Gregory Peck and I almost had something in common.

In the movie, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Gregory Peck was dying in Africa.
I didn’t know it snowed in Africa because I never paid attention to geography classes in elementary school. Where it snowed or Africa didn’t interest me.
How Rita Hayworth did her hair did.

Gregory was suffering from what I thought was Malaria but turned out to
be only an infected wound from a thorn prick. But it could have been Malaria since they changed so much from the Hemingway story when they made the movie, like putting Ava Gardner in it when it was Susan Hayworth, Greg’s wife in the movie, who was wiping his brow.

So when I got New Jersey Malaria (the cute name doctors give the Babesiosis tick which bit me) this summer, you can understand why I identified with Greg. There’s really not such a big difference between Kilimanjaro and New Jersey. It snows in both places and few people have either one on their Bucket List to visit.

That tick is so small you can’t even see it and I didn’t. You don’t know anything’s happening to you until you feel like you’re going through the 9 stages of hell of Dante’s Inferno. However, I never reached Paradise

I spent several days in the Morristown Hospital because of that tick. The
loss of Greg’s mobility led him to self-reflection and memories of past relationships. The loss of my appetite led me to lose 15 pounds and to
never forget the smell of hospital cooked Brussel sprouts.

Gregory was a disillusioned writer. Laying in that hospital bed, I became
a disillusioned victim.  When did that tick bite me? Why did it choose me
to bite? I grew up in Manhattan. I don’t garden, hike, or hug trees. Maybe
I’ll never go outside again.

Isn’t the invisible Covid virus enough to worry about? I wear a mask,
stay away from everybody, don’t go to restaurants because the Covid
enemy is everywhere. Apparently, ticks, another almost invisible enemy,
are everywhere, too, just waiting around to get me or you.

For years and years the enemy had a face and a body you could see.
Growing up during World War II, I could see the enemy in newsreels in
the movies even though they were an ocean away. They spoke other
languages and wore uniforms.

As the years went by, the enemy changed but basically stayed the same.
They were still across the ocean but recognizable whether they dressed
for the Cold War or wore head scarfs.

But you can’t see the pandemic, and it’s hard to see the tick. They don’t
wear uniforms, speak other languages, carry guns.

Military people in the Pentagon are always ready or preparing for the
next enemy, developing weapons to kill whoever is the current enemy.
But they weren’t prepared for Covid-19 even though it’s the enemy of
the whole world and looking for victims 24/7.

Is the invisible enemy the enemy of the future?  Will we really need armies
and weapons of mass destruction to kill us? Will we really need the Pentagon? Will the invisible enemies get us before we kill each other?

Don’t forget about the other enemy that’s not actually invisible but like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The one that fools you because it’s beautiful. Kind of like Eve Harrington in “All About Eve.” It’s Mother Nature. Magnificent to look at but watch out—Mother Nature doesn’t carry a gun but she can kill you with her typhons, tornados, earthquakes, wild fires, and global warming.

Medical discoveries are making people live longer. But will we? Gregory Peck didn’t recover from his thorn prick in Kilimanjaro. I recovered
from my tick bite. But wherever I am, another invisible enemy might be
waiting for me. Or for you.

You’re just a button click away and I’d love to hear from you. 

About your world, your family, your joys and frustrations, growing up, growing older, even recipes– even though I stopped cooking–by request–years ago.

Goodbye until next time…

Hope your day turns out as well as I hope (but doubt) mine will,

Gingy (Ilene)