Several phrases have circulated to characterize our current situation of waiting. On my calendar, we are entering the twenty-first week of isolation, hunkering down at home, sheltering in place … or Hotel California as I’ve fondly labeled our unending condition. The Eagle’s great song casts a somewhat sinister net on it all (https://genius.com/Eagles-hotel-california-lyrics).

As the lyrics remind us:

“Relax”, said the night man
“We are programmed to receive
You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave”

Last week, I eased up on my cooking. I tried to use what we had in the pantry and freezer which amounted to more or less summer picnic food. Constant Companion seems to be happy with almost anything I do – the plain and the fancy. Hamburgers one night. Hot dogs another. Tuna salad the next. Omelette last night. Ok, the omelette had smoked salmon, fish roe, and creme fraiche in it. Most were made with the pickings from food distributions and foraging.

For some reason in last week’s continued enforced period of “Relaxation,” a la the Eagles, my mind wandered to another time in my past and another song. The time was early 70s, Peace Corps. The place was Jamaica.

The song was Jimmy Cliff’s “Sitting in Limbo” (https://genius.com/Jimmy-cliff-sitting-in-limbo-lyrics).

Sitting here in limbo
But I know it won’t be long
Sitting here in limbo
Like a bird without a song

Well, they’re
Putting up resistance
But I know that my faith
Will lead me on

And then there’s the chorus –

Sitting in limbo, sitting in limbo (limbo, limbo, limbo)
Sitting in limbo, sitting in limbo (limbo, limbo, limbo)
Sitting in limbo, sitting in limbo (limbo, limbo, limbo)
Sitting in limbo, limbo, limbo
Sitting in limbo (limbo, limbo, limbo) Sitting in limbo, limbo, limbo
Limbo, limbo

Take your mind off of our situation. Listen to some nice music. Think of rainbows … as we wait …