Roger Zee Memoirs

"Life and Times of a Pandemic Musician"

2021 Covid Redux 09/30/21

Just when I started to feel safe from Covid-19, possibly invulnerable, the spread of the Delta variant pulled me right back down the rabbit hole. First, one of my best friends, who double vaxxed a day before me on April 1, caught severe respiratory Covid in mid-July while playing an indoor gig on Long Beach Island, NJ. A week later, my double vaxxed daughter came down with moderate Covid for the second time! Welcome to another excerpt from my memoirs, "Life and Times of a Pandemic Musician." B-|

Due to my "delicate condition," just like John Travolta in the movie "Boy in the Plastic Bubble," I spent fourteen months locked in my apartment beginning in April, 2019. Following the ecstasy and glory of the Pfizer Vaccine, I slowly stepped out only to find that most of my musician friends had already suffered from varying degrees of Covid-19. Not to mention the sixteen who died... :'-(

Coaxed to emerge from my cocoon by the words of the double vaxxed friend, "What's the worst that can happen to us? If we do get Covid now, it'll feel at most like a bad cold." Since then, he's entered the hospital three times, remains on high dose steroids, and struggles to breathe every single day! >:O

Personally, I strive to see the glass half full. Beginning in early June, I played two back to back music gigs, another one in July, but none in August. Then in September, four in a two week period including the reboot of the Roger Zee Jam at Curry on Purdy in Harrison, NY. These shows acutely Roto-Rootered my "brain to finger" routes and massively realigned my chakras! Not to mention unleashing a bit of Rock Star mania complete with the requisite insomnia. Hallelujah! =^_^=

Then in July, after three miserable years of chemo for prostate cancer, I rejected and stopped my "chemical castration" (see Endgame). Hadn't even wanted to kiss a woman that whole time! I excitedly awaited the gradual stirring of my male sexuality along with my return to the "chase!" I began "quasi dating." You know, mostly just "hanging out" the way we did back in the Sixties. Usually with women I met on Facebook, parks, clubs, or at the Sunday afternoon Rock shows at the Washington Irving Boat Club. What a sublime joy, dancing the beautiful Summer days away. OMG! Life is GREAT! Even in the Apocalypse... :-')

But the bottom soon began to drop out. With the highs generated by my renewed interest in women, also came the requisite pain associated with female interaction, LOL! Then, as more A list musicians returned to gigging, I found it harder to entice them to partake in my email interviews. Guess they don't appreciate the power of free advertising, LOL! Or maybe after almost two years, they can finally pull their thumb out of their asses... 8-0

As we launch into Fall and the variant rapidly spreads, many people hesitate going indoors to see shows and dine. Especially while the weather stays beautiful and warm. I easily secured the booster shot but lost my Thursday jam due to lack of turnout. So as I ponder the fate of the music and restaurant business, not to mention my own survival, I strap on "Bluie," my Mexican Fender Jazz Bass, listen to the words of the prophetic "Nature's Way" by Sixties greats Spirit, and play along to their "Greatest Hits" album." Perhaps Mother Earth really wants to rid herself of us pesky humans... One <3

YouTube - Nature's Way - Spirit