The world stopped dead about the first week of March in 2020.  We seemed to all be in shock for several weeks and then we had all the protests stemming from the George Floyd killing, Black Lives Matter, Defund the Police, etc.  But by the end of the Summer of 2020, reality had set in.  Everything was cancelled that couldn’t be done online, and we all started to hunker down for the long haul.  Stir crazy doesn’t even begin to cover it.  The only ones happy were our pets, as my meatloaf of a cat on the cover fully demonstrates.

About this time, I discovered a cartoon about the Dalai Lama’s birthday party in which he opens an empty box and says, “Wow, nothing, just what I always wanted!”  I sent it to my sister after spacing out her birthday.  I googled the comic and found so many versions (and similar drawings) that I’m unable to determine the comic’s source or original cartoonist.  But if there ever was a time to enjoy nothing, the period between the Summer of 2020 and the Summer of 2021 was it.  A whole concert season and school year – up in smoke.

I have come to believe that most people were changed by the year in isolation.  Some people seem to have aged considerably.  Most people are cordial, but many seem more distant or withdrawn.  When things began to open up, some said they were enthusiastic, but most seemed still cautious and preoccupied.  It was as if people were not only used to minimal contact, but secretly rather enjoyed it.  People had learned to cope, made other plans, and tailored their aspirations. 

I am writing this in 2023, and feel as if I am only beginning to get back into the swing of things again.  Things are still not like they were.  I know many for whom the pandemic completely changed their life.  I may never again go shopping without a mask.  The momentum of society seems to have splintered.  Maybe this is a good thing.  I know I have become (even) more private, if not withdrawn.  I still enjoy performing with other musicians, but the enthusiasm has not fully returned.  It is as if the pandemic was just the first crisis of many to come.  

The tracks of this album are all rather self-explanatory.  They tend to mirror the mood of the times – cautious, subdued, wistful, preoccupied, watchful, and silent.  There is no celebration of return, just sober acceptance and painful memories.  Life used to be too short, but for many that is no longer the case.