Life in the Time of CoVid-Day 12 Lockdown
April 7, 2020-Day 12 of SA Lockdown:
Worldwide: 1,348,628 confirmed CoVid-19 cases; 74, 816 deaths.
Italy: Death Rate has risen to 16, 523; China: No New Deaths for the First Time since January.
One day into the 2nd half of the 21-day SA Lockdown and I’ve hit the what now? place with a the dull thud. (Do not bother asking if we have news regarding evacuation; we have heard zip-ziltch-radio silence from our US Ambassador Lana Marks since Sunday.
And on the 12th Day, Kelly woke feeling like a cast member on The Truman Show* or Ground Hog Day. 7:00 am: Alarm goes off; 7:18 am: dress; 7:22 am Yoga; 7:23-8:59 Check Covid-19 News; 9:00 am: Greet Gloria; Another day in LOCKDOWN. (*& spiraled down rabbit holes like this on 20-years after The Truman Show.)
Cut! . . . and ACTION!
South Africa: 1 686, the death toll rising to 12; Nurses have tested positive sparking fears of increased patient transmissions in the country’s hospitals and clinics.
SA Bride & Groom Arrested Over Lockdown Wedding:
“All 50 wedding guests, the pastor who conducted the ceremony, and the newlyweds themselves were promptly arrested and taken to a police station outside Richards Bay.”—BBC News
USA: 367,758 CoVid-19 cases; 10,981 dead; NY: 130,689 cases; 4,758 dead.
Caregivers, facing contamination, coping with infection, illness & death—personal risk—work on…Citizens blow off the pandemic and carry on…& we click away in our walled castle. No wonder I feel like an extra in an outdated movie rerun.
Our daily routine feels like it’s become habit, parts of which—especially the 3-times-daily Huff & Puff & these Fishbowl post chats—I’m feeling good about and hoping to maintain. Then . . . I googled “How Long Does it Take to Form A Habit"?” Psychology Today shut me right down. Habits, Good & Bad, are not created or broken equally. When it comes to forming a bad habit, 2 days is enough:
“Order a doughnut with your coffee on Monday morning and Tuesday morning, and you’ll probably find it very hard to resist ordering a doughnut on Wednesday.”
Making a good habit, however, takes around 66 days. 66! Please don’t stretch Lockdown to 66 days!
As for Breaking Bad? How many days do you think it takes: 3, 21, 30, 90, 120?
Is Binge Watching Kruger Safari a Good or Bad Habit?
According to my go-tos at curejoy.com it takes between 18 to 254 days to break a bad habit. So maybe and maybe…
Now, in the 2nd half of the 21-day SA Lockdown, the question is, what happens next? Where’s CoVid going to hit and when? Here’s the word from SA Officials:
If you live in an urban area where local health officials initiated early social-distancing orders, the peak of new cases could hit later this month. If you live in a rural area, the coronavirus spread will take longer and stretch limited hospital resources thin.
If, like me, during Life in the Time of CoVid, you are craving Some Good News, check out John Krasinski’s SGN:
Here & below is the link to SGN Episode #2. Ignore the ads—just click skip—and be sure to watch all the way to the dad using a leafblower to push his tot on a swing…and then….wait until you want the…well, watch for yourself!It made me smile, tear up, laugh aloud, share—SGN!
“No Matter How Dark it Gets There’s Always Good in the World,”- @johnkrasinski #SGN
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Life in the Time of CoVid-Day 11 Lockdown
April 6, 2020-Day 11 of SA Lockdown:
Worldwide: Since Dec 31 & April 5, 1 ,174 652 cases of COVID-19 “(in accordance with the applied case definitions and testing strategies in the affected countries); 64 400 deaths.”
Italy (15 362), Spain (11 744), United States (8 501), France (7 560), United Kingdom (4 313), Iran (3 452), China (3 333), Netherlands (1 651), Germany (1 342),… South Africa (9), Cuba (6), Singapore (6), Trinidad and Tobago (6)…180 countries so far.
