Monday, 8/14

I did not think that that would be a lingering effect of our Covid Crisis three years ago.

First of all, hope you had a great weekend. I did myself; I didn't seem to butcher too many names Saturday at the Ore To Shore and, given my track record over the years, that's a good thing (although, in my defense, I did announce around 800 names in just over an hour and a half, so...). I went running when I got home from the race Saturday, and that's when I discovered that lingering effect of Covid.

Now, if I was an evil human being, which I'm not, I'd just end the blog right there. It would be a great cliffhanger; I get in the shower, and discover that lingering effect of Covid. If I ended it there, you'd be hanging. What WAS that lingering effect? And just why did I discover it in the shower?

Thankfully, I'm not evil. When I stepped into the shower Saturday I realize that, at least for me, the lingering effect of Covid is that I now have become a soap connoisseur. Specifically, I will no longer use any soap except those from this family--

You may recall my plan when we got all that stimulus money three years ago. Since I didn't need it for things like rent, I used it for its intended purpose—once stores opened, I spent every single cent at locally owned businesses. So when I was in Gathered Earth in downtown Marquette and saw the Vanilla Basil soap (along with its siblings Rosemary Hemp & Orange Fennel) I, just out curiosity (and because I was spreading money around) bought them. Since them, I have become addicted to them. If I even try to use another kind of soap, my skin (and my sense of smells) wonders why I'm torturing it.

So, I guess, it's that family of soaps for me from now on.

You know, it's weird. People were changed during the Covid Crisis, some in major (and not good) ways. Me? I became addicted to a certain soap. I guess, when you think of it, that's not the worse way to have come through that crisis.

Although, I will admit, it IS one of the strangest.

(jim@wmqt.com), soap snob.