Hah! Until I looked at the comments I totally misread this and thought that Death wearing the “vaccine incentive” badge meant that the vaccine incentives were inviting people to risk death…
Same thing happened to me. Although I was the one looking at cars and asking questions, the salesman addressed only my husband. After telling us we would definitely be fools not to go with Model X, he finished with “What does your wife think?” For real. My husband said, “My wife thinks you are an idiot. She also thinks we would never buy a car from you or this dealership. Good day, sir.” And yes, he really did say, ‘Good day, sir.’ We left and bought our truck elsewhere.
I never heard “Sweet Caroline” played like a meme until I moved to Germany! If you go to Oktoberfest or Karneval (German Mardi Gras) parties it is virtually impossible not to hear “Sweet Caroline” -- “oh! oh! oh!” something I never ever in 50 years in the northeast U.S. In fact, I learned the lyrics to the song after I moved here! That and the John Denver song “Country Roads.” In the U.S. it was background noise from younger days, in Germany it is such a chestnut I know the words!
Glad you are back, and it is more than worth the wait. Your art, framing, pacing, and writing are fantastic.