See Peggy and Joe at the upper part of the picture? They are to the right of the white bucket. Now toss the sedum over your shoulder toward the patio. Did it land on the handle bars? If so you win today’s exercise.
Now do it again. What are the odds of landing a second clump of sedum right on top of the first one. I quit trying since I was way ahead. This is my lucky day. If I weren’t in Stay in Place, I’d go and buy a lotto ticket.
I do not gamble except for an occasional lotto ticket or a raffle chance. I stick to knowing the odds of winning and decide I am ahead if I don’t even try. Right now I am feeling the same way about the virus. What are my chances of getting it? With 7.8 billion people in the world I say my chances are one in 7.8 billion. Now, I am not a statistician by any means and I know I am grossly over simplifying my point. Calculating the odds of something happening involves some calculations which I am not prepared to do. I use a kind of common sensical approach. If I limit myself to the USA population my odds are one in 331 Million, and if I limit myself to the State of Illinois my odds are one in 13.1 million. Now I narrow things down to my county in Illinois and my odds are 1 in 69,017. When I use the Stay In Place model my chances are zero. So much for the argument to stay in place.
All these BS odds are meaningless today, because I tossed a clump of sedum over my shoulder and had it land in the hands of Joe & Peggy twice.
That kind of luck puts a special meaning into that little figurine and what it represents. I am forever going to keep it even if I end up in a nursing home. Peg bought that for me and now after we caught two boquets of plant life while riding through the garden together it represents our life together. Perhaps it is a sign from her that she is watching over me even though she is not with me anymore. Whatever, I need to believe something magical in order to save my life from boring solitude.
Take my hint and find something to believe in.
Filed under: Aging, family, Garden, grief, Seniors | Tagged: Covid-19, odds, Probability, Statistics | Leave a comment »
