Michael D. Davis

At any moment, at any time, I have it in me to walk inside my house and never walk out again.

Quarantine was hard for some folks, but for me, it was a nice fall breeze. Why? Because I’ve done it before, and chances are, I’ll do it again. Ya see, as ya know, I am not a normal person. And with this, I don’t seem to have the normal desires others have to go outside, do things, and live it up. Which is cool, cause that ain’t for me. I am perfectly content at home, doodling in my sketchbook while something weird plays on the TV. Others may find this torturous.

Now, ya may be thinking that I’m equating staying at home on a Saturday night with the almighty lockdown, and I assure you I am not. No, I am much more extreme than that. And because staying at home helps me in a multitude of ways. Ya see, I have illnesses. Plural. And these illnesses I’ve had as long as I can remember. The truly bad part of these illnesses, plural, is that they all stack on top of each other and lower my immune system, opening me up to any old bit of pneumonia, sickness, or viral B.S. that you can imagine.

Back in high school, this was a real problem. I was outside every day. I was around large groups of people. And I was walkin’ about in the largest kinda germ factory ya could think of, a school. So, sickness came again, and again, and again. Finally, I got the hell outta there. I graduated. What did I do after high school? Did I go to college? No. Did I travel or find a job? No. When I got out of high school, I walked into my house and didn’t walk back out again for two years. Yeah, you read that right, two years. The only time I ventured out was for doctor’s appointments and when my Ma nearly physically forced me.

But something funny happened. I didn’t get sick anymore. Yeah, I still had my illnesses plural, which I’ll have till I die, but I wasn’t gettin’ the flu, or the pneumonia, or any viral B.S. Those germs stayed on the other side of my front door.

After the two years, I started to go out more, which honestly still wasn’t much because I like to stay home. Then something changed. I started working for the paper. And I have been out more in the last six months than I have in the last six years combined. And this has led me down the same old track of my sicknesses. But I don’t regret it. I’ve had fun. I’m not gonna stop, but I may stay in and use my email a little more.

So, now you can see why I truly believe that I have the ability to just walk into my house and not walk out again for another, I don’t know, 40 years. A buddy of mine recently referred to me as Howard Hughes, and I ain’t denying it. I just like to think I cut my toenails a little more often.