So how are you getting through these days? We’re all on the frontlines, I’d say. In our constant struggle not to kill each other in this time of forced togetherness, my wife and her dog have built a “palace” on the balcony.

A beautiful red hibiscus centers her place of hiding, with ornate iron furniture outlined by patio lights and pineapple lamps. The whole palace overlooks the park and the south of Houston. Many of you have seen pictures from it in the past. The door to their special place is protected from me not by her wretched beast but by a force much more powerful: My own acrophobia.

Frankly, I’m glad my wife has a place to escape me. If she didn’t have that place, being required to stay home would be miserable. It’s been very pleasant — and I haven’t given in to the temptation to sneak over to the balcony door and flip the lock to the Palace during one of her multi-person phone conferences. If I did that, my wife’s Social Distancing from me might get a bit more severe.

Meanwhile, lawyers are going to be lawyers. What is it with us? We spend our education and careers thinking about the law, so we can’t turn it off. I’ve been preaching to my wife, who seems disturbed by my sermons on the possibility that some of the actions contemplated or taken by our State and Municipal governments are not supported by the law. I would go so far as to say that she considers my learned discourses unwelcome.

I know it’s necessary right now, but do our government officials actually have the authority for all that they are doing? The last two days I’ve seen on various Facebook attorney pages debates about the constitutionality of several of the acts of Mayors and Governors around the nation. I am quite interested in the debate — but I have to laugh at it, too. Lawyers are such lawyers.

One final note. Her Dog made it another day. She guards access to the Palace, as she needs to. Maybe she’s actually guarding the lock?