How it all began

Sunday, May 03, 2020
Sunshine Coast Regional District, British Columbia, Canada
So, here it is, Blursday, the fortylevnth day of Maprilay. I considered calling this The Chronicles of A Corona Virus, but that implies recording a clear sequence of events, and that’s just not the way of it!
In early March I was looking forward to a trip to visit my grandkids, and their mom and dad of course. I was going to go up in my Chevy Volt and had the stops for recharging planned, where I’d spend the night, what I needed to throw in the back seat for naps along the way. There was a problem, however, in that they still had about four feet of snow! I was hoping it would be gone by the second week of spring break (it wasn’t; it kept snowing!) and I could be there for my eldest grandson’s birthday.
And then it began, the Covid-19 crisis. I’d been watching the news and it was pretty clear that it wouldn’t be long before it made its way to us. As the chatter built I spent more and more time doom-scrolling on the internet, particularly on Twitter — reading everything/anything that crossed my path. The world was doomed! Then I discovered Dr. Bonnie Henry, our BC Medical Health Officer and the daily updates along with Adrian Dix, BC’s Minister of Health. I tuned in religiously, planning our walks around their press conferences. I decided I would do whatever they said I must. By the time schools were closed for Spring Break and in fact indefinitely, I knew I wasn’t going anywhere. The ‘stay home’ message was pretty clear but I did (and do) trust Dr. Henry to steer us through this pandemic.
Someone asked me, somewhere along the way if I was afraid and I had to think on that for a bit. I realized I was because there is this huge ‘unknown’ that humanity is facing and, also being pragmatic, I decided I would ‘death clean’ (someone else’s term but it works) since I was stuck at home, and who knows ... after all I am in that most vulnerable demographic. Seemed reasonable that I clean out all the stuff that I’ve collected that no one else will ever want or know what to do with. That plan lasted all of four days (I did get a BIT done) because, well, you know … doom-scrolling was at the top of the agenda. But in the long run I think I realized I was afraid more for the future of our world and all the vulnerable people that don’t have the safety nets in place like I do. 
During my last grocery shopping foray before ‘social distancing’ and ‘stay at home’ became a mantra, I stocked up on staples, resupplied the canned goods drawer, bought toilet paper (and wasn’t that a debacle) and was pretty much prepared for the next few weeks. I wondered at one point if I was over-reacting but really, it felt like others weren’t taking it seriously enough. Didn’t take long and THAT changed! 
Then I came to the realization that, with this six feet distancing thing, it was pretty likely that no one would be visiting me in my house until at least next September, and hey, who needs to vacuum? And you know what else, introverts like me are actually pretty good at this, so I’ll be fine. 
To be continued in a few days!
In the meantime here’s a few links that I’ve come across that are light-hearted and I thought entertaining, because you’ve got to be able to laugh!
First an old video from YouTube about how things get around, called ‘I Got It From Agnes’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WHSVOVLmNY
A song parody of ‘All by Myself:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMXSPe7WMm0&t=42s
Day 11 of quarantine in the USA somewhere ‘On a Horse with No Name’: https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1241753020435697671
A cat enforcing social distancing: https://twitter.com/brian_gerstel/status/1236422615776088065  … the Tweet that is above this one is pretty cute too!
And the very best video I’ve seen about washing your hands: https://twitter.com/mikegalsworthy/status/1240969436594671616

Comments

Sandrina Harwood
2020-05-04

Judy! This is brilliant, I love, love, love it! "Doom scrolling!" I think Dr Henry is the very best of the best, too! Here in Salmon Arm, our staycation has become the new normal. The folks are safe in the Assisted Living and we're doing okay, although I do miss my kids terribly. In our immediate family, Sarah is the only one distancing at home alone, in Montreal. The rest of us have others in our bubble which is another consideration in itself, I agree that us introverts are pretty good at this. I look forward to your next instalment.

Lorraine
2020-05-05

I agree, this is wonderful! I giggled most of the way through this instalment. Blursday! Love the acquired skills pic and oh my goodness, how adorable is that cat. Thanks for sharing your stay cation with us. This introvert is looking forward to more. And yes, aren’t we the lucky ones to have Dr. Bonnie Henry guiding us through these weird times. Thank you Judy.

Wendy Hibberd
2020-05-07

I love the days of the week! I too am a big fan of Dr. Bonnie! Try out Dr. John Campbell from the UK he does a daily blog plus extra tutorials on what some of this means. He is practical and well informed. Anyway, I loved reading How It All Began. Doom scrolling for sure! Thanks for the links!Look forward to the next one! Cheers to you!

2025-02-11

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