I had to get my train tickets adjusted. So the Land Lady was nice enough to drive me into the city from her brick bunker on the Yolan Heights. She took a circuitous route through the County border zones and into the rarified mansion-rich expanse of the Charles Street corridor, which in the County is posh and elegant and in the City—a line one but vaguely senses as you cross Northern Parkway headed south, as the way is so upscale—the motor traffic was 20% of normal, of the old normal for a weekday.

In the upscale portion of the County we came across one police car, its legend inscribed with: Integrity, Fairness and Service.

She laughed and I wondered, “Fairness? That is so gay.”

In an area were one never sees a “for sale” sign, every tenth mansion is up for sale, the more so the further one gets into the City.

As we enter the Johns Hopkins Campus Zone and Charles Village, the beautiful gothic churches of various denominations proclaim “Gay Pride,” “Black Lives Matter” and “worship at home and stay safe.”

All medical facilities in and out of the City proclaim with large green and white signage: “Heroes Work Here!”

Foot traffic is 25% of normal.

All pedestrians are alone and fully masked until the drug market of North and Charles is reached, where some masked Bantus lounge and unmasked drug dealers auction off their wears under a black billboard that says “Defund the Police.”

Buildings sport “Defund the Police” and “Black Lives Matter” graffiti.

BLM signs are in the windows of most businesses, all churches and all medical facilities, behind the bars put there to keep these very same dusky deities at bay. Signage is now to the business front what a kosher designation is to a pack of hotdogs.

The Land Lady—a terrible driver—was thrilled to have the road virtually to herself. She found herself something of a tourist in a zoo of masked apes, with 75% of buildings closed to the public or out of business.

Not a cop was spotted in the city.

The only activity at normal levels was drug sales.

The groups of thugs usually patrolling for marks south of North Avenue beginning at 11:00 A.M. were absent.

Should we really care if losers buy dope?

Is it really worth arming a regimental strength police force of 2,500 officers with guns, armor, cars and the license to beat, abduct and kill us, just to keep brain dead assholes from committing opiate suicide?

On the way back through the rarified County we stopped at Eddies of North Charles Street gourmet food market for a carryout lunch. I was astonished to see all of the ebony staff and the ivory patrons fully masked even when outside on the parking lot, taking their break on the bench and driving to and fro.

The entire City and adjoining portions of the County, a 2-mile wide, 8-mile deep wedge of driving over 2 hours, seemed aquiver, caught in some net of fear.

Then, when I opened this computer on my return I saw the USA Today news blurbs left there by Microsoft when I was online at the bar yesterday:

-Dread Minus death is way up.

-Russian agents are paying Taliban militants to kill U.S. servicemen in the 51st State of the Union, Afghanistan.

Plague and War both howl on the media wind.