Sherlockian Wisdom for a Pandemic   “My mind rebels at stagnation” said Sherlock Holmes, and most of our minds do too. It’s important to try to keep both mind and body as active as we can during difficult times like this. So during a long, socially distanced Sunday walk your webmaster conjured some things Sherlock Holmes might be saying about our worldwide crisis. You’re invited to join the others who have added to the wisdom below, whether they are twists on the Master's own words or other Canonical citations. Send contributions to alan@redcircledc.org, and we’ll add them to the list--with proper credit. If Peter Blau is impressed with your submissions he may bestow prizes from the “I’ve got six of these” shelf in his sub-basement.

 

• “It may be that you are not yourself symptomatic, but you are a conductor of COVID-19.” - S.H.
• “Wash your hands if convenient--if inconvenient wash them all the same. - S.H.” 
• “I am lost without my face mask.” - S.H. 
• “There are many men in London, you know, who, some from shyness, some from misanthropy, some from the need for social distancing, have no wish for the company of their fellows. . .It is for the convenience of these that the Diogenes Club was started." - S.H. 

from Bob Katz. . .

• "You have been in quarantine, I perceive." - S.H. 

from Larry Miller. . .

• "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the toilet paper, whatever remains, however improbable, must be of use? - S.H.
• "I know there are 6 feet, because I have both seen and distanced.” - S.H.
• "I should be very much obliged if you would slip a roll of toilet paper into your pocket. A Charmin Ultra-soft is an excellent argument with gentlemen for whom empty shelves have tied bowels into knots. That and a tooth-brush are, I think, all that we need.” - S.H.
• "You have a grand gift for flattening, Watson. It makes you quite invaluable as a distancer.” - S.H.
• “I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is mere hand sanitizer.” - S.H.
• “Am dining at Goldini's Restaurant, Gloucester Road, Kensington. Please come at once and join me there. Bring with you a face mask, alcohol wipes, a six-foot measure, and a roll of toilet paper, S.H." "It was a nice equipment for a respectable distancer to carry through the dim, virus-draped streets.” - J.H.W.
• "There is nothing more to be said or to be done tonight, so hand me over my hand sanitizer and let us try to forget for half an hour this miserable virus and the still more miserable ways of our legislators.” - S.H.

from Roger Johnson & Jean Upton. . .

• "As you value your life or your reason keep away from crowded places." - Anonymous (?) 

from Bill Barnes. . .

•  "She is the daintiest thing behind a face mask on this planet." - S.H.
•  "Come, Watson, come!  The supermarket has toilet paper!  Not a word!  Into your clothes and come!" - S.H.
•  "There's the scarlet thread of a virus running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, isolate it, and treat every inch of it." - S.H.
•  "If you approach me, Watson, I shall order you out of the house." - S.H. (note, no change to canon quote)
•  "Self-isolation is a subject upon which I have sometimes thought of writing a monograph." - S.H.
•  "My collection of face masks is a fine one." - S.H.
•  "Have a cigarette, Mr McFarlane.  Beyond the obvious fact that you use hand sanitiser, I know nothing about you." - S.H.

from Monica Schmidt. . .

• "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious cough." - S.H.
• "The game is a face mask" - S.H.
• "Crime is commonplace. Face masks are rare. Therefore it is upon the face masks rather than upon the crime that you should dwell." - S.H.

from Julie McKuras. . .

• "Besides, it is the season of Coronavirus 19. Chance has put in our way a most singular and deadly problem, and its solution is its own reward." - S.H.
• "I paid the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three standing six feet apart from each other in front of the altar, practicing good social distancing." - S.H.
• "A cardboard box was inside, filled with coarse salt. On emptying this, Miss Cushing was horrified to realize that she should have waited at least a day to open the box since COVID 19 can survive that long on cardboard." - Newspaper account

 Notes from the Red Circle's December 13 dinner meeting can be found here.

 

"X"mas Marks the Spot  At the Red Circle's December dinner, quiz maven and part-time Santa Dana Richards left his latest Sherlockian stumper under the tree. It's a quiz with 25 quotations from the canon, each of which has a missing word containing the letter "X." All you have to do is supply the missing words. Easy, right? Give it a try. The first two pages contain the questions, and the second two pages add the answers. No fair peeking at pages 3 and 4 until you've finished or thrown in the towel. Take the quiz here.

 

Each year we compile the items of more than passing interest from this column and store them in the Archive. As the new year begins we highlight the Inner Circle doings from 2014. The items range from information on "The Giant Rat of Sinatra" to a talking Holmes statue to some noteworthy rulings by Federal courts. There's also news of a large-scale wordle map of literary London that's still available in 2020. It's worth a look back for some memories and some smiles. You can find the Inner Circle highlights from 2014 here.

 Scuttlebutt: One Fixed Point in a Changing Age  Our own Peter Blau's monthly Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press has endured for some four dozen years, and has a permanent home right here on our website. It's the most remarkable collection of Sherlockian news and notes anywhere, and your webmaster recommends a monthly visit. The very latest edition is available now, as are past numbers. It's just a click away--use the "Scuttlebutt" button at the top of the page.