But it made me think of the past epidemic in 15th-century France that made thousands sick and left them dead. A band of thieves set out to rob the dead, taking their money and jewelry but they never caught the contagious disease from their victims. They seemed to be protected from the pestilence. Eventually they were caught and they made a deal with the officers of law. They would get a lower sentence if they revealed how they protected themselves. They said they rubbed themselves with a mixture of oils made from clove, rosemary and other botanicals.

How can I be so knowledgeable, you must be wondering. I was introduced by a niece to selling essential oils (which I don’t do yet) and they have an essential oil called Thieves. That is the story of the oil they call Thieves. They recommend keeping your home clean with it and most lately they have come up with a toothpaste with it, which, I now think, I should add to all the anti-coronavirus paraphernalia we have at home.

But to acquire it I would have to go out and buy it from the only outlet where it’s available, which is far enough from where I live. Since I am over 60, I should not go out of the house. In fact I have not been out of the house since we returned from Bohol last week. Here we are, Mr. & Mrs., spending most of our time in front of the TV set. Fortunately we have two big sets in our small condo so we each have our own programs to choose from. My husband mainly watches fights. When he gets bored he watches World War II documentaries or goes sightseeing in Romania or Norway and other interesting countries.

I watch Netflix. I like to watch the murders with emotional content. I find I like to watch the European Netflix series. They are more interesting than the American series. Of course, I liked Bloodline, a series set in Florida, about a family who owned a resort. They had four living children, three boys and a girl and an older girl who drowned. This taught me that families in the US and in the Philippines are so much alike in their characters, secrets and violence. It also shows that what I once learned in a seminar I strayed into is true. There I learned that the eldest child could be the most responsible. If he or she is then the second child will be the most irresponsible. If the eldest child is the most irresponsible, then the second child is the most responsible. The latter is the situation in Bloodline. It’s interesting. It’s just like home.

 Then I strayed into the European series. Some of them are pretty good to watch because they are voiced in English so you can understand. But others have English subtitles. I like the French series. I liked immensely La Mante (The Praying Mantis). The insect praying mantis female is known for eating its male after using him. This is about a woman who doesn’t eat her husband but who gained fame by killing men who treated their wives badly. She finds out who they are and kills them in a terrible fashion. Yes, there are portions where you want to close your eyes. But this woman has a son. When she is imprisoned, the son is raised by his father.

 The series begins with her son grown up and turned into an undercover policeman. There has been a new rash of murders similar to those his mother used to perform so they are thrown together once more. You guessed it — he hates his mother. That thread is part of the plot that is so well-knitted together it makes for a beautiful story. It’s full of sub-titles. But it’s worth watching.

Through all this activity I cannot help but remember Rizal, who believed that nature was God. When there was a natural disaster it was God’s way to make us examine ourselves and what we are doing that we should stop. Think of all the recent natural disasters. Earthquakes. Volcanic eruption. Now Covid-19. What is it that we should stop doing?

 I hope it’s not watching Netflix.

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