Inside the Pandemic, Day 10

 Wednesday, April 15, 2020

I’m attaching a meme that sums up the educational frame of mind that the world has now--it also shows what the corona virus looks like. It looks a lot like a burr you might get in your pants-leg after a walk through the woods. 

The good news for today is that our stimulus check showed up! Now we can pay our bills! I also used a little to buy myself the soundtrack to Hamilton! I’ve wanted that since I went to see the musical with my father and family in Kansas City. It was really amazing and I’ve wanted to hear the music again. I’m a little old-fashioned in that I like to order the CD because I can listen to it in my car. I tend to get fixated on certain albums or artists and listen to that music over and over. Most recently it was John Mayer, but it changes. Anyway, I also get access to the electronic version of the music so I can listen to it while I walk or run as well. 

Inside the Pandemic, Day 9

 Monday, April 13, 2020

Today is the end of what would have been our “Easter Break” so I’m technically not required to work today. I don’t really find writing to be much work, though, so I’m going to put an entry in today. We haven’t really celebrated Easter since the kids were little, so yesterday was pretty much a regular day. I did put up an Easter wreath, but that’s about it. 

This week it’s supposed to snow (?) later on, so I’m definitely going to get outside and work in the garden. The whole world is spending a lot of time on the computer now a days so it is even more important to get outside and enjoy nature. 

One good turn of events is that Trump has approved and pushed out a trillion dollar incentive (80 million) to the economy and checks should be coming out this week. Our bank doesn’t show it in yet, but that will really help us out financially. Ethan, my son, has been very sick and was hospitalized twice during Spring Break, so his hospital bill came in. We’re still paying for his college as well, though he ended up withdrawing for this semester. 

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Inside the Pandemic, Day 8

 Saturday, April 11, 2020

Had a rough day, emotionally today. This quarantine has been like that for my whole family--we seem to have OK days and then days where we can hardly get out of bed. Today was like that, then I decided to get some gardening done and that helped immensely. Being outdoors is really a tonic for what ails you--feeling the fresh air and sunshine, the breeze in your face. For me, pulling weeks and hauling rocks is its own tonic. My garden looks better and it reminds me of being a child. My mother had a huge garden at our house in Nampa, Idaho. She planted all sorts of fruits and vegetables and we had fruit trees as well. We did a lot of weeding when we were kids--it was usually a chore. Now, however, I find weeding therapeutic. Go figure!

Inside the Pandemic, Day 7

 Thursday, April 9, 2020

Yesterday was a hard day for me, so I didn’t write at all. I had to go to Walmart again, which I am finding increasingly depressing. On a walk this morning with my daughter and my dog, I looked around at the beautiful blue sky, the flowers blooming and the lovely drawings done by neighbors and realized how intensely lucky I am to live in the greatest country on earth. The fact that I can go to the store when I want, that I can walk outside, that the air is fresh--these are all blessings that it is only too easy to take for granted. I’m attaching pics of the sidewalk chalk art because I enjoy them every time I walk by them.

I have a rectangular flower bed that I’ve been working on since we moved to Hiawatha almost three years ago. It was completely overgrown with trumpet vine, weeds and some kind of groundcover--not vinca, but something like it. So, last fall I double-dug it, took out all the weeds and other plant matter and planted a bunch of bulbs. This spring--the pay off! The daffodils are just blooming and the tulips and alliums are getting ready to bloom. It’s far from done, but it looks so much better than it did. I’ll post a picture of it tomorrow. One of the primary reasons we bought this house is because it is situated on two lots and much of it is garden. The hardscaping is in decent shape, but it really needed a gardener to get it beautified. It will be a life-long project, but one I am up for! 

Finally, in my web-browsing last night, I found an interesting article about free courses that you can audit from universities all over the world. There is a gathering point called Class Central where you can search by subject, university, etc. I spent about 15 minutes on it and found almost 20 classes that I’d like to sign up for. There’s another blessing--free learning! Historically, learning has always been for the wealthy, but now anyone with access to the internet can invest in learning to their heart’s desire. Yes, sometimes the world is a big, scary place, but sometimes it is really fabulous.

