On the road this morning, I found myself thinking about the Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio. It's a work I've only read once, in translation (by Mark Musa, a translator whose Comedy did not earn my trust!), and that was a while back (2009). I guess what brought it to mind was recent speculations about the possible medium-term effects of the birdemic pecks. Although people don't usually put the Decameron in the post-apocalyptic genre, that's certainly where it belongs. The whole feel of the work, its Robinhoodish atmosphere of gay nihilism, is inseparable from its setting: a Europe which just lost a third of its population to the plague. A Steve Earle lyric came to mind.
When it all was over, the slate wiped clean with a touch,
There God stood, and he saw it was good,
And he said, "Ashes to ashes and dust to dust."
"God saw that it was good" reminded me of the meaning of the word Decameron -- "ten days," a word created by Boccaccio by analogy with Hexameron, "six days," a title used for various theological works on the six days of Creation.
I thought of the "ten days of darkness" the Q people had promised back at the beginning of the year.
Then I noticed a huge electronic billboard in front of me: a man making a kabuki "soy face" and holding some packages of frozen meat. Under it, the flashing words "買十送一哦！" -- "Buy ten, get one free!"
I'm not about to try to cobble these syncs into a prophecy. I'm just taking notes.
