Good Morning, 

Pandemic! National emergency! Closing our country’s borders. Shortage of toilet paper and hand sanitizers. Are you in panic mode? Are you searching for a scapegoat? Please don’t. If you can, self-quarantine. Buy the supplies you’ll need to live at home for a month, but try not to hoard.

Friends, is that advice easier offered than followed? It is for me. The third book in my Silent Series is titled Blame for a reason. When things go wrong, most of us seek someone to blame. But will it solve the problem? Rather than seeking a group to single out and blame, we must work together to solve our problem.

I’m proud of many of my fellow Americans who are doing just that. Thank you for coming together to help. I love the hilarious GIFs people have shared with me. The toilet paper shortage, while troubling, has provided a chuckle. As Shakespeare demonstrated in his tragedies, when we are overwhelmed by tragedy, we turn to humor as a defense mechanism. Thank you all who have helped me by sharing toilet-paper jokes.

In Blame, Jacob’s girlfriend’s nickname is Squirrel. It’s because she’s a hoarder. That characteristic she inherits from me. I tend to hoard, but I’m trying not to buy all the toilet paper in Volusia County, Florida.

Hand sanitizer is another thing. My friends will tell you, like Jacob, the main character of Blame, I carry hand sanitizer with me always. This habit has resulted in my dry, chapped hands. You don’t want to shake my hand. It feels like sandpaper, so in addition to hand sanitizer, I must carry hand cream. 

I’ve resisted the urge to order all the hand sanitizer Amazon sells because I’ve been hoarding it for years, and I plan to stay home and clean the house with Clorox. Early in our marriage my husband came home from work and said, “Not everyone is as crazy about the smell of Clorox as you are.” I guess he’s right, but answer one question for me please. Are you welcoming the smell of Clorox, when you enter a restaurant, hotel, public bathroom, hospital, or grocery store these days? 

If you’ve read my books, you know I usually write about serious issues. I write to right wrongs. Today, I’ve tried to write to suggest we take time to laugh during this difficult time. We must not allow ourselves to get too depressed. Laugh. It’s easiest for me to laugh at myself. I’m very imperfect. I could write for years giving my characters foibles from my own life. 

Thank you for visiting My News. Stay safe, but take time to smile today.