Three things from DAH.

DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. I write, organize, plan, produce, manage, direct, act, sing, promote, and make change (not the coin kind). 

First up this week, Alienation …  
We've been separated from others so long we've begun to feel like others ourselves. We're keeping apart, and feeling less and less part of the larger world. We're physically isolating, even if we do our best to stay mentally engaged. Thank you, Zoom! When we do think about stretching beyond our safety zones, the situations we've deemed acceptable risks, we have to navigate the various and different safety zones and rules of others. Even when there's a semblance of "normal" (the good old days, earlier this year) we still have to deal with otherness and alienation. Oh, the vague new rules of engagement!
What to Do If You and Your Loved Ones Disagree About Social Distancing

Second up this week, Assimilation …  
Bubbles and pods, who's in and who's out? As we evaluate family and friends, as they evaluate us, we've been self-selecting ourselves into small groups of trust. People with whom I already felt friendly now seem more inside than ever, even if we don't touch. We are learning to sort ourselves and to compromise behaviors so that we can have trust-based bubbles and pods. We all see others who have chosen different behaviors … they're not for our bubble. Which makes it easier to identify those we're willing to bubble with, those mates with whom we share so much, and with whom we're assimilating to avoid isolation. 
The Pros And Cons of 'Social Bubbles'


Third up this week, Albariño …  
Our wine bar near the mission in San Luis Obispo was called Alegria. The focus was Iberian varietals, with wines from Spain, Portugal, California, and Oregon. A favorite region to chat about with our guests was Rías Baixas, on the west coast of Green Spain just north of Portugal. The Celtic heritage, the Galician gaita (Spanish bagpipes), the lush landscape -- so different from the mental image of Spain held by many. We'd walk to our big wine map of Spain and point. "See? Right there on the Atlantic coast." With a glass of Rías Baixas Albariño in hand, that delightful white varietal. We bonded, proprietors and guests, creating our own little island of excitement, thrilled by Galician wines grown on granite-dominated soils. 
What’s Albariño? Digging into One of Spain's Most Famous White Wines

And a bit more … I Am A Rock, by Paul Simon. Read the lyrics and/or take in Simon & Garfunkel performing the song: 

A winter's day
In a deep and dark December
I am alone
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow
I am a rock
I am an island

I've built walls
A fortress deep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain
I am a rock
I am an island

Don't talk of love
But I've heard the word before
It's sleeping in my memory
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died
If I never loved I never would have cried
I am a rock
I am an island

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb
I touch no one and no one touches me
I am a rock
I am an island

And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries

That's all for this week. 
From Mary Oliver's poem "Sometimes" …  

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it. 

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