Time NOT Lost

Monday, March 30, 2020 (continued):  Doug and I are on the road. When it's Doug's turn to  drive, I can write and reflect on the news of the day and I consider our own decision to travel. 1 pm We have both questioned whether it was a good idea to leave our home in Seattle. Still, over the weekend, we packed our Chevrolet Bolt, an electric car, and this morning headed south to our condo in Aptos, California. As our car zips down the I-5 corridor, the electronic traffic info signs display only one message: Stay home. Save lives. COVID-19. We feel that both “scofflaw” and “privileged” apply to us. We are lucky enough to have a second home. We rent it out when we aren’t there ourselves. Our trip each spring is filled with repairs and resupply chores to ready the condo for summer guests. But I am mindful that any travel looks like a mere vacation. I keep our Aptos property tax forms handy in my travel bag, in case we need to prove to anyone that we are “going home,” that we are

Monday, March 30, 2020:   Last week President Trump mused about how beautiful it would be for everything to go back to normal, with people back at work, by Easter , which falls on  April 12. The increased infections being reported make it clear that two weeks from now is not a realistic end date.  So, Trump's health advisers  (Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Deborah Birx, global health ambassador and diplomat since 2014)  were forced to engage in damage control. After the press conference, the health advisers reported that Trump' s comment about Easter was merely “aspirational.” In other words, just kidding, he didn't really mean it.  In follow-up interviews, the doctors assured the American people that Trump understands the safety measures will be needed longer than that. This nimble reinterpretation of Trump’s words does not fool me. I understand the doctors are trying to present some consistent messaging a

Sunday, March 29, 2020:   To address public and employee safety, each grocery store chain makes up its own precautionary measures. In the absence of national guidance, some have taken great pains to ask their customers to line up, at a distance of six feet from each other, the appropriate “social distance” health professionals tell people to keep between themselves and others to avoid COVID infection. Chalk markings or strips of masking tape have appeared on the sidewalk in front of stores to mark where customers are to wait before entering and also while waiting in the checkout line. That is the case at Trader Joe’s, which only lets in 40 customers at a time. Those monitoring the flow of traffic also wipe down the handles of shopping carts and hand-carried baskets. This is a cursory wiping, at best, as one disinfectant-laden cloth is used for many baskets. They are trying. At the local Fred Meyer store, the floor is marked with blue masking tape X’s to indicate places for customer

Friday, March 27, 2020: Last Monday, Governor Inslee ordered that no weddings or funerals be held. Today, though, he walked that back, at least part way. Funerals are now allowed but attendees are limited to immediate family. The about-face shows compassion. After all, some families are burying COVID-19 victims; they are in shock over the dramatic onset of this virus, as well as the loss of their loved ones. The ultimate insult would be to deny families an opportunity to grieve together. Deaths not due to COVID-19 are less newsworthy, but no less sad. My neighborhood friend Sybil Knudson died at the beginning of the month and no service has been held for her. Sybil and I bonded over our love of gardening. It was our habit to walk the three blocks between our homes to pay regular visits to each other’s gardens to offer advice, spare plants, and a mutual delight in growing things. In June, she would admire the bright orange blossoms on my Chilean Fire Tree and I would admire hers. A r

  Thursday, March 26, 2020 A senior Federal Reserve official estimated that up to 30% of US workers may eventually be out of a job, a figure bolstered by the news that over 3 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, compared to the previous week’s total of 282,000. - U.S. News and World Report Who is earning money in the shut-down and who isn’t? Orders to stay at home mean that many workers can’t work. These are the losers in the employment lottery. Restaurants, as one example, have been hard hit, as they are not considered essential and are places where large groups of people gather in enclosed spaces, considered dangerous for spreading the virus. Many have closed – temporarily or for good – and have laid off their employees. Both the businesses and their employees are hurting. To alleviate the financial burden of business closures, on Wednesday, the US Senate approved a $2 trillion measure that expanded unemployment benefits and provided aid to businesses.

Tuesday, March 24, 2020: Last week, I tore apart two of my kitchen cupboards and rearranged them. For twenty years I have loosely separated baking ingredients from canned goods in my pantry and called that good enough. Now the fruit is separated from the vegetables, the condiments from the jams. The crackers have their own corner and gluten free ingredients reside above the glutinous flours. The shelves never before had labels. They do now.  When I was done, I breathed a huge sigh of relief, bigger than I expected. Why was cabinet cleaning the highlight of my week? As I spend more time at home, neater surroundings become more important. When the world has gone topsy-turvy, neatness brings a calm I seem to crave. But is that all? When there is little to look forward to on my calendar, rooting around among the ingredients on my pantry shelves suggests new cooking and baking projects – projects I can plan for the future, even if the future is only a day or two away. While I feel tied

March 23, 2020:  Local officials hold news conferences as they learn more about the virus. This afternoon, Washington’s Governor Jay Inslee asked residents to stay at home as much as possible and to stay 6 feet from each other. Meanwhile, the cities of Everett and Edmonds issued a “stay at home” order to their residents, instructing them not to go out except for essential activities and work for essential businesses. Inslee issued a similar order this evening.  We are in a quandary. Months ago, Doug and I planned our annual April trip to our beach condo in California, a time to stare at the sea while cleaning, restocking supplies, and making needed repairs in preparation for renting it during the summer tourist season. We booked our flight and a rental car for the two-week stay, as usual. But given the concerns about air travel (many surfaces shared by many travelers), this morning I cancelled both the flight and car. This time, we decided to drive. It is hard to figure out the diffe

