“They” want to mask us, muzzle us, muffle us. Are we going to let “them” do it? This is the moment of truth. And we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

This morning, puppy Shadow and I were on our usual walk when we ran across one of the old women who used to come to our Green Acres Village Community Dinners.

She said she had been thinking about us, grinning, as she rode up on her bike. “Hey,” I said. “We’re going to hold a small dinner tonight on the patio.” “Want to come?”

“Oh no, no,” she said, shuddering, followed by “Oh! don’t get too close!” as I walked towards her.

I was crestfallen. “You take this seriously?” I said, stunned.

“Oh yes! People are dying!”

“Well, yes, they are always dying! So what. They’re dying of the flu too.”

I shrugged my shoulders in dismay and walked on.

She made another loop around her apartment complex parking lot and came back to me.

“You mean you DON’T take it seriously?” she said, dumbfounded.

“No, not at all. I think the government is using it to demoralize its citizens.”

She looked incredulous. As if she had never heard of anyone not believing in the hype!

And maybe she hasn’t. As I recall, her apartment has no internet.

Had she made one more loop around, we could have met again. I look back and regret that we did not. On the other hand, I’m sure my attitude started some kind of a revolution in her very active, naturally contrarian mind. Especially because she is probably the wisest, funniest, most individualistic crone I know in this town! Had I been asked to guess, I would have been sure that she would realize that some kind of hype was going on. Wrong again!

I continue to be stunned by my own apparently unwarranted optimism.

In this morning’s local paper: Monroe County is going to be mandating masks “in public” very soon. They are still working out the details of how enforcement would proceed, and plan a press conference on Friday.

Even so, you bet. I will not be wearing a mask “in public,” i.e., outside, when there is plenty of unpeopled space around me.

And now I see that Kroger, Sams Club and Walmart are all going to require masks.

AND — for a glimmer of hope — I see that the governor of Georgia is going to stop this nonsense in his state.

For me, the ever increasing mask cover-up has become so ludicrous that I increasingly want to play with it. In other words, let’s turn the deep state intent of masking and distancing us on its ear. Instead of keeping us apart, let’s wear masks (where “required”) to convey meaning, and thus display our individuality to each other even more than when unmasked. Meme masks to encourage interaction between strangers that wouldn’t have met otherwise!  That’s how I’m thinking now. The boomerang effect.

A paper mask with “SHEEP” scrawled on it? Or “OBEDIENT”?  Or “ABSURD!”?

A cloth mask that looks like the skeleton of a face?

A mask made out of cheesecloth?

Hmmm . . . The second mask IS made of (layered) cheesecloth, but neither of the above masks feel particularly playful, and I’d really like to see a mask with just a single layer of cheesecloth, demonstrating the appearance of compliance along with the obvious absurdity of masking.

Here’s a good one and would probably encourage interaction. Her eyes tell the truth.

How about this?

Wait a minute. I thought it said “Decrease Disease Resistance by 45%” and “Decrease health by 20 points.” Would have been much better, because of course it’s true. The amount of bacteria and CO2. that collect behind a mask if worn continuously for hours, or worn during aerobic exercise, is off the charts.

Please, if you make a meme mask and wear it, send a pic of it along with any commentary about your interactions with others and I will put up another post on this subject.

Meanwhile, pay attention to what the New England Journal of Medicine says:

And let’s applaud this brave store sign owner.

Oh wow. Just came across this:

Maybe optimism is warranted after all. As Q said, at the end of his last post on July 2: