Quarantine Diary #112 7/3/2020 The View From Here, Now

I just checked the comments on my website. I get a few wacko ones most days that are in Greek or Russian, or are porno invites. I delete them. Part of the shtick when running a website outside the hosted sites.

And here, right here on a Friday evening, is this good comment from one of you, 

(She’s referring to Diary #34)   Somehow I missed this back in April, and so today, July 3, am catching up with reading, and find this so interesting that I HAVE to comment even though I’m not sure anyone can see it. OK, so now we have free testing pretty much widely available, on demand, no doctor’s orders needed, and you can go every few days! Masks, gloves, sanitizers are all available. We’ve had two-and-a-half months for experts to learn and advise us. Clearly-explained guidelines are in place for some businesses, and for institutions like hospitals and schools, and for general living and socializing, but we’re still in a pretty huge mess. I blame human nature, anti-science people, selfish “king-babies”, and laziness.

…

I have been in several conversations this week. I get to chat for an hour or two with people I trust and enjoy (Zoom, texting, outside) and we can talk about anything – and what do we talk about?

Covid.

Oh, we talk about social injustice and justice, and kids, and what someone read, and my daughter’s new kitten, and a few other things. But the conversation always eventually circles back to Covid. Always.

We have all stretched our ideas of how to live. Most everyone I know has expanded their “safety circle” just a little to include kids, grandkids, and maybe a few trusted friends. We have witnessed how people are conducting themselves so by now we have a better sense of who we can sit outside on a deck with, and who, well, not so much.

We know how our days go. If I ask when folks are going to bed and when they are getting up, most have answers. How are they getting their groceries? They know. How are they getting haircuts and walking the dog and conducting meetings from home? People have developed quarantine routines.

Then we pay attention to the news; watching the tragedy and chaos of escalating cases, packed ER’s, emergency workers who are exhausted, frustrated, jaded, and still slogging through. There still is no national plan. Some institutions are still scrambling for PPE. Parents and teachers are being told what will and won’t happen with their kids, and those adults are frustrated and astonished that no one has a reasonable solution about how to educate our kids without killing their teachers.

Tonight is the evening of the 3rd of July. Len is streaming “The Bureau”. I’m here writing. Just talked to the daughter with the kitten. In the morning I’m walking with friends, Len will ride his bike, and our ice cream attachment is in the freezer now so Len and I can make some tomorrow.

Here we are, bit by bit, day by day, reinventing our lives. I suppose this is the most American thing we do. Respond to the moment. Try to support our friends and neighbors. Edge a little closer to our best people. Make something good to eat. Try to be smart. Try to be kind.

Happy Independence Day.