  March 22, 2022:  Friday evening at 5:30 pm, Doug and I stood in our driveway with four of our neighbors drinking a refreshing adult beverage. I had invited my neighbors, residents of the six homes that share a driveway and some common garden areas, to celebrate a rare sunny and warm Friday in March. Truth be told, we don’t usually socialize together. We meet once in a while to decide on the gardening, fencing and lighting that we share, and we are cordial, friendly as neighbors ought to be. But most of our socializing is built upon our own friends and family, bey ond our nearest neighbors. Friday was different. Even in the absence of decisions to make about our shared space, we needed to check in with each other, but in a completely different way. I did not offer my guests drinks or appetizers. Instead, each of us brought our own glassware and drinks, BYOB. And we stood in a broad circle, six feet apart from each other, as scientists and our governor have instructed us all to do,

  March 21, 2020: Up until now, telecommuting has been something only a fortunate few were able to do in the normal course of work and only if they worked in the high-tech sector or if they had independent businesses that did not require in-person interaction with co-workers. Some employees might have chosen to work from home a couple of days per week, if permitted by their employers, but most commuted to work daily.  Now everyone who can, is working from home.  employers, but most commuted to work daily. Now everyone who can, is working from home. Those who can’t do their jobs at home and whose employers supply “ essential services ,” go to their workplaces anyway, in grocery stores, hospitals, pharmacies, in agriculture and defense, and to maintain utilities and essential infrastructure.  Still others, whose jobs are outside of the “essential worker” designation or would put workers in danger of infection, have lost their jobs. School has changed, too. On March 11, to prevent the sp

March 20, 2020:  In our lifetimes, we have not seen a virus affect our daily comings and goings the way this one has. Since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared this pandemic on March 11, our daily routines have completely changed. Doug and I would ordinarily have a busy schedule this spring, even though we are retired. I would attend my weekly women’s curling league on Wednesday, knitting group at a coffee shop on Tuesday afternoon, writing group every other Wednesday, step aerobics classes on Wednesday and Sunday mornings, and a couple of monthly genealogy meetings. In addition to two curling nights, Doug would have orchestra practice on Wednesday nights, head the Granite Curling Club Finance Committee at twice-monthly meetings, and attend clarinet lessons with his teacher.  We regularly meet our good friends, Bob and Phyllis, for dinner on nights we all volunteer as ushers at the local ACT Theater and Doug and I attend performances at other theaters.  Everything we do in pe

March 19, 2020: The symptoms are somewhat different than the typical cold, which usually involves nasal congestion. In contrast, COVID-19 causes a high fever, a dry cough and can cause great difficulty breathing. That last symptom makes it especially dangerous for anyone with a previously existing respiratory illness, such as asthma, COPD, or other ailments that compromise one’s ability to breathe. The virus appears to spread quickly. Those who show no signs of the virus can be carriers who unknowingly transmit it to others if they are not careful to keep their distance. Older people like us (over 65), appear to be particularly vulnerable to the virus, especially if we have other illnesses that weaken our immune systems. A major outbreak occurred in a nursing home in Kirkland, about 20 minutes outside of Seattle; 81 of the 120 residents tested positive and of those, 34 have died.   This is starting to sound scary and close to home, but fortunately Doug and I are healthy. Younger peo

March 18, 2020:  At the end of February, in response to the first reported U.S. death from COVID-19 in the Seattle area, the Granite Curling Club sent out instructions to all members to clean the handles of our curling rocks before and after our games. The club, where my husband and I have been members for more than 35 years, provided disinfecting wipes for that purpose. Club members did so for 2 weeks of regular league play, until King County made the following recommendations on March 10: Employers should encourage and enable as many employees as possible to telecommute and follow other guidance for businesses. Avoid bringing large groups of people together, and consider postponing events and gatherings. Stay home when you are sick. Do not go out in public when you are sick. If you are ill in any way call your doctor's office first before going in. Based on these guidelines, the next night the club Board of Directors decided to close the club until further notice. That was the l

March 10, 2020:  For the past five days, my husband Doug and I visited our daughter Angela and her husband Harry at their home in San Francisco. Over the weekend, each received instructions from their workplaces that starting Monday, March 9, they were to work from home.  Doug and I made ourselves scarce on Monday so "the kids" could get their work done. We drove to the north end of the city under blue skies, for a walk along the Yacht Harbor. As we arrived, we noticed that several people were taking pictures of a cruise ship passing under the Golden Gate Bridge. On any beautiful sunny day like this one, the bridge is a stunning backdrop for ships sailing below. It would not be unusual to see people snapping photos. This time it was different. People made detours from the walking path to take their photos. The moment we parked nearby, we realized this was not just any ship. It was the Grand Princess cruise ship we had heard about - the one carrying 21 passengers who had teste