Life in the Time of CoVid-Day 18 Lockdown: Get A Grip
April 13, 2020-Day 18 of SA Lockdown: Day 3 US “Self-Isolation”
US: “Daily death toll has dropped; more than 560,000 CoVid cases—number of cases slower Saturday & Sunday
Returning brings with it another question: Where to go?
Do we return home, home to our comfortable, safe haven while possibly contaminated with CoVid virus? (Not an option as refugees from NYC are there.) Do we hunker down in NY—the epicenter of CoVid-19 horror with more cases than China? Fly onto Alaska, with only 272 Covid Cases, to quarantine there and then see the kids? Or hunker down in a cozy room wiht a kitchenette?
By the time evacuation day came, Curtis and I weren’t worried we were contagious. (99.2% certain anyway.) We’d been in seclusion for 14 days—14 since we’d flown in from Port Elizabeth, hopped a cab & knocked on the door of Manderley Lodge. We were fairly certain none of the other evacuees were either. (We all wore masks & kept our distance—which included not talking—which is odd, weird, uncharacteristic for Americans, tourists & otherwise.)
Plenty of space, right?
While awaiting evacuation, I fixated on the idea of renting an RV. Why?
We could sanitize the heck out of it.
Clean, prepare, store our own food.
Park some lovely isolated space—say Walmart or Starbucks parking lot.
Teach everyone the Happy Cell song! (Video below)
Watch a Chair Yoga Recital
Use our 14 days of post-flight quarantine in some deserted—if cold, snowy even—campgrounds…or rest areas & truck stops. By the time CoVid is eradicated, we’d be somewhere: Connecticut, Texas, Michigan …Alaska. Alaska! Yes!…no. Curtis pointed out the Canadian border was closed.
Map places to donate plasma once it’s confirmed we’re among the 85% who get CoVid-19 & Never know it! (Michigan will take it!)
We’d done fine cooped up in a tiny space so far. Options were endless…(I’m not the only one who thinks so; check out this article on the merits of RVing post CoVid.
Yeah right…who was I kidding?
On the drive from Washington D.C. to Connecticut we had to pull off 4 time just to go to the bathroom. Why? Restaurants are closed. Some gas stations have closed their toilets. Fast-food drive-through doors were locked. locked. locked. locked. (We didn’t try crawling in through the take-out window.)
Lockdown in South Africa and “Social Distancing” in the states are not the same. I’d been reading and hearing about neighborhood pizza-parties on the porch; Heart and Rainbow hunts through the neighborhood; grandparents and friends tailgating during birthday parties. Even casual walks around sounded divine. Freedom! So, in my mind, the idea of us getting to see Lexi, Ryan & the grandboys—even from the socially safe distance of 6 feet, sounded divine.
It was horrible! Horrible! Dylan, at 5, knows the CoVid rules. (Aiden, at 2? We didn’t even try…he can’t even watch Bapak on the phone without giving the screen kisses—we stayed away until Lexi called that he was napping.)
Knowing rules and sticking to them is hard. And definitely makes conversation—and visits awkward. Especially when you want to show Mimi & Bapak your newest trick, or claim your usual snuggle. Our tailgate meeting lasted about 5 minutes. Delusions of casually stop by to watch them hunt eggs, dashed, we beat it out of town.
After the 20 plus hours plane ride and a 7-hour drive, we were too bleary-eyed to think. So, we booked into a Residence Inn near Fairfield (we’d left our car at Lexi & Ryan’s) to get some rest and figure out the next step. But….half an hour before we arrived, someone from the Residence Inn called to be sure we brought Government papers. Government Papers? She went on to explain that as all non-essential travel had been banned, we had to show proof that our travel was “essential.” Evidently, 300 plus people let off at Dulles to “find our own ways” back to safely quarantine required Scotty from the Star Ship Enterprise.
So, back to the RV! Yeah! I was stoked…Curtis was silent. (Silent for Curtis is not unusual) nor is it a “No.” So I got busy finding where we’d travel in our RV. The question I should have been checking is not where should we go? The question I should have asked is: Where Can We Park the RV?
