Charlie Barley is clueless. On his return to New York City after a weeks-long retreat in the Canadian wilderness, Barley bungles his way through a world turned weird by COVID-19 - until a call from his niece explains all.
Written by Andrew Lanfer (a...
He had just completed a three-week-long solo retreat to the frozen northern wilds of Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canada - his favorite ice-fishing spot.
Accessible only by helicopter in the winter, or float plane or canoe in the warmer months, it was completely off-the-grid. No electricity. No running water. No cell phones. No anything at all - except for the great outdoors, and wild animals, and a few scattered hunting and fishing cabins erected we don't know when by we don't know who, but there they were. Not very warm or inviting at all. And, mostly empty. Except when occupied by adventurous lunatics, like Charlie, fleeing the distractions and distresses of the modern world.
And so it was, in the winter of 2020, after a grueling fall semester at the Institute Of Culinary Education in New York City, where Charlie was Professor of Doughnut-ology (his students called him, Dr. Doughnut, and his classes were always over-subscribed), Charlie needed a break. So, he packed up his fishing gear and his warmest t-shirts and extra socks and underwear, and off he went - wishing, by his third day in the frigid Canadian cabin, that he had also remembered pants.
Despite freezing cold legs, the fishing had never been better.
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For three solid weeks, Charlie fished his brains out.
He loved it.
And, not even once, did he give a thought to life back home.
This is how, when the entire world was going bananas over a new virus called COVID-19, Charlie was blissfully clueless.
This is the story of Charlie's return to New York City at the height of a global pandemic and how he got a clue - eventually.
