tales from a COVID-19 self-quarantine

Week one of partial self-quarantine is done. I say partial because I have been to the grocery store, to yoga twice, went out to pick up my watercolor, and went to the feed store besides walking the dog every day.

Last Sunday night I got a call from my daughter with our marching orders. We were to prepare to stay at home for a month and Aunt Pam too. She was going in to the city to finish a few things on her desk at work and then do a big shop so if we needed anything text her a list and then she was going into quarantine at home as her work was going to close to the public. And NO yoga for you, she tells me.

I went to yoga Monday night (and Wednesday night). Not five minutes after I left, she and her husband pulled up.

“Where's Mom?”

“You're not supposed to be here”, my husband said.

“Where's Mom?”

“Mumble mumble yoga.”

“I told her NO yoga!”

I texted her Wednesday morning to see how her first day (Tuesday) of self-quarantine went.

“Boring!”

In fact, she had gone in to work Wednesday which did turn out to be her last day for the next who knows.

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Since I had called my sister to pass on her marching orders, she grumbled about ignoring them and then said she'd go to the grocery store in the morning to get in more supplies. Since you get up before I do, I told her, call me and let me know if they have anything. 8:30 AM Monday morning the phone rings,

“If you aren't already on your way you better get here soon,” she says. 

Parking lot is full, store is packed, every checker station open, people wheeling heaped cart loads out. Well, damn. Haven't even had my coffee yet but I got dressed and got there before 9 AM (store opened at 8 AM). Parking lot was not full, store was not packed, at least 4 checker stations were closed. I was mostly concerned about getting enough dog and cat food for a month but I picked up other things as I saw them available, like the bread we buy and the peanut butter he likes and dried beans and OJ and fruit and avocados and lunch meat and eggs, in all $130+. I didn't bother to go on the paper aisle as we have enough but it was odd the things there were and the things there were not. Like plenty of meat but no fresh vegetables except for beets and bok choy but plenty of fresh fruit, lots of chips. Only a few 5 lb bags of potatoes and only one bin of loose big yellow onions. Dried beans were almost completely cleaned out leaving only some bags of the weird ones or lentils. I discovered 6 bags of pintos on a lower shelf that had been overlooked because they couldn't be seen while standing. Getting checked out the woman behind me was quizzing the cashier on what would be available when and she just shrugged. Gotta get here before 8 if you want something specific she said. Talking to my daughter later she told me people were already waiting in the parking lot at 6:30 AM when they drove by on their way to work that morning. Marc went yesterday afternoon and was able to get just about everything on the list except butter, lots of bacon he said, but all just one single kind.

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Dentist office called, I assumed to tell me my new crown was ready, but no, they were calling to tell me they were closing til April.

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As mentioned, my sister and I went to yoga on Monday night and I went on Wednesday. It's a large indoor/outdoor building (the sides roll up when the weather is good) and I knew the walls would be partially up as it had been a warm day, it's a small group (usually just 6 - 12 people), and we could easily stay 10' away from each other, and at that time there were no known or suspected cases of the virus in our county. The general consensus was we want to be careful but we also need some normalcy in our lives. Plus the yoga helps keep us centered and not freaking out for at least that hour. I'm starting to waver on going next week though because while I think it would be safe enough, El Campo, where the class is, now has its first confirmed case of COVID-19; a 30 yr. old woman who had traveled recently to an area with a high number of cases and is quarantining at home. How many people did she infect before her symptoms showed? I'm thinking perhaps better to be more prudent going forward.

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Also as mentioned I went to the local feed store late morning Saturday to get bird seed and potting soil and composted peat so I can pot up some of the stuff I want to share with a neighbor. I got the bird seed but not the dirt because as soon as I walked in it started raining and I wasn't going to have the guys loading that stuff up in the rain but it had been awhile since I had been in and since I'm friendly with two of the employees, they had been wondering if I was OK. Yes I told her, just waiting for spring and then the sudden bathroom remodel had kept me preoccupied. Normally we would have hugged hello and/or goodbye but not this visit though we did get closer than 6'. So I will go get the dirt Monday, an essential trip for me and for them as some commerce has to get done and the dirt will keep me busy at home, but it may be my only outing all next week besides walking the dog.

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The planet is getting to breathe a little easier without all the constant frantic human activity. Factories shutting down for weeks, cars off the roads, just less general activity and the pollution producing effects of it all stilled for a short time. China is seeing exceedingly rare blue skies, the canals in Venice have cleared up and you can see the fish and swans and dolphins are swimming in them again.

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According to this website, WORLDOMETER, these are the current statistics for the US as of 3/22/20, 18:43 GMT: cases – 38,757; deaths – 400; recoveries – 178. Kind of alarming as the numbers grow exponentially. Still not enough masks or protective gear for our health workers or ventilators for desperate patients, still not enough tests and the ones we have take too long to get results, still arrivals at airports aren't so much as getting their temperature taken, still an incompetent whiner doing nothing in the White House except spouting off more ignorance. In Texas, as of Saturday, there were 325 people who tested positive and 5 deaths. Most of the cases are in the large urban areas...Dallas/Ft. Worth, Austin/San Antonio, Houston. Houston is an hour away. Still, our county is very rural, lots of farm and ranch land, and this town I live outside of is not very active though people do commute to the city to work.

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Some people are speculating that the world will be a much different place when this is over. I'm not sure what they mean by that. Different as in learning to live without constant stimulation or instant gratification or continual rushing around? That people will learn to slow down and bide time and be here now? That we will be more relaxed and compassionate and good to others? That we will all of a sudden realize we don't need all that stuff out there calling to us and we will adopt simpler lifestyles causing this pause for the planet to become normal? Yeah, fat chance. We will all still be human beings mired in this modern culture and we will go back to our selfish ways post haste. Or as hastily as a society can during a recession caused by all the lost work, lost jobs, lost businesses, lost investments followed by lost homes. Because surely that's the different world we will face when this is over. Or maybe not. We'll see.