Today marks 6 years since the World Health Organization officially declared the no-longer-novel Coronavirus a global pandemic. Man, what a long and very strange trip it has been since then, both personally and societally, spanning ages 24 to 30 for me.

Wednesday, March 11, 2020 was also the last “normal” day of major gatherings, such as professional sports and concerts here in Oregon, and very likely elsewhere, as lockdown restrictions came into full effect over the coming days.

I remember that strange day for totally unrelated reasons, as my colleague whom I liked, was terminated for cause, with very unfortunate timing. I remember hearing rumblings about this novel virus before, in late February 2020 when a Lake Oswego School District custodian was hospitalized, and around the same time, The Daily podcast mentioned how what happened in Wuhan (roughly the size of Chicago) with its lockdowns could happen here. But it wasn’t until Monday, March 16, when I got sent home to work remotely and Oregon went into partial lockdown that I fully understood how cataclysmic, devastating, and game-changing this virus would be. I have some strange recollections between March 11th and March 16th, as things became progressively more eerie.

In hindsight, I’m grateful for how privileged I really was relative to most of humanity. I never contracted this microscopic enemy until the Omicron variant infected me in February 2022 (on the tail end of its January 2022 peak) nearly two years later, and after being vaccinated and boosted.

Goose released their final jams of 3/11/2020, which also turned out to be their last “regular” concert before things reopened in 2021. I discovered these hidden jems much later, probably at least a year or two. Their “Lovely Day” cover was awesome and especially their jam starting around 3:57 to the end: www.youtube.com/watch Their version of “Arrow” was also great, and likely one of my favorite versions of the song I’ve heard: www.youtube.com/watch Well mixed too! The cool part is that Jeremy Schon, the lead guitarist for Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, joined on the second part of the Goose song, “Butter Rum.” A fun jam indeed. Plus, Jeremy Schon is such an underrated guitarist. Fitting titles perhaps, given it was last “Lovely Day” of live concerts, as the “Arrow” of the pandemic loomed?

Also, and not for nothing, newly released content by Anika Nilles I see? Um, yes! Sign me up! Need I say more? www.youtube.com/watch The odd time signature rhythms and vibey synths were pretty cool to listen to!