Inside the Pandemic, Day 6

 Monday, April 6, 2020

This is the original day the quarantine was supposed to end, but it’s been extended several times since then. It’s now supposed to last until April 19, according to Governor Kelly’s order 20-16. (Governor Kelly). When I walk around Hiawatha it’s like a ghost town. Except for Sonic--everyone’s going to Sonic and it is HOPPING! Of course, everyone’s staying in their cars, but it is really busy. I just hope the folks that work there are washing their hands. I’m sure they are. Right? Right. (San Pedro).

Today, I almost forgot that I was supposed to have a staff meeting at 9:00 and joined a minute late. Most of the staff was already there and Mr. Mills was talking, so no one acknowledged me, for which I am grateful! One of my personal pet peeves is lateness, so I’m very embarrassed that I would be late to something. Shame on me! 

Mr. Mills did point out that teachers should--collectively--have only three hours of work for high school students (Bush). The long and short was that we were assigning too much work. We don’t hear that very often! The state of Kansas Task Force sent out a document that says the same, so we teachers have to back off a bit and do what is good for students. In this case, what is good for the students is actually LESS work, rather than more. It’s such a strange, strange world!

Inside the Pandemic, Day 5

 April 3, 2020

It’s the end of the day, and even though I know better by now, I looked at the Johns Hopkins Corona virus page. Over 1,000,000 confirmed cases. The CDC is now (as of today) recommending that people wear cloth masks (but not gloves) when they go out in public. (Recommendations) The logic seems a little fuzzy to me, but they’re going with it anyway. President Trump says he agrees with the CDC, but will not be wearing a mask. Like I said, a bit fuzzy. The problem is the same with the gloves. First, the average person is not a medical professional, so does not know how to safely wear a mask and gloves without cross-contamination. Second, medical professionals actually NEED medical-grade masks and gloves to maintain their safety. So, to wear mask or not? Dunno.

In other news, it snowed/sleeted this morning, so this is the first day in almost a week that I did not go outside the house. I did work out in the basement, but it’s not the same. The weight-lifting was fine, but I’d rather go for a walk outside than use my Gazelle. I know, First World problems. That said, I know that spending time outside is essential for my mental health, so I miss it when I can’t do it. I enjoy being at home and I have lots of stuff to do, but I also like to go outside. Should be nicer tomorrow. 

A good number of students have turned in their assignments already. I put the due date as midnight tonight, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow. I’ve also started working on pulling the yearbook into its final format. We have 17 pages that will be blank if I don’t cobble something together. That’s a significant portion of a 96 page book! It represents what we’re missing from this school year--especially the seniors. What a weird world we live in!

Inside the Pandemic, Day 4

 April 1, 2020

So, I braved Wal-Mart yesterday and it was a bit better than the first time. Still plenty of empty shelves, but I actually found toilet paper and everything else on my list--so I consider it a win. I purposely did not watch the news this morning because I didn’t want to be depressed first thing. It hasn’t really been good news for a while--since December, I guess. However, on Facebook, I found John Krasinski and the “Good News Network” (France). If you are a fan of The Office, or like Krasinski’s work directing and acting in the movie A Quiet Place, you know who he is. I also watch lots of baby animal videos to stay upbeat.

Yesterday, I got out in the garden and pulled weeds, which is also very therapeutic. Even though I hurt all over by dinner time, it was nice to be outside in the fresh air. One upside to this whole pandemic is that with fewer people driving and generally polluting the air, the earth is having a chance to clean and renew itself. Both nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide levels have decreased slightly, according to NASA (Patel, 2020). Very slightly--like 1%-- but at least SOMETHING good is coming from all this. That, and we get to spend time with our families. 

The Johns Hopkins site today shows world-wide confirmed COVID cases at 883,225 and US at 189,753. Here’s the good news. So far, of all those confirmed cases, worldwide, 185,377 have recovered. Here’s the question--once those people have recovered, what now? Can they still spread it? Can they get it again? Are they immune? Can we create a vaccine from the immune people? So many questions, so few answers! I know scientists are working as fast as they can, but it’s not fast enough for those who have the virus.