Why we were so anxious yesterday! https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwHMZTKmXBpVvlQhVLwVsjwhbSK?projector=1&messagePartId=0.1

Baby Hal came into the world early this morning. Long labor, but everyone is well. Mt. Sinai came through!

Jimmy @8:42 My daughter made three trips to Mt. Sinai yesterday for a scheduled labor induction. No beds. When she made it there at 2 am (after being told they were holding a bed for her) she was told the bed had been given away. She got a bed around 4 am this morning, and is in labor now. She says Mt. Sinai is an eerie combination of chaos and emptiness. The staff has been great, however.

Clarice has posted several very informative communiques from Jeffrey Satinover, which, I have been sorry to see, have sometimes been met with scornful dismissal. Satinover -- disclosure, we know him -- is an intriguing, idiosyncratic person. He is both a physicist and and MD. He ran afoul of the bien-pensants by questioning the current consensus on homosexuality: He is a psychiatrist, and feels strongly that the normalization of what he feels is aberrant, destructive behavior (my paraphrase, not necessarily that accurate!) has been a huge mistake. Anyway, I think he is an extremely worthwhile presence now, and want to thank Clarice for sharing his posts.

Tuna Toreador

For those of you missing live ESPN events ---- https://www.facebook.com/BobMenery/videos/2513812988722799/

SBW@747: Yes. As a dog returneth to his vomit (I am a Nancy Mitford enthusiast), I was back at Citarella this morning. Standing in our isolationist-approved line/space, I had plenty of time to take in the cart of my nearest shopper. And it was great! Two bunches of tulips, a loaf of challah (it's Friday), and other nice things. I called out to her: "Your cart is so inspirational! Thank you!" She looked back at me and as her eyes raked my cart, I could only imagine what she thought: Cod, three Yukon gold potatoes, a bag of spinach. Hadn't brushed my hair, and my quasi-yoga pants really bagged everywhere. "Thank you! Can I buy you some tulips?" And tulips at Citarella don't come cheap: $13 a bunch! "Yes! That would be wonderful!" Well, she (her name is Michelle) bought me some gorgeous orange/pink tulips and it was just a wonderful moment.

Again, thank you all. In this time of isolation, our on-line community is carrying heavy burdens. With ease! Sbw: Will we be first-time grandparents together?

@JM Hanes: Ha! I had good nurse/worse nurse at my son's birth. You know, we all get through everything. What did Lincoln say, something like, "I never spent so much time on my knees once I became president." Well, yeah, for all of us, in all times if we tap into it. Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes. It means a lot.

You guys are fabulous! Her official due date is April 4, but they will be inducing her on April 1st, if he (it's a boy) hasn't arrived yet. She's an older first-time mother, so they err on the side of ... I don't know what? We may not see him for some time, if the craziness holds. Her name is Sadie, if you want to give a name to your prayers. I am so grateful for this community.

Another Life During Wartime dispatch. Got a call from my daughter, living in NYC, in her ninth month of pregnancy, telling me her hospital (Mt. Sinai) has stipulated that no one --including her husband -- is allowed to be there for the birth. So she will have a throw-back (1940s, 1950s) giving-birth experience. She's a real non-hysteric stalwart, yet it's not what anyone wants. I told her the nurses, who have been through this more than any first-time fathers and high-end dulahs combined, will be fabulous, and in my experience, that is so. So, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks!

Dear Gentlejim @1:40 Even in the best of times, Tucson airport is problematic. I had to wing it to California when we were there, and when I got on the plane many of the other passengers were hailing fellow fliers like long-lost friends: "Ha ha, where did you stay last night?" "Fancy seeing you again!" Flights are late or cancelled all the time. Phoenix is always a safer bet. I've driven to Phoenix at un-Godly hours to pick up someone who was stranded and couldn't make it to Tucson. When we left Tucson (a week ago), it was pretty sane. We got a call yesterday from a friend who told us the shelves have been ravaged, "There's nothin but rotting fish at Alberson's." The goof-ball Tucson community in which we residence has imposed Draconian restrictions on its dwellers. Subject of another post. Glad you made it home. Know how you feel!

