All of which reminds me of the book I read earlier this month, Geraldine Brooks's Year of Wonders, about a village struck by plague in England in 1666 that decided on a self-quarantine so as not to spread the virus. The fear, sadness, devastation that Brooks fictionalizes in her novel really brings to life the terror of a pandemic but also personalizes illness and loss in a very tangible way. I haven't had time to write my thoughts of the book here, but I see it as a love story, actually, unrealized, between the main character and her mentor--maybe it's just a lesbian projection, but their restorative and transformative (transformational?) friendship added something to the story for me. ****SPOILER ALERT**** Of course, it all ends rather badly, excepting only that the main character lives--otherwise, the plague year was awful. I'm not saying swine flu is like bubonic plague or that the devastation and its effects are comparable, just that my timing was eery and it gives me a different perspective on our current flu scare. Talk about life mirroring art. And vice versa.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Love in the Time of Swine Flu
Swine flu. It's here in Connecticut, though unofficially. Only unofficial for now. And it makes me nervous. Not panicky, just cautious. Which is why we aren't going anywhere big this weekend. We'd considered Old Sturbridge Village--but Massachusetts has official swine flu cases, there would be lots of children, touching all the same things, and I really don't want to have to think about it for 3-5 days after the visit. It makes me realize how often we are in the vicinity of if not contact with people we absolutely do not know. And how little we wash our hands. Especially considering studies that show that influenza virus can live on money for up to 10 days!!! I think it will be a great weekend to garden.
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The English village you write about is called Eyam (pronounced EEM). I have been there and it is a delightful place in intself quite apart from the self imposed osolation aspect. A numer of the stone roofed cottages have plaques stating who lived there at the time of the plague and how many died. It also now has a circular church, rather nice but one wonders at the logic of bypassing the old style cross aisles. I have also walked to the place about 500 yards out of the village where outsiders placed food for those who remained. Apparently only one adult defied the ban, the vicar's wife took herself and her children away. I do not now remember if the vicar died. There was TV play about it, several men survived, including one who was said to have gonhorroea, or some such STD. Keep smiling, President Obama will see you all through but keep mum about your sleeping arrangements.
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