Woke to gloomy skies, rain forecasted an a note from the US Ambassador to South Africa, letting all of us awaiting evacuation (not sure how many we are) that they are developing “a viable alternative,” to the evacuation plan that fell through last week:
“(This was no small task — after the first set of charter flights arranged by DC fell through, Germany, Belgium, Canada, and Brazil all managed to schedule their flights ahead of ours.)” Marks ended the note with a smidge of promise: “We are getting closer to finalizing a solution, and I hope to have some good news to announce soon. All we are waiting on is for DC to sign the contract and remit.”
So, cues poised behind the eight ball—or, cases at the door—we go round and round and round in the waiting game. Thank you Joni!
USA: 312, 237 confirmed CoVid cases; Surgeon General Warns “Brace for our Pearl Harbor” moment.
For those unschooled in US involvement in WWII (or who didn’t see the movie,) Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese Kamazazi fighter planes bombed Pearl Harbor; “destroy or damage nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes. More than 2,400 Americans died in the attack, including civilians, and another 1,000 people were wounded. “-Pearl Harbor History
It’s horrifying to have anyone comparing CoVid-19’s anticipated Armageddon with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which vaulted the US into the already raging WWII—a war in which 50 to 80 million people died—3% of the world’s population. What’s more, many maintain WWII, combined with FDR’s New Deal, ended the depression. Conversely, the economic ramifications of the CoVid pandemic seem to be rocketing us into depression. I don’t know how to end this thought.
It is not easy to corral 57 million people into doing something together for the sake of humanity-CoVid in SA
Heroes. I console myself by mining the news and Social Media for Heros. Sure, we expect health workers to “do their jobs” (after all they do get paid…) But, would we step up ourselves? Our daughter-in-law, Michelle: wife, daughter, mother of 2 sweet boys goes in every shift to help expectant mothers and fathers bring their newborns into this world. Some hospitals were restricting partners from coming into the hospital, but staffers, like Michelle, at additional risk to themselves, nixed that: humanity rules. Marty’s son, Stephen, a Urologist, husband & father of 4, wears a mask at home. Some, including a nurse, mother of a 1 year old, out of fear of contaminating her family has not been home since the outbreak. Instead, she’s sleeping at the hospital. These heroes and so many more, risking their health to help others. In comparison, how hard? Inconvenient? Uncomfortable? is it to stay home, and if out wear a mask?
Research shows the average infected person spreads the virus to about 2.2 others.
Heroes: People staying home, not going for a run, not walking the dog, not visiting friends, not within 6 feet of each other.
No Excuses: If you have a T-Shirt & Scissors: You have a Mask!
Heroes: People wearing masks & sanitizing, staying 6 feet apart, not littering, not spreading germs.
I want to be a hero.
Curtis and I are going to walk to the shops today—only because, with our evacuation delayed we need groceries.
WE PROMISE TO: Maintain a safe distance from others. Sanitize, Properly dispose of litter. And we will wearing masks.
(Charles suggested tampons & duct tape; Shona said we wouldn’t last.)
Not designer MLB masks or official surgical masks, either. Thanks to Shona sending the No-Sew Mask instructions, we sport spotty-but-clean T-shirt masks. Our eyes will be smiling.
MASKs are the new black!
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Life in the Time of CoVid-Day 10 Lockdown
April 5, 2020-Day 10 of SA Lockdown:
Globally: More than 60,000 people have died & more than 1.1 million have been infected. Italy & Spain: There has been cause for optimism as the number of new infections and deaths from coronavirus has started to gradually diminish.
LATEST UPDATE FROM EMBASSY (Apr 3):
“Many of you have reached out to us since our last e-mail yesterday expressing frustration at the lag in timeline in getting you home…When there was a hiccup yesterday with the charter flights organized by DC, the Ambassador [Lane Marks] worked through the night, and personally started to arrange commercial charter flights with experienced, international commercial carriers. These arrangements are currently pending approval from DC….”
Notice the “Make preparations to depart” portion—in every other message—is missing.
Copious yards of plastic went into wrapping that bag.
