Lately, it often feels like there's no control over anything. Welcome to year three of the Covid-19 pandemic. Stuff that used to be routine is no longer predictable. It is not unusual for parents to have to immediately rush from work to pick up their children when an infection presents at a school. They might have to leave clients in the middle of important interactions when they get that call.   

                                                                        
Just when we thought we were through the worst of the Covid virus, Omicron reared its ugly head and is spreading like wildfire. Now cloth masks are not adequate, according to the CDC. We are told to buy N95s or KN95s to keep ourselves safe. And this Wednesday, there will be a website to order 4 testing kits per household, administered by the Biden administration. My prediction is it will be virtually impossible to get onto the site when it goes live. Is fighting an invisible enemy like a virus feasible? I think it's analogous to running through raindrops. It might be tough but viruses historically can be mitigated and the best hope is the pandemic will turn to the endemic stage. 

In a world of uncertainty, when closures happen the day of a concert or at a workplace without warning, I think it's important to have more structure in one's life. You don't have to monitor every second of every day. But setting aside a specific time to exercise, work, pursue a hobby, take a walk, watch TV, eat meals, can give you a little control back over an uncontrollable situation. We could also benefit from more inspirational, calm, and grounded public figures like pandemic expert Dr. Asish Jha, Dean of Brown University's School of Public Health, to help guide this ship through the storm, so to speak.

And speaking of storms, for residents of Texarkana, bordering Arkansas and Texas, things went even more haywire a couple of weeks ago. During heavy rain, many residents saw fish falling from the sky. It was a bizarre event. James Audirsch, who works at a used car dealership, opened the business's front doors and witnessed fish flying down from above. His co-worker Brad Pratt did not believe him until he saw it with his own eyes. The NBC affiliate KTAL verified that there were what appeared to be young bass scattered around the parking lot. 

The city's webpage explained the phenomenon called 'animal rain,' which happens when small creatures like fish, frogs, or crabs get sucked up into waterspouts or drafts and fall when it rains. This isn't new. It rained frogs in Kansas City, MO in 1873 and tadpoles in Japan in 2009. Some biblical interpretations even say dying fish, mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel, could precede earthly catastrophe.

Covid-19 coverage feels like being continually hit in the head- not by fish though. Nevertheless, learning more about why Covid developed might offer a measure of much-needed and long overdue relief.