In Quarantine, Where Does Control End and Bliss Begin?

IN THE MORNING, as I open 20 browser tabs of political news, my son, Ben, puts his desk chair on top of his desk so he can stand while working, shoulders back, jaw squared like a sentry.

We borrowed a friend’s place in the country in May to get out of New York City during the apex of the pandemic, when hundreds of New Yorkers were dying every day and ref…