The world is getting to be such a dangerous place, a man is lucky to get out of it alive.
— W C. Fields
Jill Lockard: Woodland Park, Colorado
Jill and her husband Bill Lockard (Part 3) are some of our cherished friends whom we miss desperately due to the legacy of COVID-19. Jaye and I met Jill when Bill brought her to our home in Santa Fe in the early eighties. Since those carefree days, she has been a part of our wide and loving circle of friends. Bill and Jill are quite the couple: “This pandemic is difficult for so many people in so many different ways. My husband, Bill, and I have an anniversary this week. We’ve been together for 37 years and every day we are grateful for each other. We are grateful for our health, our families, our friends that are family, and our home in Colorado.”
Jill Lockard, email: “I wrote the following as a status on my Facebook page after reading reports and hearing from healthcare workers that were counter-protesting at the rallies in Denver and other state capitals. The purpose of the rallies was to protest the stay-at-home orders executed by the Governors due to the COVID-19 virus. My friend, DC Duncan, saw my post and asked me to send it to him.
“I’ve read many reports from nurses and healthcare technicians about the abuse that they received while counter-protesting. These nurses and technicians are doing what they feel is right, the same as the people that are protesting the closures, and yet I’ve seen reports of sexual harassment, verbal abuse, and physical bullying. Also, I’ve seen that some people believe that these nurses are “paid protesters” or “actors posing as nurses,” perhaps believing that this idea validates their behavior.
“I felt sad, angry, and frustrated by the actions of some people toward the healthcare workers. In their daily jobs, the nurses, doctors, and technicians are risking their own lives and the lives of their families in order to save the lives of the rest of us, and yet they were treated so disrespectfully.
“The reports that I’ve read from the nurses and other healthcare workers are sad. They should be treated with the respect and appreciation that they deserve. We should be thanking them every day for their work, and be treating them with compassion instead of anger.”
Jerry Jackson: Dallas, Texas
In the late seventies, Jerry and I played in the popular band ‒ the Bee’s Knees ‒ out of Dallas. Singer/songwriter Jerry Jackson was one of the original Knees, the other front men were Roger Burton and Mike Paulson; featuring Anson Funderburgh on guitar. (We did two albums for Derrick Records in 1978 and 1979.) Over the years, Jerry and his gorgeous wife Marcy have become very close to Jayebird and me. And, like so many of our dear friends and relatives, they dwell in our hearts. It’s a shame that this wretched pandemic has kept us all apart ‒ and for how long?
Jerry Jackson, phone & email: “By the time I turned 70 in early April, I had already spent a little over a month learning the basics of how to live during a full blown pandemic. My wonderful wife of 38 years, Marcy (who will likewise be 70 in October) and I have been residing in our current Dallas residence for the past 20 years. For the past few, we have become increasingly adept at the fine art of ‘hunkering down.’ Fortunately for us, the first 30 some odd years of our married lives included more or less nonstop adventures and were as full and active as anyone could wish for.”
“I have been a musician, both amateur and professional, since the age of seven and continue to be to this day, (albeit lately mostly for my own amusement/therapy). We have been owners/operators of a restaurant/bar in Greenwich Village and another in Isla Mujeres, Mexico. I expect these experiences likely account for our special sympathies for the current struggles of those trying to keep their own businesses afloat; as well as the musicians and artists who find themselves with no health insurance and even fewer opportunities to maintain and advance their careers.
“If I might be allowed to offer any advice to those who are new to relative isolation and/or the practice of hunkering down, it would be as follows:
- Be Here Now (one day at a time)
- Consider taking up a musical instrument
- Read a Book. Read lots of books.
“Lastly: IMHO — in the absence of accurate widespread testing, it would behoove us all to simply assume that we may each be infected to some degree and act accordingly. Wear masks and gloves in public spaces to prevent, as much as possible, spreading the virus to others.”
Busy McCarroll: Cerrillos, New Mexico
Back in the early eighties I played in a rockin’ band called Busy and the Bodies, starring the inimitable Busy McCarroll. (The woman is a real livewire and sings like an angel.) Later she married my good friend Baird Banner. The couple owns the world class recording studio Kludgit Sound in rustic Cerrillos, NM – 20 miles out of Santa Fe on the old Turquoise Trail. (Kludgit is where we recorded my album Eat A Chiquita with Airto and Jimmy Carl Black in 1983.) Busy is a singing/songwriting teacher and a “Mind Reader and Miracle worker.” And most important: my dear friend!
Enjoy…
Busy McCarroll, phone, email: “I thanked an avocado for being ripe yesterday. I wrote a song called ‘Hope and Toilet Paper.’ I’m teaching my Thunderstorm Club ‒ Kids Singing/Songwriting class ‒ via Zoom. If you know about Zoom and music, then you’ll know how out of time and mind blowing it is. Tempo means nothing on Zoom. I got over how freaky it is to hear the kids all sing at different times. I found the mute button.
“I almost cry when my gardenias bloom, and then I thank them too. I meditate most everyday and give my intention, and attention, to gratitude. That’s what gets me through these days and nights.
“On the other hand ‒ I get freaked out about going into our dinky little post office, even though no one is ever there – our village has a population of 200+. I spray everything with alcohol, all the time, even our shoes. My hands are bone dry from washing them for 20 seconds, at least 20 times a day. How does anyone really know that Happy Birthday is 20 seconds long? What’s the time signature that makes the song last 20 seconds? I have a collection of ‘cute’ face masks now. I don’t even know what to say about that.”
“I wonder when, and if, I’ll ever see my parents again. They live in California ‒ in their own house ‒ on their own. Dad is 94 and Mom is 88. I typically fly out to visit and help them every 2 months.
“I order groceries online for pick up ‒ sometimes the order is right. I maintain a daily online-watch for nitrile gloves and disinfectant wipes. I appreciate our essential workers more than ever before. I take
a lot of deep breaths now and cry at least once every day – both sad and grateful tears. Nothing is normal anymore and I don’t think anything will ever be ‘normal’ again.
“I have much to be grateful for… compared to many. My husband and I have owned our house, and the two buildings on our property, for over 40 years. No mortgage. We’re fortunate in that respect. But we haven’t worked since the first week of March and I wonder if I’ll ever play my music live again. It doesn’t sound appealing to play in a crowded, bacteria-filled nightclub, squeezed into a tiny little space with my band.
“I don’t blame the Coronavirus on Trump, I blame him for his inaction, his denial, his unpreparedness as a leader, his lies, his undoing of 40 pandemic programs set up by Bush and Obama, and the over 60,000 deaths in America. He leads with a dangerous hand of greed and corruption, and manipulates every situation to benefit himself – even a pandemic. Trump is America’s version of Hitler and the virus is his convenient floating gas chamber.
“Still, I remain grateful and hopeful that the world will be safe again ‒ when I’ll get to hug my daughter, my parents and my friends. In the meantime, I make sure to let them know how much I love them. Hope is essential and gratitude is paramount, even for a ripe avocado.”
As a parting gesture, we present Ms. Busy McCarroll singing her song, Hope and Toilet Paper:
DC has been a frustrated musician for over fifty years, and now has decided to become a frustrated writer. Learn more at DCDuncan.com. He’ll keep you posted.