JL;DR SUMMARY Paul Berman reflects on the effects of the COVID-19 crisis in his notebook, noting the loss of taste and smell in the city, the shocks of significant events like 9/11 and the pandemic, the significance of silence in the streets, and references to literature including Whittier's Snow-Bound and Camus' The Plague. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.