Well it's Friday evening, and we've survived one week of a virtual shutdown of our way of doing things in American society. In one week we went from working at home and no classes meeting at school (and most K-12 schools closed) to a statewide stay-at-home order. Restaurants and bars are closed (except for take out food service), theme parks and sporting venues are closed, as are libraries and community centers and movie theatres and musical theatre venues. Pretty much any business not providing what is deemed an "essential" service is closed. Heck, even the local Great Clips stores are closed. And I could use a haircut right about now. So could Connor. So too, probably, could many people's pets. But guess what? The grooming salons at Pet Smart are closed too.
So what's it like under a stay-at-home order? Well honestly, not much different than a holiday. People are still encouraged to go for walks and bike rides and runs, just maintaining social distancing. And they do. And they are, for the most part. Me and Connor have done quite a few bike rides this week. Actually we've done 2-3 each day. And even today, the first day of this 'new' order, there were still some people out and about. Not as many as you'd expect on a bright and sunny and seemingly perfect day. It kind of felt like Christmas morning, with as few people were around. Albeit a tad warmer. A slow, quiet, and relaxing day off. Except we have the gloom of this virus hanging over us.
I've tried to speak in only general terms with Connor about what's going on. I mean, from his point of view, it's probably business as usual. I mean yes, he's not in school and has been doing online class meetings each day as well as online reading and math exercises to keep his brain fresh and active. But I doubt he's grasping the severity of the situation. He probably sees it as any other holiday from school. And he's approaching life with all the vigor and optimism of youth that one would expect from someone so young. Perhaps we all need to have this sort of happy-go-lucky attitude as we ride out this storm. And honestly, working from home isn't too bad. Although the volume of work from my standpoint has been drastically reduced with all of our events indefinitely postponed. We haven't ventured out to stores much since this started, so I've only gotten mostly online glimpses of how bare the shelves at stores are getting. First went the toilet paper, then the paper towels, then cleaning supplies of all sorts. Then went the food. But it will be restocked. It should be. And as long as people don't keep hoarding stuff in a frenzied panic, we shouldn't have any issues. I'm provisioned enough, at least, for the time being. I still have an unopened 6-pack of toilet paper from last year.
It's all surreal, in many ways. On one hand feeling like we're on the wrong side of a major world war in a bygone era. But on the other hand, as I rode my bike today through the fresh air with the sun shining and the voluptuous puffy white clouds slowly drifting by, the world seemed serene. Calm. Peaceful. If one can excuse such flowery and happy adjectives uttered in these times we're now living in. This was just one of many pictures I took today. I couldn't believe the beauty of it all; looking up at the sky one almost felt like they were living in a dream. It was hard to believe on a day like today that there was anything truly bad lurking out there in the shadows, hiding on the droplets of others' breaths. How bad might this get? No one knows. The virus' bark may be worse than its bite. Only time will tell. In the meantime, life steams ahead, as best it can.
What will next week bring? I'll be at home for most of it, treading the line between work and leisure as best I can. I will attempt at some point a trip to the grocery store for some basics. Milk. Bread. Eggs. The usual suspects. Assuming of course that they have anything left by then. If not, well, I'll make do. We all will, by and by. What else can we do?
I hope that life will return to normal sooner than later, and that the seemingly irresponsible quotes of our political leaders proclaiming how bad this COULD be, will be proven false. That this time will go down in history as being a pandemic that "wasn't too bad", in the grand scheme of things. Which is not to take lightly anyone who is currently suffering or has passed away. Because they are out there, lives have been lost. But 20 or 30 years from now - assuming I haven't passed on myself by then - I hope to tell my grandchildren the story of the panic of 2020, and how we also felt like the apocalypse was upon us. But then it suddenly wasn't. It's a good fantasy, no?
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