Another foggy morning. Two more before I can go out, and so Michael is making a CostCo run with the help of a neighbor who has a car.

The problem with CostCo is that it’s one of those big box stores where everything is sold in bulk. “Get eggs,” I said, and he pointed out it wouldn’t be a dozen, but 36. When I mentioned carrots, he reminded me of the time I yelled at him for bringing home a 10-pound bag. In normal times, yes, that would be a problem, but maybe I could make and freeze some carrot soup. If he can find cumin seeds, I’ll make smoked cumin to go with it.

If he can find frozen chicken breasts, I’ll make a pot pie. If he can find frozen shrimp, I’ll make a shrimp stew with potatoes. Actually, whether he can find shrimp or not, I want potatoes. Small whites, preferably, or if not that, Yukon and if not that Russet, which I can slice and roast. Oh, and garlic. If he can find, if he can find… It’s frustrating to be unable to go out and see what’s available for myself.

Trump wants meat processing centers open in spite of the safety concerns. At least one governor is demanding that citizens show up for work or do without unemployment checks. This includes “essential” workers like department store employees. Powerful people in this country, worried about their stock portfolios, are trying to get us all used to the “if they die, they die” philosophy towards working Americans.

We’ll have another online event tonight, a discussion between two experts about Artificial Intelligence. Our co-hosts, who are very tech-savvy, will manage the Zoom, for which I am grateful. All I have to do is moderate the Q&A. And, this Friday, our Cinema series will start up again. We can’t stream movies — even if we had the technical means, we don’t have the rights to do that — but Mechanics’ has signed up for Kanopy, and people can watch films at their leisure, then meet via Zoom to talk about them. This week it’s Room at the Top.

Have I mentioned Kanopy? It’s a film streaming service offered free to libraries, both public and membership. You sign on by typing in the bar code on your library card. Their collection includes foreign films, classics, silents, documentaries, pre-Code, etc, a much wider variety than is offered by our licensing company when we actually screen movies in our events space. I was worried about our members finding both Zoom and Kanopy too complicated, but I underestimated them. Our reservations for Friday’s discussion hit thirty yesterday — and include viewers in Montana and Florida! I’m going to have to remind out of state participants about the differences in time zones.

Our shut down order in California is continuing through May. Even if we open up in June, I doubt large gatherings will be either wise or permitted, so we’re wrestling with the question of how we are going to handle Bloomsday.

Every year, on June 16th, the library has celebrated James Joyce’s masterpiece with readings, Guinness, Soda Bread, grapes, gorgonzola cheese, and Irish Songs. Bloomsday is a big deal for us, and has invariably sold out. If we stick to Zoom, however, we may have to do not only without the food but without the songs, and that’s a shame because there are musicians who’ve performed for us at Bloomsday every year.

Who knows where we’ll be by then?