Nevertheless, we are Packed?! Since our Capetown “stop over” en-route to the U.S. 11 nights ago, we have never unpacked (except for essentials). Our bags stand ready to leave. Not because we’re think this is one of those “grab our stuff and run!” evacuations. No way will the flight leave without us. We are lazy.
Besides, the two easy to open proper suitcases are loaded with stuff for home. Everything we’d need or want in South Africa, where it’s sunny, toasty Indian Summer are in that cellophane wrapped ball in the middle. Sure we could saw it open but… Who has time to waste…
When Skinny Tan has been deemed a non-essential! Warren Beatty step aside!
Bakers! Get Busy!
Warren Beatty move over—I might be the new shade of orange!
While some insta-bake themselves, neighbors are baking for the cause. This sign is posted opposite one of the Xs on the queue outside Woolies.
What a marvelous, doable idea. For healthworkers and now, I realize, for folks, like my mom and mom-in-law, locked down in Senior Living residences.
Outside the Supermarket
What We Pretend to Know About CoVid-19 Could Kill Us.
Social Distancing…w/ walk to beach.
First thing this morning mom called—SA 7:15 am, Reno 10:15 pm. She sounded harried and surprised I answered. She jabbered something about “no food” and “no caregivers” and the people the Lodge, the “mental ones” wandering all over… I was in the midst of extracting details when Mom’s caretaker for the night, Reina, came in with a bag of chips. Mom chomped a few, asked if she could give away her copies of my books and hung up. I’m not worried that mom is starving or being neglected—she is dramatic! Besides, she receives regular care packages of favorite snacks (Raisinetts, chips, nuts & chai tea.) But with healthcare workers and caregivers everywhere so stressed, overworked and understaffed, too, wouldn’t homecooked goodies be welcome? Or are they deemed unsafe in the states?
USA: 312, 237 confirmed CoVid cases; More than 8,400 people have died from COVID-19
Despite the news, from what I’m seeing on our neighborhood group, “safety” isn’t a concern—definitely not public safety. Discarded gloves scattered and blowing outside the groceries; packs strolling the beach path; Trump talking out of both ends at once:
One end: Trump has warned Americans to prepare for the "toughest week" of the coronavirus pandemic yet, predicting a surge in deaths.
Other end: Mr Trump Suggested Easing Social-distancing Guidelines for Easter.
Should we stay or should we go? It’s a dilemma.
On a personal note: I talked to Gloria…Gloria talked to Graham…Graham talked to the pharmacist…I have estrogen patches. Happy Days Are Here Again! Sing it Judy & Barb!
As it is Sunday, Looking forward with this #WeRemember video.
FYI: “Happy Days Are Here Again,” was recorded by Milton Ager & Jack Yellen “In 1929, just prior to the Great Crash of the New York Stock Market.” It was the theme song of FDR’s Presidential Campaign in his effort to unseat incumbent President Herbert Hoover. It “resonated throughout the nation as most Americans were looking to Roosevelt in hopes that his pledge of “a new deal for the American people” would usher them safely through the Great Depression into a new era of economic prosperity.”
Too much, too soon? I don’t think so. Channeling Auntie Mame, we need a little hope, what she called “Christmas” right now.
Words 4 Today: Public Safety
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Life in the Time of CoVid-Day 9 Lockdown
April 4, 2020-Day 9 of Lockdown:
Worldwide: 1,333,373 confirmed CoVid cases; 60,375 deaths.
N.Y. Virus Deaths Double in Three Days to Almost 3,000; “New York in 'race against time' as Trump stresses face masks are voluntary”
Who’s Zoomin’ Who? We had brunch/cocktails with the family today: Our time 7:00pm, their time between 9 and 1 pm their time. (SA is 6 hours ahead of ET, 9 hours ahead of Alaska). We slowly sipped our daily wine rations, they sipped coffee…we think it was coffee…it was in coffee mugs…Not judging!
