My motto for today was “Don’t Stay Inside, Stay Away From Lots Of People.”

Our friend Eve Marko came up for lunch and a visit. I loved seeing her and Maria out with the donkeys, two strong and deeply admirable women talking warmly and easily with one another.

It was a beautiful day, it is always uplifting to hang around with donkeys. It is always calming to be with the donkeys, talk about spiritual creatures.

Eve hates to be called a spiritual person, but she is a Zen Master, as well as an author and social activist and beloved blogger, and I suppose it comes with the territory. From me, it’s a high compliment.

I value Eve in my life quite a bit.

Like everyone, I am trying to come to terms with the pace of change and confusion. Toilet paper, medicine, Chlorox. What does this say about us?

The changes are deeper and more serious than I expected a few days ago, there is more to come. I’m looking for a steady cruising speed, it must come from within.

This isn’t over, in some ways, it’s just beginning.

Like me, Eve is a kind of life journalist, we are both so fascinated by what is happening we sometimes forget to be afraid. And what is the point of being afraid?

I realize I am down about being labeled as a “person or risk,” as if I was carrying the roots of the plague. I hate to be conspicuous in that way, I prefer to be a person who helps, not a person who needs help and might need special care.

This is perhaps healthy and humbling for me.

This doesn’t feel like my crisis, but it is, surely, it belongs to all of us. I am getting easy with the idea that the way for me to help is to stay away, or like the bureaucrats and social media mobs like to stay, I’m Social Distancing.

No large groups of people for me.

I can wash my hands a dozen times a day and stay away from people, but I can’t hide from life. I hate that Maria is so worried about me, that has focused me on being cautious and as safe as I can.

It was a joy to sit and talk with Eve today, I wish she could stay for a few days. Her husband died a year or so ago, and she is bravely and wisely re-constructing her disrupted life.

She will get there.

I realized today that stores are running out of bleach and household cleaners and I felt a surge of concern, as we don’t have a pantry full of supplies. This is my job I am the Hunter-Gatherer, but the Hunter-Gatherer will be staying out of grocery stores, he is a “person at risk,” not the best label ever put on me.

At some point, I will have to forage around. I’ve agreed to stay out of the supermarkets and let Maria do the shopping, at her request.

The coronavirus Pandemic no longer feels like something that is remote. It feels close to me, and to almost everyone reading this.

I am going forward with plans to support the Mansion residents and especially the Bishop Maginn refugees, out of school for weeks.  Thank you for your support (via Paypal, [email protected], or by check, Jon Katz, Refugee Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

(We are also raising money to buy grocery store gift cards for the Bishop Maginn refugee students who are out of school, and in some cases, out of food. Teachers are preparing care packages for them for this week, I hope we can get some gift cards to them From Price Chopper, the grocery nearest them. You can do good sitting at a computer.)

The gift cards need to be sent to me, as there won’t be anybody at the school to collect the mail: Jon Katz, 2502 State Route 22, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.)

We’re also hoping to support these children in their virtual schooling, details to come.

That is important work, and I will do it from home. I am grateful to have this work, it grounds and settles me.  I am not used to being so grounded. I am excited and pleased to know the Army Of Good, for all the distractions, is paying attention and helping out.

I am also grateful to live with someone who cares about what happens to me. In suffering, there is always joy and light. I will be looking for it in the coming days and weeks and sharing it with you.