I hope that this email finds everyone in your family household, healthy and safe. Crazy times we are living in, however, I believe that notwithstanding the huge economic costs, our Government officials, including President Trump and Governor Cuomo are doing the right thing.

Assuming the information coming from China is correct (and that is a major assumption), we should be flattening the Coronavirus curve shortly. That is my belief on Thursday morning, March 19th, based upon everything that I have read and heard.

Nice to hear that Dollar General is dedicating the first hour of their shopping day to the elderly/seniors. I tried to find how they define a senior/elderly person and it seems that means, people who are 60 years of age or older.

So, your trusty Kenoza Lake news correspondent can go shopping early. On Tuesday, a big tractor trailer arrived at Dollar General at a store in Sullivan County, full of items to sell including toilet paper. The store closed early that night and on Wednesday, 8:00 a.m. one could, if one was a senior/elderly, buy some of the items that are in short supply, including toilet paper, although one was limited to three packages each. I found generic, thin toilet paper at a nearby gas station for $1.99 a roll. Yes, a roll. They were willing to knock the price down to $1.75 a roll. I said, no thank you! The price of eggs increased by 25 cents a dozen at that same store.

Nice to see that the Gulf gas station in White Lake is finally open for business, after being closed for close to one year. Finally!

I went to the Sullivan County Transfer station in Cochecton on Wednesday. I was very happy to find out that they are open for business, practicing safe work protocol. Great job guys! You always put a smile on my face.

Faithful readers of this column know that I am an income tax accountant. I was happy to hear that yesterday the IRS announced that folks will have an additional 90 days to pay taxes without penalty and interest, however, one must still either file a tax return by April 15th or an extension. I am still waiting to hear about NYS.

So last night I was trying to get my 10,000 steps in (by walking back and forth in the Otto family basement) and was listening to the Tucker Carlson show, where he was interviewing, the sure-to-be Time Magazine, Man of the Year, Dr. Anthony Fauci. Tucker Carlson asked Dr. Fauci about taking Tylenol, over other, over-the-counter medications. Below is an excerpt of that interview:

CARLSON: That sounds right. I want to ask you a specific question that arose today. So the World Health Organization is suggesting that people not use ibuprofen, so that would be brand name, Advil and French researchers are saying the same suggesting it might exacerbate the disease -- its progression to the lungs. Is that a good guidance, do you think? Do you think that's true?

FAUCI: Well, you know, there is no real scientific data, Tucker, that tells you that is a fact or evidence based. I think what they're referring to, is they want to be the better part of really being cautious because there is a syndrome that's associated with the use of aspirin in children with influenza that gives them a neurological syndrome called Reye's syndrome.

And I believe what they're thinking, since there's a relationship obviously between nonsteroidals and aspirin, that may be there will be some harm, but there's no real study that definitively proves that, but they're just trying to be very cautious.

CARLSON: Would you take it?

FAUCI: Would I take it? When I get a fever or an ache, I take Tylenol, but I've been doing that all my life.

CARLSON: That's good enough for me, Dr. Fauci. Great to see you tonight. Thank you for that.”

The Bishop of the United Methodist Church in the Hudson Valley has ordered churches closed. Right now, church is scheduled to reopen on Palm Sunday, April 5th.

So by the time you read this column, spring will have arrived. The first day of Spring, 2020 is Thursday, March 19th. The Old Farmer's Almanac has an article about this year's spring equinox. It says: “In 2020, the spring equinox (also called the March equinox or vernal equinox) occurs on Thursday, March 19, which is earlier than it's been in over a century! This event marks the astronomical first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Before you try to balance that egg, read this!

THE EARLIEST SPRING IN MORE THAN 100 YEARS

If you're as calendar obsessed as we are, you may have noticed something odd about this year's spring equinox date. That's right—it's earlier than usual! But that's a bit of an understatement.

For much of the last century, the spring equinox has occurred on March 20 or 21. This year, however, the equinox happens on the 19th in all U.S. time zones, making it the earliest spring we'll have seen in our lives (so far). The last time spring arrived this early was in 1896—a whopping 124 years ago!

The word equinox comes from the Latin words for “equal night”—aequus (equal) and nox (night). On the equinox, the length of day and night is nearly equal in all parts of the world.”

Last week, for the first time in my life, I was awakened at about 2:30 in the morning by a flock of Canada geese migrating north. I went out on the front porch just to make sure. Wow. So many birds migrate at night and this was the first time I witnessed that.

I hope we don't get a killer frost that will do in the apple blossoms that will be sure to blossom early. Blue birds are looking for nests, so clean out those boxes!