I’ll Snap a pic next time…
It was our first family Zoom ever! Unlike many others, our scheduling a family Zoom session is not a response to us missing daily interaction with each other, like it is for others. We all live far apart: Alaska, New York, Connecticut, Texas, Nevada, California, Montana, and that’s only our “immediate” family. And now, Curtis and I in South Africa. (After more than a month in one country, bags unpacked, on a first-name basis with grocery clerks, qualifies as “living”.) We chat, but not as a group. Nor, before CoVid struck, did we feel the need. That was then…
The Zoom session was grand (way better than I imagined it would be…I groaned when I saw the invite.) The grandboys popped in and out, people came and went, the conversation hopped around. And better than SKYPE or FaceTime. None of the usual half-head, partial-nose, ground-ceiling-getting dizzy moving around as each family had its own screen. Forty-minute Zoom sessions are FREE.
If you’re worried it’s too complicated: All the kids are doing it! Sis-in-law, Liz talked Curtis’s mom, Adele through the sign-up steps. We weren’t in on that session, but from what I heard, even the first 10 minutes of everyone watching and commenting while Adele figured out how to make it work were fun. Commercial over! (No Zoom isn’t paying me—wish they would…Any Zoom folks out there? Send me money!)
South Africa: 1,505 cases: 9 dead. Medics and volunteers set up testing station on the front porch of a block of flats in Johannesburg’s ‘gritty’ Yeoville neighborhood.
See all the people—1 metre apart…all the way inside the mall.
Curtis and I braved a trip to the shops today. Nine-days in, lots of folks have run out of rations. Even at Woolies, the line was triple the length. The feeling was a bit more relaxed in the line. But inside….YIKES!
What is it about masks that make people go into TV Gangster mode?
Are bandanas infused with some form of botox that freezes eye-smile muscles.
Does wearing a surgical mask automatically make one’s demeanor go into harried surgeon mode?
Yes, cranky person, that scarf you’ve triple wound around your face does look too tight, but really, is that any reason to hip-check your way through the laundry soap aisle?
Whoya Lookin’ at Buster?
Watching everyone stomping, growling, ferreting their way through the grocery, I was reminded of my friend Mimi’s antidote. Mimi lived upstairs from us in Trinidad. While shop clerks in Trinidad didn’t have the “Locked down but I still have to work” faces clerks in SA now have, many had scowly faces ie: Smiling is not in my job description. Instead of being bothered by it, Mimi took it as a challenge. She went out of her way to be extra sweet, polite, cheerful with everyone. And by golly it was contagious.
Two for me . . .
So, while I stood in the Click pharmacy line buying Nurofen (SA version of Advil) for my achy-breaky back and candy for my locked-down soul, I channeled Mimi.
I smiled a huge eye-crinkleer at every custie & clerk and chatted up the lady in front of me. (I got her laughing!)
Danged if I didn’t want out with a two-step feeling—and 3 packages of candy (2 for me; 1 for Gloria) Yeehaw!
Speaking of TV Surgeons, Check this out:
Medical Dramas Go From T.V. to ER by Donating Medical Supplies to Fight Coronavirus
Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19, New Amsterdam, The Good Doctor, etc. have donated their supplies from the studio sets.
(Festival of Charles Buds—that’s the dance we were supposed to be doing…)
Words 4 Today: Space & Spray
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Life in the Time of CoVid-Day 8 Lockdown
April 3, 2020-Day 8 of Lockdown: OVER 1 MILLION INFECTED…
Give CoVid a round of . . . something . . .
Worldwide: 1,016,534 confirmed CoVid cases; 5,813 deaths; South Africa: 1,462.
A Third of the Global Population is on Lockdown:
I have hit a wall.
This just in from US Embassy in South Africa: “There has been a hiccup regarding the logistics of our planned charter flights for South Africa, and we are now looking for additional commercial options. We do not have exact details on a date and time but will send them as information becomes available.”