I finally checked the U.S. Campground Closure List:
Nationwide: All U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) managed campgrounds have begun an orderly shutdown. Likewise, visitor centers, beaches, special events, etc.
Driving restrictions: A shelter-in-place order is in effect for all but essential activities. Any person coming into Connecticut by any mode of transportation is strongly urged to self-quarantine for 14 days.
Hotels: Lodging for leisure, vacation and other nonessential purposes is prohibited.
New Jersey county, city and utility managed campgrounds, State Parks &Forest campgrounds, restrooms, etc. are also all temporarily closed.
New York State Park campgrounds are closed.
All Hawaii State Parks and campgrounds will be closed until further notice. (A girl can dream.)
All this is to say: 1. We are not camping. 2. We are not glamping in an RV. 3. We are not in our cozy home. 4. We are somewhere in Conn. at a destination that will remain secret just in case the powers that be come looking for us.
And…I did get Curtis to try the Gentle Chair Yoga. He liked it…Well, he said he’d do it again, anyway.
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So, now that we’re settled—2 days into quarantine, what am I doing to keep busy? Recital practice begins at 5:00 pm!
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Life in the Time of CoVid-Day 16 Lockdown; Day 1 Re-entry
April 11, 2020-Day 16 of SA Lockdown: Day 1 US “Self-Isolation”
South Africa: CoVid-19 cases in Africa rise to over 12,700 – with 2,050 recoveries & 666 associated deaths
USA: More than 500,000 confirmed CoVid cases; NYPD reported that nearly 20% of its uniformed members - 7,096 people - called in sick
We’re Back!
We answered the big “Should we stay or should we go?” question Thursday morning by joining about 300 others outside Cape Town Stadium Thursday morning to begin evacuation. Our instructions were to rendezvous at the chosen assembly point: Cape Town Stadium, Gate One between 8: 40 am and 10:40 am.
The TV Camera Captured our “Good Sides”! Click on the picture for the article about our evacuation from SA
Gloria, our Manderley Lodge hostess organized an uber escort, fried up one last hearty traditional breakfast and shoved us out the door at 8: 15. Although she said she didn’t want us to leave—as it would be “quite lonely” without us—she didn’t want us to be late either. I popped an apple in my bag, cut a few others in half for the birds and waved goodbye.
So Long Manderley Lodge…and Gloria…and those tasty breakfasts!
Twelve days into the SA Lockdown, 15 after we were originally scheduled to fly (Mar 23), & 4 cancelled flights (United; BA Mar 24; Emirates Mar 25; Etihad Mar 28), after 37 days in South Africa, we were flying home—well, not quite “home”, to Washington D.C. (Along with signing a promissory note to reimburse the government for the cost of flights—about $1500 per person—we were also informed that we each had to secure our own transportation from Dulles straight home to quarantine for 14 days.) And that we could only bring 1 checked bag each. Now, 1 checked bag might be fine for a jaunt, but evacuation?
Immediately after the Evacuation fights were announced, a Whatsapp evacuee group formed. (I didn’t join.) Curtis did, so while I bit#!@$-ed about having to shrink our belongings—along with gifts we’d purchased and biking gear—into 2 bags and lamented having to leave things, he reported how others, too, were having to leave behind bikes, dive equipment, a year’s worth of belongings, etc. Many professed delight and relief to be returning; some, presented with the opportunity to leave, decided to “Give up their space for someone else.”
“Simply put,” said Ramaphosa, “if we end the lockdown too soon, or too abruptly, we risk a massive and uncontrollable resurgence of the disease. We risk reversing the gains that we have made over the last few weeks, and rendering meaningless the great sacrifices that we have all made.”
In our case, with “home,” New York being the epicenter of CoVid-19 horror, the decision to return wasn’t easy. If we could have secured permission to return to Shona & Charles in Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (with no reported cases of CoVid at that time) we most likely would have. And, yes, we did ask—twice! And were politely told, in a strongly worded note, to “adhere to” the SA Government’s Lockdown mandate.
Couple Married 51 Years Dies of CoVid Complications within 6 Minutes of Each Other. Their son, Buddy recorded this message.
