One month in.... People are really doubting our government. The White House started by asking us to stay home for "15 days to better health", then the request became orders, and then it was 30 days, and now it seems we will have restricted movements for a year and a half. This week President Trump declared emergency on more states bringing the total to all 50 states at once which has never happened before.
In California the death rate is lower than other places, and we had a dip for a couple days so people think turnaround is coming and it’s getting better, but the next couple days it went up again. We heard for a day or two that Governor Gavin Newsom plans to make a speech on Tuesday evening discussing plans for reopening the state so everybody’s talking about getting their lives back and building hope, and then his statement basically said nothing is opening up for quite some time.
We are staying up on our news and information from the local news station KUSI, cable news mostly Fox and CNN, and word of mouth, much of it on Facebook.
We are required to wear masks in public. I have seen comments about people being intimidated to go to the bank or the store because everyone looks like gangsters now. Personally, we are being very good about staying home. I have been going to the store no more than once a week, and wearing my mask. Papa Dave wore the mask I made him a lot during holy week doing live video feeds from church. We can barely recognize our neighbors out walking with masks on. I also purchased bulk single layer masks and donated half of them to grocery workers. The rest I've been decorating for friends.
People are questioning the constitutionality of the mandatory closures and restrictions. Although rare, people are getting cited and arrested around the country for golfing on golf courses, surfing, driving to watch the sunset at the beach, and going to church drive-in style on Easter. The huge grey area of what is allowed during isolation orders is confusing. Some people are legitimately trying to save their sanity in open yet isolated areas and a few are blatantly angry and oppositional.
The government is hoping for a vaccine, which is already being developed but will take a year or so to test and approve, to feel safe allowing people to return to life as normal. There are conspiracy theories about Bill Gates being involved with the governments actions and this vaccine because of his foundation's work related to health policy around the globe. There is talk about getting papers or documentation when receiving the vaccine or test showing you have antibodies in order to return to work and go out in public spaces. I am against that--even though I know the tracking helps scientists analyze the spread of the disease, I think documentation on your medical record is fine and appropriate but has NO place being attached to our government issued ID’s nor tattooed on our skin with invisible ink for tracking purposes!
It is concerning when people I know who I consider educated and thoughtful aren't sure if they should trust the government.
There are still major events being canceled as far out as August. We are still unknown as to whether we can take our trip to Hawaii for my parents 50th anniversary but looking unrealistic. The Del Mar (San Diego County) Fair has officially cancelled for this year, just another stake dug into the phyche of regular people getting their traditions axed. I pray that alternate logistics are being well-planned for elections in November.
In terms of getting back to normal, I predict that small places that gather side businesses and gatherings of less than 10 or so will probably be able to reopen with good judgment, but places that gather people large crowds of people from out of town probably still be suspended for quite some time… That’s going to do a number on the tourism industry. That means things like the fair and amusement parks and major-league baseball games may not be able to continue open. Retail and restaurants I think will reopen but limit the number of patrons and group sizes that are allowed to enter.
With all the restrictions carrying on longer and longer, and hearing about people we know who live alone or in small homes or apartments going stir crazy and building anxiety, we are again reminded of how blessed we are in this situation to have a home with land where we can walk outside anytime we want for fresh air, to have people we love to be with and hug, and talk to.
Covid got a nickname-- the "rona" --but our Governor is getting called names too.
It's been another week and a half since my last grocery run. The food supply seems stable enough the last two visits. The shelves for paper products are still empty--TP, paper towels, paper napkins are selling out daily. Flour and baking goods are also scarce--not sure if it's people stocking up for essential nutrition or if people are baking that much more for at home entertainment We have enough flour at home for baking a few things and we finished off our brown sugar and tried to scrape some out of the hardened box my folks gave us from the depths of their pantry. Salad and fresh produce are low stock but available. Milk and ice cream are easy to get again. Distilled water was finally on the shelf again. I heard rumors that farmers didn't have wholesalers/restaurants to sell their crops to so a lot went to waste--that makes me sad because it probably could have gone to the grocery stores or food banks.
To keep the kids focused I added some lifestyle goals to help them with the daily schedule. They are: academic (focus on learning something today), creative (to get their brains working in another way, liek building with legos or puzzles), athletic (can be dance or synchro related or anything actively moving their bodies), social (taking care of relationships and making sure they talk to other people), family (thinking of others in our family), music (lots of time for instruments), life skills (learning how things work or cooking or cleaning), and personal responsibility/self-care (setting personal goals, writing them down, and reflecting on what makes them feel good each day).
We have been considering going to the desert camping this weekend. Considerations: 1- health and safety of our household, families, friends we would camp with, and those working in services we need to get (gas/food); 2- fear of arrest or bad PR if authorities wanted to make an example of us; 3- making sure we are not a draw on society if we break down or get injured.
Some people we know went to the desert in the last couple weeks but we didn't feel is was smart with stay home orders, peaking COVID cases, and kids who won't be able to stay away from other kids. This time, the kids friends and cousins would not be there so, unfortunate and restrictive as that sounds, it is safer, the COVID cases in SD and CA are leveling out, and we feel we can remain physically isolated in our MH and at camp.
April 17-19 decision affirmative: We figure we are still obeying stay at home orders if we take our home (on wheels) with us. We have a small camp group so we can keep our space. It would have been easier without the wind Friday night but at least we had our masks on to block the sand in our face. We tested out our new buggy in the dunes with all five of us in it--a tight fit but they love the leg room. James hit a wall of sand on his quad but no hospital visits. Addisyn learned to drive the buggy in a few circles around camp, getting into 1st and 2nd gears without stalling at all.
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