Life in the Time of Coronavirus, 7/27/20

Five Months of Quarantine
There is a philosophy that says that if you can stick with anything for 90 days, you can change your life.  We're way past that, and we have truy formed our routine.  We mostly stay at home, enjoying everything about this lovely place where we live. We clean, cook, exercise, relax, love our dogs, play games, talk and reminisce about all of the wonderful things that we have experienced in our lives. We talk about our parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and those who have passed. We have so many blessings to be thankful for. Our lives have been richly blessed, and we are thankful each and every day for this.

Weekly, we take a drive to check in on our local society, before we visit the grocery store.  We see the beaches packed. Only about 50% of those walking around are wearing masks. It gives a false sense of security from the unseen virus.

Resurgence
We are having a huge resurgence of the virus in California, despite having great experts doing their best to protect and guide us.  I believe this is because of a number of factors: people not abiding by safe social distance and masks, visitors coming from other places and not abiding by safe practices, many let their guard down and acting like these are pre-virus days, and then there is simple complacency, because many people still do not believe that there is a virus.  Some even think that losing small percentages of our population is acceptable, which I do not agree with.

Our Governor is all over this, every day, and it makes me angry that people blame him for both failing to support us and criticize him for, "making them wear masks and be outdoors". It is his responsibility to invoke measures that help to save lives, in spite of the freedoms that we think that we deserve.

It is my firm belief that most of the States, including California, will have to lock down every 1-2 months until there is a vaccine that works and is safe, which is looking like Spring or Summer 2021, to vaccinate all who will be willing to do so.

Things that I Think About and Questions That I Have
There are so many questions and things that we ponder, when it comes to this virus and disease and how it is changing the World. It scares me to think about it, as we already have had so many issues.

Here are some of my questions:

• When we have vaccine candidates, how will we be able to tell which one is the best one for us?
• Will there be enough of the vaccine? Will people be fighting for it or shunning it?
• Who will be prioritized and how for the vaccine? 
• What will the residual effects of this virus be? Will they be genetic?
• How will we be allowed into other states and countries?  Will there be a stamp on our Passports to show that we have been vaccinated?
• How will children go back to school?  I think that distance learning is an answer for many, but that means that someone has to be home with their children, and many have to work.  I think rotating the students through in smaller groups, safely distanced and sanitized between classes may be worth a try.  All would have to have masks and maybe shortened class times. But then we have to have a solution for the parents who are working.  It's complex.
• We are generating tons and tons of additional garbage with disposable masks, PPE, gowns, rubber gloves, plastic silverware, plastic and styrofoam containers, other plastic and disposable paper products. How are we dealing with this? Where is all of this extra waste going?
• Once things open up again, I think it will be difficult to trust that things are okay.  There will always be the fear that another outbreak will happen.  Can we ever truly be safe again?
• The World is no longer our Oyster.  We are World travelers, and love to explore everything.  Now we discuss the future, and how we may not be able to travel anywhere for the foreseeable future, which makes me extremely sad.

So Tired of this Virus

I'm so tired of it, as I know you are too.  I pray every day that it is over and we are done with it, but I know we still have months to endure. We have to stay strong, keep helping each other, keeping the faith and holding fast. Until next time, I wish you good health and peace. Here is a sunset for you.

#staystrong, #itwillgetbetter, #holdfast

Life in the Time of Coronavirus, 7/17/20

Our Backyard

It has been over four months of quarantine... and it's very sad.
While life is still good here for us, I know that so many are suffering illness and loss, and it makes me so sad.  These are truly the craziest days we've lived through, and it's probably going to get crazier as things become more dire.

It has been over four months of quarantine... and we are in a resurgence.
We're right back where we started, and seem to be headed for worse.  In my previous blog entries, I wrote about things that I thought might happen and here we are, as feared, with resurgence throughout most of our States.  Our healthcare workers grow weary. Our economy continues to waiver.  Our federal government continues to fail us miserably.  People continue to act as though nothing is wrong. They won't wear masks or abide by safe measures.  They fight with those who try to enforce safe measures, at what cost?  Who are we?  What have we become?

Today, our Governor, Gavin Newsom, announced the criteria for opening or closing schools and districts.  It doesn't seem right to put the students, teachers and administration at risk. I know that it's complex, but distance learning seems to be the best answer until we have better solutions.

The riots seem to have died down, and protests are peaceful.  I do hope that positive change will come from all of this.  But we seem to forget important things very quickly.  We need to wake up and change things for the better. This is our chance at greatness instead of mediocraty. Let's respect each other. God loves us equally. We should too.