Gate 1 wasn’t difficult to locate, the U.S. Consulate flags were flying and the check-in line already stretched down the block. We pulled our bags in a socially-acceptable meter behind the others—gave an embassy rep our names, replaced our no-sew t-shirt masks with official masks she handed us and waited. An Embassy Rep announced that initial screening was delayed because a British fight of evacuees, scheduled to depart before us, wasn’t quite through the screening.
Near the front of the line a camera crew was making a huge fuss over a cluster of 30 somethings. Under the guise of snapping a picture/or trip to the porta-potty just opposite, I eased up so I could hear who they were—what made them so special. Turned out the group were off a yacht that had been sailing for about a month when it docked in Cape Town and stuck in Lockdown, riding the tide, trapped on the yacht for the past 2 weeks. As “luxury” as it may have been, apparently, it wasn’t big enough. The embassy guy who told me about it said they’d had a “rough time of it.”
South African Lockdown Extended by Two Weeks
Keep your masks up; one per seat Maam; no touching!
Back in the U. S of A! Waiting for the Shuttle
When we arrived, there was one line at the Assembly Point, but as we watched others pull up, disembark, wave and air-kiss friends & family, another line beside us grew: the youngsters & oldsters line. I didn’t know whether Curtis should be flattered or jilted not to be in that “other line” especially as it began moving way before ours. Surprisingly, at least to us, evacuees were of all ages and types: refinery workers, teachers, families with small children, teens, retirees off cruise ships & tours, one lady and her husband were part of a 150-guest wedding. The lady had been a bridesmaid (she trumpeted loudly enough that we all heard.” Now that’s what I call a long wedding…
Kuddos to the U.S. Embassy evacuation team! The entire process was expertly conducted! Once the line began moving, we were smoothly, politely, cheerfully funneled from desk to desk to medical check area, banded with florescent green bracelets and fed into an waiting area stocked with “donated” sandwiches and boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts, water, sodas, restrooms. From there we were loaded onto buses—were we sat, masked, politely social distant—one person per seat for a last bus tour through Cape Town.
The morning was warm, bright, skies clear and cloudless affording us glorious views of Table Mountain, stands of trees & townships, past our hotel, the restaurant Curtis & I sneaked away to that first night in Cape Town, part of the Argus route—a time when our biggest worry was finishing the ride…
“The State Department said it has helped bring back more than 56,000 Americans who were stranded abroad after airlines canceled international flights and nations shut down airports. The vast majority of Americans returned from Central and South America, with the largest number — 6,800 people — coming back from Peru.”
Cape Town Airport was empty, hushed. People whispered and kept our distances as we wound our way up and around the check-in lines. I must admit finding it surprising. I had expected people to be sharing stories of how they’d spent Lockdown, or how they’d come to be stranded, but no one did. It felt almost as though anyone who said too much would be yanked from the line.
When our turn came to check-in, I thanked the airline rep for coming to work for us. I asked if she had children at home. She said yes. So then I said, does it feel good to be away from them for a few hours. She laughed, said, yes. And asked if we wanted to check another bag. Where was she yesterday when I was repacking. I looked around wondering which of the others in line were the ones who’d had to leave their dive equipment. Hopefully they’ll never find out we could have checked more bags.
Before take off, the U.S. consulate came onboard the flight to make a speech. We all clapped and cheered. We were seated. We were soon to be on our way. We had no complaints… Besides, we’d heard there was wine onboard…
The flight was uneventful. Curtis and I had an extra seat between us, food, movies to watch, and a car reserved in D.C. The flight stopped in Lomé, the capital of Togo in West Africa to refuel. We arrived at Dulles pre-dawn, were herded through passport control and burped out into the empty airport. No banners, no reporters, no confetti or balloons—no coffee. Welcome Back!—no get your behinds home!
Some positive News:
CoVid patients treated with hydroxychloroquine (a malaria medicine) are healing faster. Reported a Senegalese Doctor in Dakar
Number of Stroke calls last week were less than usual (according to doctor at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan.)
Number of people being hospitalized with COVID-19 in New York and California is falling.
Even among regions that have the highest levels of violence outside a war zone, fewer people are being killed and fewer robberies are taking place.
