Random Stuff Happening Under Stay at Home Orders

Using Zoom or FaceTime:

• One kid went on a backyard campout.
• We attended a wedding.
• Fritz presented to his colleagues in Germany.
• One kid had a grill cookout.
• We played Settlers of Catan.

We've been using Costco/Instacart for deliveries. we discovered that Costco is letting Instacart shoppers enter the store and complete their shopping outside of normal business hours – which,  I think, is good. I know it's unlikely, but I do wish grocery stores would close to the general public and convert to parking lot pickup and delivery. Or maybe just half of the grocery stores. It would be so much safer for everyone, and probably a hell of a lot more efficient.

I'm gaining weight. I've decided that now is not the time to fuss over food (or losing weight). So I'm trying to keep focused on simply Eat Mostly Healthy, Get Some Exercise Everyday. The End. (But we are at the point of Needing Bigger Sized Clothing. Ugh.)

Trixie and I have been running together in the morning. Historically, I am miserable running with other people. I like to run ONLY when it is Alone Time. But Trixie, at 6 years old, had proven to be a pretty good running partner for my out-of-shape self. And she's actually into it, which is something I could never ignite in either of her older brothers. 

A funny story - Noah - age 13 - got a smart phone. (Honestly, I don't know how we'd be sane in the current situation without giving the kid his own phone).  When he got the phone, he set up Siri with voice commands. And...in the course of the last 5 weeks, Siri has stopped responding his "Hey Siri!"  Noah's Siri only now responses to Mattias - age 10. Hello, adolescent voice change. Guess AI hasn't figured out that one yet.

Double Hump

One of my confidants told me this weekend that she saw a family in masks walk past her house on the street. And she grew quite annoyed by their masks, until she was pierced by the desire to yell at them to take off their masks and breathe some fresh air!

I thought about this comment for a long time afterwards. It seemed that the comments revealed less about the choice of the family to wear mask and more about her desire for the pandemic to be over, or her frustration with the stay at home orders, or her own weariness of feeling protected to the point of trapped. I believe we are all getting weary of staying at home.

And it doesn't help that so many things don't work right now. If you wanted to be tested for covid-19, you probably couldn't be. If you need some protective equipment or toilet paper, you can't get it. If you thought you were going to get a relief payment from the federal government, you probably didn't. If you applied for a small business loan, you most likely heard nothing. If one of your family members was hospitalized, you may have very little idea of how they are doing. If you want to work, you maybe can't.

Words are meaningless if they are not backed up by action. There are lots of words from the federal government, but no actions.

My brother shrugs his shoulders and says to me over the phone, from thousands of miles away, "It is what it is."

No. I tell him. It is what we've let it become. Stop contributing to this self-fulfilling prophecy of helplessness.

I watched the protests unfold this weekend and I struggled with my own sense of frustration and helplessness. But the scary reality that we are all about to face in the US is how little we have done to really address this virus over the last month of staying at home. Sure, we stayed home. But it wasn't enough. We didn't really do that hard work over the course of the last month to get us out of this mess. That means: we didn't do enough testing, we didn't set up isolation health centers, we didn't figure out how to ramp up our in-country supply production/manufacturing, we didn't make enough plans to phase back into opening society safely, we didn't teach people (apparently) enough about the importance of masks. (And by the way, DOING that type of preparation provides jobs for people and helps the economy a lot more than throwing money at airlines, cruise ships and hotels.) But now, everybody is antsy and angry and the pathetic actions by the federal government have made the situation worse than necessary.

Here's what happened to the death rates in my hometown when we eased restrictions too soon, 101 years ago:

Inventory

Here in the Wyse Home City, in response to the coronavirus, schools have closed. Libraries are closed. Rec Centers are closed. Athletics are canceled. Universities have closed and/or moved to online learning. Churches are closed. Some small businesses have closed. Grocery stores have reduced hours of operations. Concerts, sporting events, performances are canceled. Even at the neighborhood level, we are all giving each other a 6 feet berth on the sidewalk. The changes came very quickly, and it's hard to believe how different it was just a week ago.

We are taking the social distancing seriously, and most of the people around us seem to be doing the same. My biggest concern is not really for my immediate family, but for the risk that my stick-it-in-my-mouth, handwashing-adverse kids pose to older and more vulnerable people. I'd like to tell you that I've managed to make my kids Models of Hygienic Discipline, but the would be An Outright Lie.

When school announced it was closing, there was one last day of school before the break was to begin. Mattais told me he was glad to go to school, because it made it seem like everything was normal. (That's a huge credit to his teachers, who have obviously done an awesome job maintaining a calm environment in the classrooms!) We talked a lot about how canceling school was something that we are doing for other people, not for ourselves. Noah and Mattias seem to find it comforting to know that this is how they can help other people. Trixie is still a little young to really get it; in fact, she keeps forgetting that she won't be back in school tomorrow!

Both Fritz and I are now (indefinitely) working from home. The kiddos are officially on extended spring break until April 7th. I'm mentally preparing myself for the idea that they may be off for the rest of the school year. I'm devouring articles with projections of infection rate. I realize the data is almost impossible to use for prediction because our testing is so spotty, but my take away from what I'm reading is that infection rates will climb for the next 2-3 week – and then, with 2-3 weeks of climbing numbers – will we really be ready to jump back into school? I think not.

Last night, I lost myself in a movie we were watching with the kids. When it was over, I had the strange jolt not that I was returning to normal life, but rather that I was returning to a new reality as foreign to me as the movie.

One thing that is clear after a mere two days at home is that we eat SO MUCH FOOD. I'm thinking a lot about home delivery of groceries. We've never done this; and I guess now is a good time to start. Or maybe it's a horrible time to start because everyone else will be starting, too. I don't know. When I read about grocery stores limiting the number of patrons at one time, and people standing in lines, I think delivery sounds like the way to go, although I know delivery is experiencing its own problems and shortages. I'm thinking Amazon Fresh – their business model is already set up, their product is coming from a warehouse, not a store (less opportunity for contagion). It's not relying on an internet gig economy worker (although I'm thinking Amazon has only a slightly better reputation.) Do you use delivery? Is it working for you?