July 16, 2021: A day in court

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July 16, 2021: A day in court. It was a sweltering day in the city. Some rain is needed. A split air conditioning system can create strange climates in the house. The downstairs were freezing today, whereas the upstairs was hot. One has to adjust these things manually sometimes, the thermostat-based adjustments get thrown off when it gets that hot. And the cicadas are loud on summer nights. The cacophony of the insects is perhaps only matched by the cacophony of the crows in the morning. I was out most of the day. COVID-19 efforts have slowed down a bit, there is still no good options to find vaccines. Might have to redirect the efforts. Now we hear about COVID-19 through the networks, not on the front pages of the newspaper or a ticker on the side of the Fox news channel, although they had abandoned it sometimes ago. The only way to think of COVID-19 is now as normalized. My bondhu flew from Lisbon. Arrived today. No real restrictions, I was told. Fairly smooth. My day was at the court today. Hot day. Needed to get a document prepared, an affidavit. There are no fans where the numerous para-legal and agents sit outside the courthouse, hundreds, and they know their stuff. I was stood up by the person who was supposed to assist me. I realized that sometimes there are things that can be done by myself, without an agent, if you are there even it is over a hundred in the shade. Sometimes place becomes important, thus my argument for a flipped life. Needed to work with a bondhu to recover a dormant cell phone connection and another to recover a lost manuscript hidden in the recesses of a hard drive 10,000 miles away. Jump. Between. Spaces. The night was nice. At eleven as I stood outside talking to a bondhu the breeze was pleasant. The cicadas were far away. The dog-lady was feeding the dogs. Driving through the deserted streets I felt like going off on a drive. The bridge maybe. It is lit up at night. They had the red, white, and blue a few days ago shining on the tall building in mid-town. Tonight I wanted to go the bridge. But wanted someone to come with me. In real spaces there are fewer people, driving over Maa with WhatsApp for company is tricky. Decided to drop the idea, decided to go to bed. Maybe another night, with a bondhu with me. The Creta. Coming soon. COVID-19, which started this journal, is receding away. I feel it only when the sun is hot, and the nose and lips sweat up under mask. I feel it when someone talks about the aftereffects of COVID-19. I panic when a bondhu is sniffling, someone who has already experienced the horror. Is this an after-effect or is it just the extreme heat? At those moments, I realize the remnants of the COVID-19 in my mind, but now there is more to think about. More to come during this hot summer in the city, mustard, ilish maach (hilsa fish), alu posto (potato curry), sheddho chaal (par boiled rice). COVID-19 is far behind. As I look towards the weekend “Hot town, summer in the city/Back of my neck gettin' dirty and gritty.”

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