I can not do almost anything. And, as proven since Lockdown began, I can go nowhere-do nothing for a week. But 8 days…
Yes, I’m whining. I hear myself* We are in that sense “lucky” as South Africa has only been in Lockdown a short while in comparison: China has been in Lockdown since Jan 23; Hong Kong since Feb. 4th; Italy, parts on Feb 21, countrywide, March 10; Australia (phase 2) announced March 25; USA Trump “endorsed Social Distancing” on March 14th; South Africa’s first case confirmed March 5th, Lockdown began March 27
*Whining…not that kind! This kind.
Compared to Lockdown, “Social Distancing”—getting to hike, walk, go to the park, chat in person, drive around—as long as one is “safely six-feet apart” sounds divine! My butt is sore, my eyes are bleary, my heart hurts, and while I always travel with extra-meds (just in case), I don’t travel with a month of extras…I am almost out of HRT. That could spell trouble for my cellmate.
So, today, I am focusing on feel goods, like this:
Yesterday, or was it before that (the days are melting together), I shared the Broadway CoVid Medley announcing Broadway Shows closing. As brilliant it is, the Medley was also sad. While I can live on tinned tuna, I need music. Thill of my morning: News that BROADWAY IS BACK! (virtually)!
Listen to Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Announcement.
“The Shows Must Go On’, the new YouTube Channel that will be streaming a full-length musical every Friday at 7pm GMT for free so you can bring the theatre home! It will be available for 48 hours, so you can tune in whenever you like over the weekend!”
First up, it’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Save the date!
And, this passage from Winnie the Poo and Piglet popped up of Facebook:
“‘Today was a Difficult Day,” said Pooh.
There was a pause.
”Do you want to talk about it?” asked Piglet.
”No,” said Pooh after a bit. “No, I don’t think I do.”
”That’s okay,” said Piglet, and he came and sat beside his friend.
”What are you doing?” asked Pooh.
”Nothing, really,” said Piglet. “Only, I know what Difficult Days are like. I quite often don’t feel like talking about it on my Difficult Days either.
”But goodness,” continued Piglet, “Difficult Days are so much easier when you know you’ve got someone there for you. And I’ll always be here for you, Pooh.”
And as Pooh sat there, working through in his head his Difficult Day, while the solid, reliable Piglet sat next to him quietly, swinging his little legs...he thought that his best friend had never been more right.’”
On the sassy side!—in response to my work-out dilemma, my co-grandmother, Sally, (I looked it up, “co-mother-in-law” is officially what I call my daughter’s husband’s parents and my grandchildren’s “other grandmother”—that’s what one does when idle.) Anyway, Sally shared the Moodivator, “Carole Burtuzzi Luciani with her Take on Online Fitness (you’ll have to click over, I couldn’t get it to post here.)
On the light side: Hello (from the Inside) An Adele Parody by Chris Mann.
The Washington Post has published its 2020 Neologism List Here’s 1 for today:
Coffee (.n.), the person upon whom one coughs.
And a thought to ponder shared by Charles:
If poison expires, is it more poisonous or is it no longer poisonous?
Looking forward to the future, Shona sent a video (that has been removed for copyright infringement—of course I would post the attribution, but the screen is black.) So: Blah-blah-blah… My takeaway:
When Lockdown is long over, and CoVid has gone the way of polio, measles, mumps, chicken pox…the plague, and we are on the other side. What I want our children/grandchildren will remember is ‘That time when Mommy/Daddy/Granny/Whomever colored and played and built forts with me.’
Lest you think Shona’s all Zen, she’s also binge-watching: Tiger Kings
Forts! Now that’s an idea: Fortmaking in the Living Room:
Wash up!
Mask up!
Dose up on Vitamin C! Drink Up! (those lukewarm beverages)
Stay Well!
I’ll be back tomorrow because, well. . . Yes, Peggie, that is all there is . . .
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Life in the Time of CoVid-Day 7 Lockdown
April 2, 2020: Lockdown Day 7
Worldwide: 950,713 confirmed CoVid-19 cases; 48,313 deaths; 202, 826 recovered!!! Spain deaths surpass 10,000; Russia reports record spike in cases
If you think you don’t need to wear a mask; if you think you “need” to go out. That CoVid-19 is “no big deal,” read this email I just received from a student (in response to my note wondering why I hadn’t heard back from her):
“A sad event has transpired. Last week my father was hospitalized due to COVID 19 symptoms and after six days he passed away in an isolation unit. We learned that when hospitals close down they send everyone who isn't essential home and only keep the most critical staff. It was hard to get anyone to answer the phones and have information passed along, but we understood why.”
