Thursday, March 19, 2020

Living the Horror Novel

If Stephen King or Robin Cook wrote a novel about the coronavirus and its impact on the world, readers would have claimed it was too far-fetched. Their editors would probably have said it was too crazy and would have suggested massive edits, or perhaps scrapping the storyline completely. I mean, how could a microscopic virus hamstring major cities, close country borders, close businesses and schools and cause the stock market to plummet and shut down life as we know knew it?

How can something so beautiful have such an ugly impact?!

I have friends who roll their eyes when I mention the virus. They aren't buying into it. They don't understand that this is a "novel" virus, meaning "new". We humans have no immunity to it. Our bodies have never experienced anything like it, and have no way to combat it. For many,  I have heard, the virus will be a few days of a fever, sore throat and a congested chest. For others, it spells death.

I have been trying to learn Spanish for over a year. As part of my practice I try to write in a journal each day. (I do that about as well as I write posts on my blog, however!) Two weeks ago I wrote:

3/6/2020 Hoy es viernes seis de marzo. Chris llamó por teléfono. Su oficina está cerrando debido al virus. Trabajará desde casa. El virus me da miedo. Está en doce estados. No se porque, pero siento un presentimiento. Espero que no sea nada. 

In the event your Spanish is worse than mine, or in the event what I wrote is really not Spanish, I commented that my son's office was closing because of the virus and that the virus was now in 12 states and really scared me. I said I had a bad feeling about it, that I hoped it wasn't true. 

That bad feeling got worse! What an amazing, mind-boggling change in just two weeks.

The Mister and I have pulled back on just about every social activity. I still play Pickleball a few times a week, but the players stay at least 6 feet apart and I wash my hands when I finish. I have nitrile gloves in the car and in my purse, as well as sanitizer and Clorox wipes. I did get to the grocery store today, and tried to maintain a distance from others. There was no pasta. The bread was limited. The meat counter and the canned vegetable aisle had more empty space than occupied space. The only eggs left were colored, hard-boiled eggs for Easter.  I wanted to get white vinegar to make a solution to spray veggies - everyone else wanted it as well, apparently. I have become OCD about washing my hands. They are getting chapped!

The insightful piece of this is that the virus has a greater impact on the "elderly", those aged 65 and above. Wait a minute... when did I become "elderly"!!! Publix has announced senior shopping hours from 7 to 8 AM on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It will be interesting to see if the shop is more or less crowded. Other than fresh vegetables and creamer, we are set for several weeks. 

My neighbor was lamenting about not having anything to keep herself occupied. I don't have that problem. I have so many home projects, and sewing projects, and quilting projects... I'm good to go for quite a while. 

How about you? How has this had an impact on your day-to-day life? How have things changed for you? 

8 comments:

  1. I tend to be a home body anyway so it isn't too hard for me to self isolate but my husband is a social butterfly. I think both our countries are going to have a long term effect from this- perhaps people will begin to live a more simple life and be more self reliant? We can hope.
    Our neighbour does residential cleaning for a living and found out today that a client that she worked for last week now has the virus- she is pretty scared because her husband has diabetes so is a high risk. She may have to go get tested.

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    1. I think you may be right. I think families may rediscover simple pleasures of playing games together. We haven't had any close calls, but the virus' impact in my area is pretty small. I pray for your neighbor. Take care!

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  2. I already didn't get out much so it's not been a big change for me. My husband goes out less and takes some precautions but then we are both high risk so that part is scary. My major hobby is building with LEGO bricks and so I get to do a lot of that. At least unlike the apocalyptic fiction the survivors aren't turning into zombies!

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    1. I'm a home-body, and I'm loving an excuse to stay here and sew or paint. Same here as far as forays out into the wilds. Scott tends to go out more than I do, but he strained his knee bicycling, so he is hobbling around and can't drive. Could be a good thing! I didn't know you built with LEGOs. When we left SC I donated a huge tote full of LEGOs to our church. Funny you mentioned zombies, I tend to watch TV or movies while I sew, well, more exactly I listen and occasionally look up. Yesterday I watched part of a silly movie with zombies in it!
      Stay safe!

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  3. I love to stay home and, like you, I have so much to do here. Cleaning house as the dogs begin to shed is enough to keep me busy. I will blog more, write more stories for my blog, and work on my photography. Fortunately, I can walk in nature which always brings me peace. I have been thinking about you and will send off an email soon.

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    1. You are in a great place to weather the storm. Stay safe!

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  4. Yes life is sure changing. It is not much of an adjustment for us, we were pretty much hermits to begin with. Guess we are elderly too. I order groceries online now and don't go by the thrift store, yarn shop or five and dime on Thursdays or go to Bingo with my Dad. Stay safe!

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    1. I haven't done online grocery ordering here in FL, but use it frequently in CA. I am not certain if the stores even have it here. I'll have to check. Stay safe!

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