Photo credit: Joonas kääriäinen from Pexels
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
The Napa Valley Register reports that coronavirus infection has people howling at the moon. No, this isn’t a bizarre neurological or psychological side-effect of this serious and often fatal viral disease. Rather, one night a local resident started howling, on a spur-of-the-moment whim, as the moon rose. Neighbors joined him. It is now a nightly ritual.
At 8 p.m., people isolated in their homes go outside and howl at each other for 5 minutes, to show their support for health care workers, to let off steam, and also to connect with their neighbors in an ancient and soulful way.
As the Register reports:
“It’s practically silent for 23 hours and 55 minutes a day,” said Amy Kalish, an artist who lives in the beautiful but quiet foothills of Mt. Tamalpais. But for five minutes starting at 8 every night, she said, “we get out there with our 14-year-old son and our weird little rescue dog, and we let loose.”
I usually don’t like noise, especially not nighttime noise, but I’ll make an exception in this case, at this stressful time, for the folks in Marin County. And for those in Italy who sing from their balconies, and any others around the world who find a few moments of relief by making a little bit of noise once a day.