It has been over four months of quarantine... and we strive for normalcy.
We stick with our routine. We grocery and hardware shop. We go for local car trips to see how things are going.  Have had a few friends over for socially safe visits. Have visited a couple of safe outdoor restaurants and pubs for a bit of social time.  Most days, we stay in and enjoy our home and our dogs.  We add little things to our home to enjoy our stay-vacation.  Amazon Prime, Wayfair, Overstock and others must be booming with our orders these days. I am so thankful for all that do the work to fulfill and deliver our orders.

It has been over four months of quarantine... and no end in sight.
We yearn for normalcy, but there is no end in sight.  Still praying for a vaccine. At the rate things are going, I repeat what I posted in my last blog entry.  I believe all of us will be infected with Coronavirus and/or COVID-19, it's just a matter of time and whether or not we will survive it.  And it will be part of our lives for the rest of our lives, hopefully, a nit over the decades. I worry most for our healthcare workers.  How much more can they endure, as they face waves and waves of pandemic sickness and death?  I pray for their strength.

It has been over four months of quarantine... and I know that things will get better.
We know that this too shall pass, but we don't know when. As things just start to look more promising, we step backward.  This virus is something we never expected, and there is still so much unknown about it.  We have the most brilliant minds in the World working to race for a vaccine and they are getting closer every day.

I continue to be hopeful.  We are all so tired of this virus and can't wait to be done with it.  It will run its course in its own time, and we will learn to deal with it, just as we have so many other horrific things that we've faced.  Let's stand together and continue to live peacefully, help each other, stay strong, hold fast and keep the faith.

Until next time, I wish you peace and good health.

#staystrong, #itwillgetbetter, #holdfast

Life in the Time of Coronavirus, 7/8/20

Looking Back
It has been four months since we started our quarantine at home, with limited trips to the grocery store, a couple of local restaurants and outdoor pubs. We ran into local friends whom we had not seen for months. It was good to see that they are safe and doing well.

Whenever we go out publicly now, wearing our masks and keeping socially distanced, I still feel ill at ease; almost as though I am doing something wrong. There are so many people who don't wear masks, don't social distance and probably don't believe that the virus is real. When we're around them, we are tempted to let our guard down.  But we can't.

It's the Real Deal
We don't want anyone to tell us what to do or how to feel. But we have to go by what we think is right for us and others around us. So, if staying a safe distance, wearing a mask and washing our hands makes us and others safer, why shouldn't we? These are very simple steps that can help save lives.

I think that the obstacle here is disbelief that the virus is out there and that it can kill us.  Since we can't see, smell, taste or touch it, so many aren't believing that the news reports we hear and see are true. But there are so many reports from so many credible global sources. If you look at the data and information and think about it, I hope you believe it.  It's real folks.

The other day, I had a thought, which sadly may become reality.  That is that we will all be infected with Coronavirus at some point, in the coming months. The question is:  will we survive it?  Will we be asymptomatic carriers?  Will we get sick?  Will we die? It is difficult to contemplate.

I pray that we will have a vaccine by the end of 2020.  In the meantime, our lives are on hold. Four months later, we're still stuck in place.

It's a Mad World (Pardon My Rant)

I am so tired of this virus.  With all of the technology, science and sophistication that we have, how could this happen? How could we let so many people die? How could we be so ill prepared? 

So many sad things happening, all at the same time: Coronavirus, COVID-19, sickness, death, crashed economies, rampant unemployment, divisive and corrupt government, innocent people killed in the streets, protests and riots, anger, despair, desperation.  I understand the passion that goes with all of this.  We are tired and angry, and we are showing it.  I just hope that everyone can keep it together and hang on until things get better, which they will. We just don't know when.

Being at Home with Our Dogs Brings Comfort

Our Safe Haven
We are so grateful that we have our safe place -- our home.  We have each other, our dogs, our friends and neighbors, which makes us feel peaceful during this time of uncertainty and unrest.

We had a poolside 4th of July weekend. The weather has been perfect. We've had a couple of friends here for a visit (safely). Gives us hope and helps us feel normal.  We did a road trip yesterday to Oceanside Harbor and Beach, the Strand, and our Carlsbad Village. After that, we stopped for a few groceries.

Generally, we end up poolside around 3-5 p.m., listening to our local radio station that plays 1970-1990 hits.  We talk and reminisce about so many things. We have so much time to think about the past, while we ponder our future and what lies ahead.

It's Like A Marathon
Over a decade ago, I did multiple marathon events with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training organization. They taught us how to incrementally increase our training efforts to eventually run a 26.2 mile marathon.  That training has helped me through numerous life events, from marathons, to losing loved ones, to these COVID-19 days.  It definitely made me tougher.

Me in the Lake Tahoe Marathon, 2009

We are all doing this marathon together, and we are stronger than we think.  Keep on keeping on.  Until next time, I wish you all well.  #staystrong #itwillgetbetter #holdfast

Sharing a Beautiful Full Moon