Dave’s Diaries: Life, writing and more

  • A pandemic diary: Deuce

    A pandemic diary: Deuce

    March 8, 2021 My second dose went in just fine. I didn’t feel anxious about being in a crowd at the clinic, like the first time. Best of all, I dodged the onerous side effects that sometimes come with round 2: no chills, fatigue, fever, or muscle aches. My arm itches a little but isn’t… Read more

  • A pandemic diary: One down

    A pandemic diary: One down

    February 17, 2021 As of last week, I’m among the ranks of the half-protected, a lot luckier than many of us because I didn’t have to scramble for vaccine. My regular medical provider emailed me to ask if I needed it, confirmed I was eligible ten days later, and two weeks after that, they offered… Read more

  • State of the (re)union

    State of the (re)union

    Though we’ve just plunged into 2021, I’m already musing about an unwelcome milestone coming in 22: my fiftieth high school class reunion. I have no intention of going, yet it’s looming on my mental horizon like a lake freighter with a cargo of memories, many of which I’d just as soon forget. That period wasn’t… Read more

  • A pandemic diary: Whoa

    A pandemic diary: Whoa

    January 27, 2021 A wet, grey winter morning turned downright grim with the latest news about how bad the pandemic is in Atlanta. According to a nationwide county-by-county breakdown, published by the New York Times and based mainly on state data, my county is at “an extremely high risk level.” These are the depressing facts.… Read more

  • A pandemic diary: Not the A list, the V list

    A pandemic diary: Not the A list, the V list

    January 20, 2021 As of yesterday I’m officially in line for the vaccine. I don’t know when they’ll be able to schedule me but at least it’s a start, a first step out of the morass. I’m eligible because I’m over 65, though I don’t feel half as deserving as the others in Phase 1A:… Read more

  • The Capitol I knew

    The Capitol I knew

    January 7, 2021 One afternoon in the summer of 1998 I was sitting in my cramped broadcast booth in the Senate Radio & TV Correspondents Gallery in the Capitol, where I spent my days reporting on Congress for listeners all over the world on the Voice of America. I had just filed a routine story… Read more