In Chicago, drug arrests have plummeted 42% in the weeks since the city shut down.
Will babies born in winter ‘21 be Gen C?
“Some criminal lawyers say, is that drug dealers have no choice but to wait out the economic slump.”
Socially isolating doesn’t necessarily mean lonely, and the lack of alcohol doesn’t mean we can’t have fun…Jan 2021 Welcome Gen-C! Corona & Covie are on the way!
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Life in the Time of CoVid-Day 14 Lockdown
April 9, 2020-Day 14 of SA Lockdown:
South Africa: 1,749 CoVid cases; 13 deaths (as of 4-8); Durban Hospital Closed Indefinitely Due to CoVid-19 Outbreak
China Lifts 76-Day Lockdown of Wuhan City
As you’re reading this we are probably winging our way from Cape Town to Lome (the capital of Togo) to refuel, then onto Dulles Airport in Washington, DC. The South African U.S. Embassy team came through (even with all my complaining.) They managed to organize flight from three SA cities: CapeTown, Johannesburg & Durban. Another flight from Cape Town back to D.C. is scheduled for Friday. A cursory snoop at the email chain noted 375+ names on the list. I know how many are on the list because once the flights were announced a slew of folks frantically emailed questions—with way too many clicking “reply all.” Several on the list, who’d been keen to leave, now that the flights are set, have backed off. Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Reading the stats does make one pause. Flying from calm into the storm of full-blown CoVid Pandemic seems counter-intuitive. Nevertheless, we packed and flew.
It’s been almost a month since we arrived, since South Africa was CoVid free, since we rode—and finished—the Cape Argus, celebrated the Festival of Charles, spotted zebra, giraffe, bouncing springbok, rhinos, hippos, lions at Shamwari. Fortunately, we can entertain ourselves with virtual Game Drives at Shamwari and you can too.
USA: 404,580 CoVid cases NY: 38, 863 cases; 5,489 deaths—New York Death Toll Swells by 779.
Turn the volume up super loud and you can be That Neighbor! (Keep reading you’ll see what I mean.
We are leaving South Africa with grateful, full hearts, and some sadness. We’re leaving with lighter bags (as, despite being on commercial airlines, came with bag limits) and sadness. It feels more as though we’re moving than returning home. No telling if we’ll ever see Gloria, our now friend and lovely hostess—who cooks a tasty breakfast and crunchies again. And truth is we were really thinking we’d be back in Port Alfred with Shona & Charles, so we didn’t really say a proper goodbye. We’ll miss them, their family and our friends. Leaving with CoVid-19 on the rise is frightening and worrisome
On a brighter note, I had to share this article on coping with noisy neighbors now that so many are working from home. Laughed out loud when I read this line:
"There are two kinds of people: cowards and psychos.”-NYT 4-8-20
Although I didn’t write a Lockdown post yesterday, I was here with a 7-Minute Poetry Challenge.
#134-Zoo Lovers Testify!
After all, it is April, poetry month, and what better time than in the midst of a pandemic for poetry. Click over. Your prize will be pics of our tumbley grandboys dressed as wild animals.
Here’s to Walking on the Wild Side again, soon!
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Poetry Challenge #134-Zoo Lovers Testify!
It’s National Zoo Lover’s Day. Yep, in case you need an excuse, April 8th is a day set aside for visiting the Zoo. FYI: “The first modern zoo was established in the beauty of Vienna, Austria with the order of Emperor Francis I in 1752. It was created to viewing pleasure of the imperial family, but in 1765 it was extended to the public.”—via https://happydays365.org/zoo-lovers-day/national-zoo-lovers-day-april-8/.
Poetry Challenge #134
Access Your Inner Animal
Imagine you’re an animal at the zoo. How would you describe the people looking at you? What would you think they love based on the people they’re with or what they’re wearing or eating? How would you—the animal—know if you’re right?
Write a poem from the point-of-view of a zoo animal. What does it see, think, feel? Who are its friends/enemies? When is dinner?
Access your inner animal—be it tiger, cheetah, lion or goldfish
Set your timer for 7 minutes
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge MORE THAN 4 YEARS ago! (without a miss!!!) We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
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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.