USA: 214,461 confirmed cases, 4,841 deaths; The death toll has quadrupled & now exceeds the number of deaths from CoVid-19 reported in Mainland China
LOCKDOWN. President Ramphosa and the SA government is smart to name it so harshly. Enough with the sugar-coating terms: Social Distancing, really? Unless you’re in a bubble, you’re at risk.
South Africa: 1,380 confirmed CoVid cases; 5 deaths; Mkhize warns of 'calm before a heavy and devastating storm
We just returned from the shops. Last trip, thinking we would be evacuated “early” this week, we only bought 3 days stock, so we needed to. The line waiting to enter Pick-N-Pay ringed the block. The Woolies line was only a few deep, so we chose it. Tension outside and in was palpable. Everyone racing and grabbing as though on a clock. Curtis too. I asked him, “Why are you acting so weird.” His response, there are so many people…” So many mask-ish efforts: scarfs, balaclavas, turtlenecks, hankies, etc. Lots without masks seem to think holding one’s breath helps. Including clerks wheezing “Thank you, Maam” through clenched teeth.
'Apprehensive' elderly German tourists apprehended en route to test for Covid-19
This could have been us had we tried to drive back to P.A.
Do you know how many times a waking hour you touch your face? It’s like trying not to scratch a mosquito bite. Count. Or better, watch someone else.
I caught myself 4 times in one hour—and that was me consciously trying not to touch. Every touch could bring a CoVid virus into your body. No excuses:
IF YOU HAVE A T-SHIRT AND TEETH, YOU HAVE A MASK.
Service Announcement Over, captivity is an issue; imprisonment for many doesn’t come with a garden or a balcony, or even a window that opens wide enough to fit one’s head. So, what do for exercise?
LAPS: Yes, I am one of the lucky ones, with a lovely garden. I walk laps as I listen to podcasts, webinars—conversation. Every time my phone chimes, I get up to listen & talk. One problem. My natural inclination is to walk counter-clockwise which, after the first few days seems to have made my left leg shorter, thus giving me a long-shoreman gait. So as of yesterday, every few laps I reverse direction.
Lapping the room works, too. It’s 19 medium paces around our room (bathroom not included). And, I’m told, very annoying.
12 STEPS UP-12 DOWN
STAIR-CLIMBING: Now that we are officially the only ones staying in Manderley Lodge, when Gloria is away, I sneak across to the office side and stair step. i call it the 12 by 12: Twelve steps up & twelve steps down. I stopped at 10 reps yesterday. Depending on Gloria’s schedule, I’ll sneak in a few more today.
YOGA: Do not roll your eyes. Or think I’ve gone all OHMMMM on you. Even Curtis can do this one as it’s all on the floor. Think of it as “stretches.” Here’s my 10 minute fav by _____________(Hint: Don’t try to do it without the video because you’ll find yourself shortening the time you stay in each position; or forgetting some. Trust me. I have listened to the same video at least 1000 times (no exaggeration). Miriam’s voice is now my Manchurian Candidate phone call: I mindlessly obey.
HUFF & PUFF: This is our new favorite. It only takes 4 Minutes! (a session). Curtis discovered it sometime back when he was trying to find a way to exercise without leaving his computer (Curtis loves his computer!) but we’d never tried it. IT’S GREAT! Yesterday was our 3rd day of Huff & Puff (Officially Called: Zach Bush MD: 4-Minute Workout.) Wow! I do! I do! I do feel the tingle/burn!!!
