Sean Burke challenged himself to write a poem every day in April during lockdown in Paris where he lives. Here’s one of his daily “Covid Chronicles,” titled, “You Used to Be In Shape,” that I think works well as a rap to any of the songs from Hamilton: “You’d indulge yourself on Saturday/Not give a second thought to the price you’d pay/Just eat and drink to the hilt/And let Sunday’s workout banish the guilt!/You’d say hi to your gym friends/Inquire politely about their weekends/Even shake a hand or two/It’s what proper manners require we do. /Remember how every muscle was tended to/That’s what all those weights were meant to do/Each machine more advanced than the last/Making flabbiness a thing of the past./Now along comes confinement /And you’re faced with an assignment/How to live life like before/When the fitness center is no more?/So you tried that old jump rope/But deep down knew there was little hope/Sure, it would have been a breeze/Were it not for those aging knees./Then you read about something called isometrics/You thought, wow, that sounds better than calisthenics/So carefully and patiently you twisted and turned/But hours later barely a calorie had burned./Sure, you can go running or walking/But then you face policemen balking/Why are you so far from home, they ask/And why aren’t you wearing a mask?/Well perhaps you should just give in/During quarantine no one’s meant to be thin/So enjoy those chips as you ponder when/You’ll be able to work out once again!”

Perhaps like me you ache to go somewhere more exotic that the local CVS. You can visit an English historic estate thanks to a Smithsonian virtual tour, featuring our very own Karen (Joey) Wallace Lowther, mistress of Holdenby House, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom, built in 1583. (And you thought turning 60 was historic!) From Karen: “You may not be able to invite me to your home, but I can invite you to mine from the comfort of your own sofa: www.holdenby.com. Holdenby House—my family home for 30-odd years—is featured in a series about great British estates on the Smithsonian Channel. I love the idea of showing my fellow ’82s around my home digitally, hoping many will visit in person when lockdown and quarantines end and the world returns to normal. Becki Ambrose and Meg Singer have visited and Phil Kaufmann was on his way when lockdown hit. Keep well and hope to see you soon, be it in Hanover or here at Holdenby.” Karen and her husband, James, have raised their four children in the historic home. If Italy’s more your thing, someday you may want to visit a formerly dilapidated villa in Tuscany, La Casa di Montegrossi, that Hope Wernick Wigmore and her husband, Mark, lovingly restored. Paying guests can visit for week-long holidays. Mini-reunion in Tuscany, anyone?

—Jenny Chandler, 3506 Idaho Ave., NW Washington, DC 20016; jchandlerhauge@gmail.com; David Eichman, 9004 Wonderland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046; dme4law@sbcglobal.net