Corona Letters #1

Dear fellow quarantiners,
This isn't really a blog.  This is more of a free form letter.   I make no promises about my grammar (sorry to my grammarian friends).  I also make no promise of making sense.  I was watching a video about what Italians would have told themselves ten days ago and that made me want to chronicle things better.  So, I've decided that I'm going to write a daily letter, to myself and whoever might be interested in reading it.
Things seem to change very quickly these days and I might miss some of the nuances if I don't write things down.   I'll try to weave the personal with the impersonal so it won't be just about me and my little corner of the world, but that is what I know the most about.

Ten days ago I was at a funeral for a dear friend.  The news of this virus was just starting to seep into our collective consciouses, and no real precautions were being taken yet.  There were lots of hugs at the funeral.  SOOOO many hugs.   Some of us might have been thinking "Should we be doing this?"  But we did.  We were sad and the only thing that seemed to comfort us was human contact.
This past weekend many of us that attended the funeral were commenting how the funeral couldn't have happened these mere seven days later.  To have that big a group of people together? crying and hugging?  Unthinkable.  Irresponsible.   I am so grateful that we were able to celebrate her life before the hammer came down.

Another friend had been at a wedding at the same time  and she said the mother of the bride had told her that had the wedding been just one week later, it would have had to have been cancelled.   Just one week.

A week ago stores had toilet paper, purell, and meats of all kinds.   Not so much now.

It has all changed daily.

Last week people were going to work.  No more.
Last week kids were going to school.  No more.
And the poor college kids.   The colleges seemed to change their decisions on a daily basis.  "Schools out for two weeks", "Wait, three weeks" "Never mind, it's closing tomorrow for the semester.  Please pack up all your belongings."

Then there is social distancing.

Being around people who aren't your family, that you live with, is frowned up.   Well, it's more than frowned upon, it's highly discouraged and may be a felony in some states (just kidding).  But, it might be in the near future.

My side porch has never seen so much action.  In the past few days, I have left things out there for people that just "disappear" with no knocks on the door, or even a shout out through a cracked door saying, "I got it!  Thanks!"    Things have also been left there for me, usually accompanied by a text, "check your porch".

I have managed to take walks with some friends.  We keep our distance though and we don't greet each other with the accustomed hugs.  It is weird.  It is really weird.

We send each other photos of food, drinks, and pets to stay in touch.  Who am I kidding, we do that all the time, but now it's definitely more frequently.

We say we need to get off social media and need to stop reading about the virus but we don't.

Speaking of the virus, here's where we are today, 3/17/2020:

Our state has closed all schools and all restaurants for the next 3 weeks.   We are still allowed to get take out but that's it.   People should stay home from work if they can.

The president has said that we should stay in our homes for 15 days, to slow the spread, and only go out if absolutely necessary.

Basically, that's what everyone is saying.  Let's "flatten the curve".

Personally, I don't know anyone who has been officially diagnosed.  There hasn't been anyone in my town who has been officially diagnosed yet.  That I know of.

And luckily, I don't personally know anyone who has died from the virus.

I read a quote that said, "We will never know if we over-reacted to the virus, but we would definitely know if we under reacted."   I don't know who said this to attribute it to, but I believe it to be true.

There still aren't enough test kits.  More people need to be tested.  I wrote recently how my daughter took her friend to an urgent care clinic with many of the symptoms but they had no test kits available.  That really opened my eyes to the situation.  Because, she was a college student, and without a diagnosis she was probably going to continue to spread the virus if she did indeed have it.  College students don't quarantine themselves unless they have to, in my experience.   Luckily, she appears she didn't have it.   And, as a result of her not having it, my daughter and all the people she had contact with, did not catch it.   Not yet anyway.   It really made me see how quickly things could get out of hand without adequate testing.   Just imagine a bunch of college students infecting each other, and then getting sent home and infecting their families, their communities, etc.

It sounds like they are trying to get more tests out there, and multiple companies are not creating their own versions.   But, is it already too late?  I guess only time will tell.

It seems like life has slowed down for everybody really quickly and people are adjusting to a new normal, that will probably be our normal for a while.

The past two mornings I have woken up and had to plan my day in a totally different way, and I think "what am I going to do to be productive today?" has been one of the top things to pop into my head.  I wonder if other people think this too.   I'm so used to waking up and having my day already planned for me with gym visits, appointments, and other things.   All those things don't exist anymore so my days need to be re-defined.   Being productive is different too.  Today I finished reading a book.  That made my morning productive.  In other times, that would be a lazy morning.   Do other people feel the same way?

As I stated earlier, this is a very informal letter, kind of like a public diary I guess.   I want to keep better track of the daily changes we are all experiencing.   I hope I continue to not know anyone with the virus.

Take Care!  Stay connected! Stay Virus free!

Deb