Oh yes, as if there isn’t enough drama in the world with CoVid, yesterday Graham, our landlord, Gloria’s boss, quit. Turned out his lease on Manderley Lodge ended March 31. Instead of renewing, or giving 3 months’ notice, he came last night, cleaned out the supply cupboards, and left. We know because the supply cupboards are in our room—2 locked cabinets at the end of our closet. He knocked while we were eating dinner. (5th can of tuna in brine gone…Charles says we should have our mercury levels checked when this is over.) —DEAR AUSTRALIA, WE KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL YOUR TOILET PAPER…
What does this mean to us? No TV for 2 days. Yes, Gloria, we will survive. (Thank you U-Tube! Thank you NYC for this Broadway Coronavirus Medley!)
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Life in the Time of CoVid-Day 6 LOCKDOWN
April 1st : Lockdown-Day 6
I considered beginning this post with a fake news flash that CoVid was gone. Sick-sick-sick April Fool’s joke. I know. In my head I hear Lexi saying “Inappropriate, Mother.” She calls me “Inappropriate” often enough that it’s a stored recording. I’ve been head talking again. I woke this morning jabbering away to the universe. I haven’t done that in no clue how long. Or maybe I have, but all the other busy-ness crowded out my own thoughts.
The Horrifying Truth:
Worldwide: 862, 574 confirmed cases of CoVid 19; 42, 528 deaths
USA: 189,592; Italy: 105,792; Spain: 95,923; China: 81,554; Indonesia: 1,677
South Africa: 1,353 confirmed cases; 5 deaths; 39,500 tests conducted so far.
But, WE HAVE POWER! No joke! But, big surprise! Pre-dawn, I woke, went into the “loo” (“Loo is South African for toilet.) and flipped the switch. Light nearly blinded me! That’s when the “WE HAVE POWER!” light went off in my head. Because here, one never knows when you flip the switch, or want a shower, or need a charge, whether or not it will work. South Africa is Loadshedding.
South Africa is in a major electric crisis. The Power plants aren’t able to generate enough electricity. As a result depending on demand, the power is shut off. Everywhere. Yes, you can be in the middle of dinner, in the mall, at a restaurant, the doctor’s office and everything suddenly goes dark.
“Any country’s success with containment could be tenuous, and the world could remain on a kind of indefinite lockdown.”
WEAR A MASK!
Loadshedding has stages. Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3—up to Stage 8, depending on demand. Level 1 means 1000 megawatts of power need to be shed, or not used in one area so it can be used elsewhere. Stage 2 means 2000 megawatts, etc. For example, Port Alfred would be loadshedding so Port Elizabeth, about 98 miles away, could operate. I’m not sure how the stages translate to how long the power is out.
“load·shed·ding. noun. the deliberate shutdown of electric power in a part or parts of a power-distribution system, generally to prevent the failure of the entire system when the demand strains the capacity of the system. ”
Here’s what we experienced: when loadshedding the power would be off 1 time a day for 2 hours; on one Stage 4 day the power was cut 3 times for 2 hours at a time. As inconvenient as it sounds it’s better, we learned from the Masons living in Johannesburg, than the sometimes 8 hour-long power cuts they experience. Loadshedding Schedules are published (if one has Internet capability to find it).
During LOCKDOWN with every non-essential shutdown, SA is not Loadshedding. Thrilling…disappointing…ironic…not sure how to feel. Should we be saying thank you CoVid-19 for forcing us to finally heed the warning and use less power?
JUST IN: First repatriation flight leaves South Africa to Brazil. A total of 321 passengers were on LATAM flight to Sau Paulo, Brazil. (Is this an April Fool’s Joke?)
Look closely…there’s a bird in that bush
Power isn’t the only thing more abundant. Birds are singing more and louder! (Or maybe they always have been and, like my head talk, we just couldn’t hear them.)
Talk about surreal, were we really “On Safari” at Shamwari Game Reserve this time last week? Birds! One thing one of our ranger/game guides, Wesley (who was a pompous, condescending Jack#$!) knows is birds. He wowed us by not only spotting and describing then, but also copying their calls.
On those early morning game drives, he’d cut the motor. (Or when walking, following the game drive single-file, we’d stop.) There, in silence so fine grass crackled and giraffe huffing and elephant farts were loud, he drew out attention to the birds. Birds don’t simply sing to sing. They claim their spots—in the bush or trees or grass—and sing out: I’m here! I’m here!
