Home page inaccessible; darkened; can't select anything

I randomly get to the Home Page or screen in TS4, on a pc, latest patch, version 118.257, and can't click on anything. The household that I last played appears on screen, but as I said, I can't click on it or on anything else.

The only solution I have is to Click-Shift-Delete to end the task and be able to try again. I restart the EA App before I try again, and sometimes it takes several attempts before I can actually select any save and play.

I've had this happen with and WITHOUT mods, recently after patches, and also when a patch has long happened. The loading page on the home screen doesn't work.