How I Spent My Covid “Vacation”
Before Lockdown, I spent much of my time hanging with my tribe at music shows; either on stage, as a singer-songwriter; or in the audience, as a photographer. With music show venues closing due to the Lockdown, I had nowhere to sing, and no folks to photograph. So, Gigs and Photos of Gigs got replaced by Songwriting & Venting, and Photos of Cats…
To explain:
Photos of Cats: As Covid Lockdown entered its second week, I noticed that living in Lockdown had much in common with going to Junior High School. Both provided a potent mix of uncertainty, angst, and boredom.
One day while I was feeling anxious & bored I looked at our two cats. They were cuddled up around each other & sleeping. I thought, “They don’t look worried.’
Not able to turn myself into an unworried cat, I settled for taking photos of the sleeping felines. I posted a photo on Facebook. It got liked. I posted a new cat photo every two or three days. At first I was doing this for me, just to give me something to do!
Six weeks later, I’d posted dozens of photos! I thought maybe this ‘photos of sleeping cats’ thing had run its course. So, I stopped.
Then my Facebook peeps started asking for MORE photos of sleeping cats! So, the Sleeping Cat posts have continued. And to appease the Dog Lobby, a few dog photos got slipped in too.
Songwriting/Venting: I couldn’t go to gigs, but: My muse visited! A few of the new songs are about the ‘joys’ of The Covid 19 Lockdown set to well- known melodies. Here are a couple of examples —
Covid sucks
(sung to the tune of ‘Jingle Bells’)
Like a hamster on a wheel I can’t go out to play
My routine is so – routine, every stupid day
I need a change of pace – It’s that, or go insane
Oh! I don’t wanna sing the song of sitting home again
Oh! Covid Sucks Lockdown Sucks!
Every day’s the same
If I don’t get a change of scene I’m gonna lose it man!
Oh! Covid Sucks! Lockdown sucks!
Every day’s the same
Frankly I’d much rather eat a frozen can of Spam
Covid Hair
(to the tune of “Yesterday”, by that Beatle)
Covid hair – It seems I’ve come down with Covid Hair
It seems the mirror’s playing truth or dare
Oh, I’ve come down with Covid Hair
Covid Hair – I almost got a perm on a Zoom dare!
We’ll call my new hairstyle, “I Don’t Care”
It’s that or shave my whole head bare.
I just sit around – nowhere bound and kill the day
My hair’s gotten long – not as long as yesterday
Suddenly, I have more time than I need for me
My ‘Week At A Glance’ is blank indeed!
This Covid thing is bugging me
Covid hair – My mirror sez that I have Covid hair!
How the living hell did that get there?
I suddenly have Covid Hair
~ Ken Holme
Ken’s brief bio:
Ken Holme is a sixty-something singer songwriter & photographer from Southern California. He and his wife Beverly are co-owned by two cats, Mischief and Zoomba.
Ken’s painfully brief bio:
Ken. Old. Songwriter. Photographer. Married, with cats.
http://www.kenholme.com
I love this example of how community comes together, and what you do for yourself helps others, too. Isn’t that why we create in the first place?
I’m making a weird face, but yes. Yes, it is.