Last night, we held our monthly book club meeting remotely via Zoom. We're all over 60 and thus "high risk," so we decided in an abundance of caution to alter our plans. Every day brings new measures as we hunker down and try to avoid getting sick or infecting those around us. As the medical professionals describe it, we are attempting to flatten the curve of the outbreak so it won't overwhelm our medical capabilities.One of my fellow "bookies" suggested that it might be a good idea to keep a journal so that a year from now, when we look back, we can remember how things progressed and how bad it was (or optimistically, how bad it wasn't because we took drastic steps).
The world has changed dramatically in the past two weeks. It started changing in January in China, but people elsewhere didn't take enough notice. And then suddenly, it started to show up everywhere. And just like our leaders and even the media, we were slow to accept how fundamentally everything would change.
We spent the last weekend in February / first days of March in Seattle visiting our kids and grandkids. They were a bit under the weather with the flu and colds, so we mostly just hung around, played with the little kids, and visited. And we watched the news, as Seattle suddenly became the epicenter of the US outbreak. Coronavirus found its way into a nursing home among a vulnerable population who are most susceptible to its worst effects. It spread rapidly and people started dying quickly.
It became likely that the kids' daycare would close, leaving our daughter and son-in-law trying to work at home while coping with 2 pre-schoolers. We briefly contemplated staying to help, but decided we should leave Seattle while we could. That was March 3.
At that point, Minnesota was pretty unscathed. Only a couple cases were reported, and they were people who could definitely identify how they were exposed. Safely home from the hotspot, we carried on as usual. Attending a few events, working out at the Y, walking the skyways downtown, eating out.
We were scheduled to leave on March 18 for an Overseas Adventure Travel trip to Israel and then a cruise of the Greek Islands. We were starting to get a bit nervous but still thought we would go. Then, on Saturday, March 7, Israel instituted a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine for all arriving foreigners. I canceled our flights and hotels in Tel Aviv and waited for OAT to officially cancel the trip.
In a way, OAT was a bellwether for how adventuresome but educated people regarded the outbreak. OAT people are well-traveled and love to visit out-of-the-way places. We are older (which might mean wiser), and while we don't have the foolhardiness of youth, we also don't have the responsibilities of young parenthood to make us supremely cautious anymore.
Throughout that week, OAT selectively canceled trips around the world based on the status of the outbreak. We watched as things progressed rapidly. Countries closed their borders and instituted lockdowns. The virus spread to every corner of the world. Finally, on Thursday, March 12, OAT made the painful decision that they were canceling all of their March and April departures.
On Sunday, March 15, our Minnesota governor made the decision to close all schools starting March 18. The initial closing period of 2 weeks is to be used by educators to figure out plans for the possibility of reopening only as distance-learning institutions. Beyond March 31, we don't yet know if schools will remain physically closed and for how long. All large venues (theaters, sports' facilities) closed as well. Last night, our governor announced that all bars, restaurants, and gyms will close. His message was simple. "Stop congregating, people!!"
So in a matter of 12 days, we went from thinking we still my risk a trip to Israel and Greece to being in virtual lockdown in our home.
I've read quite a few dystopia novels -- some excellent, others mediocre. In general, they are set in the rubble after disaster has struck. The disaster might be nuclear war, pandemic, meteorite. They rarely depict the events leading up to the disaster. I sincerely hope that, with the drastic measures we are taking around the world, we're not getting a firsthand look at pre-dystopia.
And on that happy note, I'm off to practice yoga and then have video story time with our grandkids in Seattle.
