Up and Coming June / September 2020

Up and Coming

June / September

2020

Where Do We Find

Ourselves in 2020?

What a surreal period this has been for all of us. In the first few months of 2020 we have experienced a world-wide disease that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and brought the economies of entire countries to a halt. In our own country, we have lost more than 100,000 of our fellow citizens and seen tens of millions unemployed. In the midst of all of this, we witnessed the horrific killing of a fellow American at the hands of those who were sworn to protect and serve, setting off nationwide and now worldwide protests. That has caused us to look hard at the pattern of abuse that has continued against people of color almost since the founding of our country.. Now, people of all colors are banding together to protest this violation of trust and abuse of power, and this movement has prompted a total reexamination of the role of police in our democratic societies. As our national elections approach, we look toward leaders who seem impotent to stem the tide of one calamity after another and none of our choices look promising.

At the same time, something unique and perhaps beautiful has occurred in many of our lives. The frantic pace of our civilization has slowed down. The streets of many of our largest cities have grown silent and empty of traffic and congestion. Insurance companies have taken to issuing rebates because of the drastic drop in accidents and dramatically fewer people have lost their lives on our roads or through violence. Skies above cities that were once choked with smog are now clear and bright and greenhouse gases have been significantly reduced. There has been a resurgence of the popularity of board games as families reconnect around their kitchen and dining room tables. In short, for many of us, the slowdown has allowed us to take a collective breath and rediscover each other. I hope that amidst all the chaos of this period, you too have also shared in some of its unexpected blessings.

My Personal Journey

As many of you know, several months ago I was diagnosed with a hole in the macular layer of my right eye. Because I had several book events scheduled, I opted to delay the surgery until I finished them. Then the virus hit and my book events were cancelled but my eyesight diminished significantly in the interim, making it difficult for me to spend any prolonged time in front of my computer screen. I arranged to move up the surgery and had the operation in early June. Prior to the operation I was tested for the virus and following the test remained in quarantine until the surgery. Following the surgery, I remained in a head-down position keeping my eye facing downward continuously for an additional week. Thankfully, following that week, my eye healed sufficiently that I could resume a normal posture.

At this time, my eye continues to heal and my sight improves somewhat each day. I can now see better from my right eye, but the images are distorted and normally straight lines appear wavy. That is not particularly problematic for distance viewing and most daily activities, including driving, but makes close work, like typing this to you, fairly fatiguing. I must sometimes close the right eye to see the letters. In addition, my chronic dry-eye adds irritation, which adds to the fatigue. All that means that I am avoiding close work, like extended typing, at this time. On the very plus side, I am spending more time reconnecting with friends and family via the phone and spending more time doing fun things with my wife, children and grandchildren.

See You In September

I want to express my deepest appreciation to all of you who have sent me well wishes and to those who have taken the time to write and let me know your thoughts about Wounded Angels. I will try to include additional comments in future announcements but for now, I am taking a break from writing until at least September and will plan to reconnect with you then.

Please excuse any typos in this as I do not always see the text clearly, even with my right eye closed.

That's All For Now

That will have to do for now. Thank you for spending this time with me. I wish you and yours continued health and happiness until we connect again.

Warmest Regards,

Chuck

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AuthorChuckMiceli · 22 Maple Lane · Wolcott, Connecticut 06716 · USA