Sunday, March 22, 2020

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.



12 comments:

  1. I agree with you that once we're free to move about again, there will be a frenzied response, because of the pent-up need. Not unlike people giving up chocolate for Lent then stuffing on Easter candy.

    But it's still quite a while before that happens. I hope some of us will learn more about living in the moment. And even finding something to enjoy even on dark days. Well, I can dream!

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  2. to be a different place this virus would have to shift gears and carry on for another couple of years wiping out most humans. STAY HOME, it is such a terrible death...

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  3. I agree that the world will most different in econmic ways but our need for social stimulus and stuff will probaby ramp up as soon as possible. Is it hard to do Yoga at home via TV or PC?

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  4. Enjoyed this long, long post. One example of what extra down time can produce. Yoga outdoors - or semi-outdoors sounds fabulous.

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  5. It's so strange- I'm debating going to the grocery store on Tuesday or Wednesday morning very early for the "senior hours" and yet, I don't really need anything. Still, there's that strange compulsion to try and find more beans and some loaf bread. Maybe I'll clean my cabinets today and see what's really in there. I do realize that the empty shelves are empty because people are afraid they'll be empty.
    Nothing about all of this is understandable, really. It's like a long, bad dream.
    And Trump is going to kill us all.

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  6. I am staying here in seclusion. Yesterday brought out what I refer to as the "lookey-loos". Sundays are just like that. People pile into their cars and make a trip to tour campgrounds and talk about getting a seasonal site. Altho, we are in the boonies out here, those people are coming from highly populated communities near St. Louis. Only thinking of themselves and not worrying that they might be bringing the virus to us. I did not open my store to chat these people up and encourage more business. We were told that to be safe we should STAY HOME! Be careful!!

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  7. Except for not going to church, our lives are still pretty much the same. Although Mike is going to try to limit his visits to his dad - he's REALLY worried about his dad getting this virus from him. I'm still going into work & disinfecting the heck out of anything I touch. My job feels pretty safe (HR for the City), but this will definitely impact us as a city. We shall see how it all shakes out.

    And DO NOT GO TO YOGA. :)

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  8. We made two trips to Lowe's hardware yesterday for pads for the orbital sander. Later we noticed that the poles we're re-doing really need filler. After much debate, we're just going to stain/varnish over the cracks. If we live, we'll be doing this again in three years, so we're just not going to go back to Lowes's. The orange excrement is tired of social distancing, he's thinking maybe in two weeks we'll just stop; man wants to hold a rally and feel the love.

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  9. My children are like your daughter! So we're not telling them we went to the supermarket this morning ... It was special 'elderly hour' but still quite full and we probably won't do that again.

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  10. I went by my not your regular grocery story this morning, about eleven, and was shocked at the number of cars. I should go this week, and may make a supreme sacrifice of getting up early. Maybe not. I have raisins to make brown bread and then I would not have to go until next week, for bread and butter. I'm not hiding from the virus, but from the freaking hoarders. If there are blue skies in China, I guess one will show up here, when the rain stops. But when we have rebounded, all the planetary gains will erode away under the stress of resumed living. There may be even bigger crowds at Disney, to satisfy all those deprived semester break children.

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  11. We are pretty much doing nothing outside house or garden. The local authorities have now introduced steep fines for anyone breaking the rules. Several friends have started to do our shopping as they all believe we are either old or risk group - something I agree with but the man doesn't.
    I work from home with an irritating software program that connects me to my office desktop. In between I race around the garden perimeters and before sunset I take a bike ride along the river.
    I don't think we or the planet will come out better when this is over but many of us will have no choice but rethink their priorities. This will not be the last virus pandemic.

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  12. I'm convinced people are shopping for entertainment. Since we can't go to the movies, the mall, the bowling alley, sports event, etc., ad infinitum, and since the grocery store is an approved destination, people who just want to do something go grocery shopping. Once in the store, they have to buy something to justify being there -- and there you are. Empty shelves. Ah, people.

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.