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Floodtide was not Meant to be Relevant

Thursday, March 12, 2020 - 16:22

When I wrote a story about an epidemic, complete with administrative mismanagement, I hadn't intended it to be immediately relevant to the world the book was released into. (Though, of course, all fictional themes can have metaphorical resonances with contemporary life.) The elite of Rotenek respond to periodic bouts of river fever by "social distancing" -- i.e., by leaving town for their country properties. In Floodtide, a further quarantine measure was to block traffic across the river, in the belief that the source of the disease was the poorer quarters of the city. As today, these measures provide protection to some at the cost of abandoning others to the disease We don't have Celeste's magic charms to protect us against fever, and some of the bravest people out there are the health care workers who risk their own lives to stay at their posts.

Other than the cancelation of a couple of events in my near future, my life is being relatively unaffected. I'm working from home for the indefinite future because the pharmaceutical company I work for needs to reduce risk for the hands-on workers who are keeping our supply chain going to deliver life-saving medicines to the patients who depend on us. (Not directly related to Covid-19, although this morning's corporate update noted that other divisions are donating drugs being used for experimental treatments of the virus.)

I've only been working from home for two days now, and except for the isolation I could really get used to this. A 15 second commute, an entire garden to look at during my breaks rather than a single desk-rose. But in addition to the "what next" dread that hangs over us all, there's an unsettled sense of being off my habits and rhythms. I hope I settle in quickly to be able to put the extra time to productive use, but I hope even more that we all find ways to mitigate this epidemic and use the lessons in the future.

Be safe; wash your hands; and remember that you can read books in the safety of your sealed underground bunker!

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historical