Helps that Gloria keeps the feeder well-stocked!
Manderley Lodge is a house, in the midst of a suburb of Cape Town. When we arrived, even last Wednesday evening, and the morning after, even in the darkest hour traffic noises droned. Now, when I wake, or sit, I hear breezes, leaves talking, the tots playing a few fences over, and birds.
When CoVid-19 is conquered/contained, Lockdown, Social Distancing, Shelter-in Place is over, will we immediately amp up to previous stages—or beyond?
Or? They say one can break a habit in 3 weeks. Will we have learned something by this slow down? Will using less energy become a habit in 21 days or 90 days or more?
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Life in the Time of CoVid-Day 5 Lockdown
March 31: Lockdown-Day 5
USA: 163,575 confirmed CoVid-19 cases; 3,073 dead (at least 1,218 of those in NY).
Sunset Cruising C&C
Yes, Tina, we do need another hero—many of them. I am humbled by and grateful to/for all the heroes—everyone getting up, scrubbing up and doing those “essential jobs” --healthcare workers, first responders on the front line fighting the visible killer.
And the less-lauded oft-abused clerks, janitors, delivery folk…workers keeping us and things running so we can lockdown.
Selfishly, I do not want to be a hero. What’s more, I do not want to be harmful. What I want is to be useful. Useless-ness is shriveling me.
Italy: 101,739 confirmed cases; 11,591 deaths
South Africa: “Most cases in Africa” at 1,326, 3 dead. Door-to-door screening & testing program launched.
Top of “Chappie”
Our time in South Africa has been divided: CoVid There and CoVid Here. Hard to fathom how 3 weeks ago we were shouldering our way through the Cape Town Convention Center sampling power bars and electrolyte drinks, swapping spit and sweaty hugs.
A few days later, cozily ensconced in the backseat of their car on our way back to Port Alfred, Shona and I both felt “flu-ey” as she calls it. We shared symptoms: sore throats, dry coughs, slightly enlarged nodules on one side of our necks…at one point Shona even felt hot—exactly the CoVid-19 symptoms we’d read about….but also symptoms of sinus— the weather had been fluctuating, along with our internal barometric pressure gauges, and allergies…
Shona & “Napolian the Cat”
We dosed ourselves, Curtis & Charles with colloidal silver spray, vitamin C lozenges, sanitizer and waited… could it be CoVid?
We kept the news secret—we didn’t want the others (their relatives & guests) from worrying needlessly.
Heads together, we comforted ourselves: we were self-isolated (sort of) our tight group of 15 or so, since the Argus, had formed our own tight colony, after all.
When we weren’t spraying, dosing, sniffling, we made plans on how we’d isolate anyone who truly fell ill, bought more vitamins…
. . . and waited.
Waited for our coughs to worsen, for breathing issues, for fever.
One report said to seek medical attention if “One could not hold your breath without discomfort for 10 seconds.”
We tested ourselves with 10-second timed Hold Your Breath drills
. . . and waited.
“More People Are Under Lockdown than were Alive in World War II ”
A few days later, weather clearer, our heads clearer, our throats better, mostly, we couldn’t help wondering if in fact we had had IT.
Just as with the polio virus: “the majority of people who are infected with the virus don't get sick and aren't aware they've been infected.” Are we among the Lucky 85%?
Rules of Survival: If you don’t want to catch X stay away!”
Time was the “Had Its” treated the “Have Its.” That’s how it worked. When someone fell ill with a communicable bug—measles, mumps, chicken pox…polio—survivors of that bug took over as caretakers. The phrase commonly heard: “It’s okay, I’ve already had it.”
My fervent wish is that soon, as you read, researchers are working hard on an affordable test for all of us who, like Shona and I, had a little something. The Lucky 85% could be and should be the ones doing the taking care off—while taking every precaution not to spread the virus. I’d make sure this useless feeling was gone, gone, gone….whoa-a-whoa-o.