Another dispatch from the East End. Just encountered my first real East Hampton jerk. Was at Citarella's (again) approaching the check out line and heard a guy (curly gray hair, baseball cap, jeans -- the usual Hamptons casual uniform -- shouting to a hapless couple: "Six feet! Six feet! Keep six feet away!!!" Adding to the belligerent awkwardness was that the couple under assault was yet another Hampton's staple: schleppy guy with a beautiful Asian wife. The guy kept yelling "Six feet!" as he shoveled his two cases of Pellegrino (his only purchase) into his cart, his face contorted with rage. He pushed past his victims (both their faces averted) and stormed into the parking lot. You don't need movie theaters to be entertained out here!

Well, since I have zero of substance to add to much of anything, I'm sharing our dinner menu: Skate (cheap and local) with a beurre noir sauce. Boiled potatoes and salad. Really good. And, let me add, once again, affordable. Apparently none of the swells zooming in from NYC have discovered this foodstuff, nor do they know how to cook it!

Porch: Extraneous is quoted in the intro to "No Matter What"!

Porch -- Let me know how you like it! Did you get Vast Right Wing Conspiracy?

OK, someone just sent me this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U6zU4MXmnA&feature=youtu.be Laughter, always the best medicine.

Well, made it home without any unpleasantness at Citarella's. As a matter of fact, everyone was extra polite and human! Letting in only a few people at a time, swabbing down carts before entering store. No "Do you know who I am?!" moments. Picked up stuff for my son to bring into the city for my nine-months' pregnant daughter. Both she and her husband have had cold-flu stuff the last few days (she lives a block or two from JimmyK on the UWS). They are both better, and no one -- including her doctors -- is panicking. Over and out!

Captain, didn't see that you already posted the Hamptons dispatch. We get our fish from local fishermen, so we've got that going for us! Heading over to Citarella's (across the street) to duke it out with the swells over a bag of carrots.

Life During Wartime here in East Hampton.

Well, living the life of kings out here in East Hampton. The fish are swimming! Fluke for dinner. Our daughter told us we can't come into the City (New York) until at least two weeks after the baby is born. Strange times, but not end times.

Here in East Hampton after two flights to get us here from Tucson. Flights half full; no one freaking out, reassuring. Then we get to New York. Holy Moly! Stopped in Bridgehampton to get a bottle of wine, but was behind a nutter who bought over $800 in wine and spirits, and informed me and the propriator, grimly, that Diblasio was about to shut down the city, sending in the National Guard to monitor all ingress and egress. Well, hasn't happened, yet. Then on to Citarella's (JiB will know this reference all too well), where the parking lot was full to the brim with Cayennes, and other vehicles signaling success in the material world. Was able to scarf up bluefish and other essentials I hadn't been able to squirrel away in my suitcase (avocados, grapefruits, lemons). And then I talk to my brother in California (just out of the hospital!) who says his town (Del Rey Oaks, on the Monterey/Seaside border) has ordered everyone 65 or older not to leave their homes/yard. Young people are volunteering to deliver essential to non-computer-savvy oldsters. Is this a world gone mad, or what?? Posted by: Tonto | March 15, 2020 at 07:31 PM

Here in East Hampton after two flights to get us here from Tucson. Flights half full; no one freaking out, reassuring. Then we get to New York. Holy Moly! Stopped in Bridgehampton to get a bottle of wine, but was behind a nutter who bought over $800 in wine and spirits, and informed me and the propriator, grimly, that Diblasio was about to shut down the city, sending in the National Guard to monitor all ingress and egress. Well, hasn't happened, yet. Then on to Citarella's (JiB will know this reference all too well), where the parking lot was full to the brim with Cayennes, and other vehicles signaling success in the material world. Was able to scarf up bluefish and other essentials I hadn't been able to squirrel away in my suitcase (avocados, grapefruits, lemons). And then I talk to my brother in California (just out of the hospital!) who says his town (Del Rey Oaks, on the Monterey/Seaside border) has ordered everyone 65 or older not to leave their homes/yard. Young people are volunteering to deliver essential to non-computer-savvy oldsters. Is this a world gone mad, or what??

Jane: We will be going straight to East Hampton to self-isolate before seeing our daughter. Apparently, however, the South Fork is overrun with NYC refugees fleeing the CZ! Our daughter's doctor has already indicated that no one should come to the hospital waiting room (Mt. Sinai) when she gives birth. So we will wait and see what happens. We're about 90 miles or so from NYC.

@Jane We're in Tucson, but heading home tomorrow. Our first grandchild is due in a week or so. He will be born in NYC.