There is a boogeyman lurking right outside our door. That same boogeyman is right outside your door. I don’t believe in ghosts, except for that one in the turn of the century place I stayed in Santa Fe on that High School field trip, but that’s another tale for another time. This boogeyman is not invisible but you can’t see it with the naked eye, not without a microscope. It’s a crafty bastard, it flies through the air and sticks to your shoes, it can hitch a ride on most anything and find its’ way to a host. That’s me and you, or even the tiger at the zoo.

It has stopped us from living our normal lives. I am sick and tired of the incessant cooking and cleaning, constant laundry and chasing kids around to clean their messes or cleaning them up myself. All without the freedoms I usually have, to leave the house and grab dinner somewhere and leave the dishes for awhile. I think we have all taken that for granted. Nope. It’s game on all the time. No more shaking hands, no more hugs, no more normal.

I can’t watch the national news anymore, it’s just depressing. Do they need to create massive graphics, colorful brightly lit reminders of the world in turmoil? I’ve taken to checking out the local variety again, something I’d stopped doing a while back. It’s a kinder/gentler version of the discussion of the horrible happenings around my city, the country, and the world.

This is the first time I’ve ever wanted to be a Kiwi, it looks like a lovely place and they literally have no animal, toothed or fanged or otherwise, that can kill you. There the virus, at least for now, doesn’t have a host. Without a host, no boogeyman. When this began they immediately hunkered down, quarantined travelers, and they’ve essentially eradicated it. We could argue on the whys and the hows, testing, contact tracing, I think it comes down to leadership. There leader never claimed it was a hoax. Oops, my politics are showing. They used science and politics and it didn’t get in the way. We are lacking effective leadership and they have it.

In all this, just like you I am still doing everything I can to keep our family and others safe. I am probably doing a bit more or maybe a bit less, but hopefully we are in step. It’s okay to be worried, I tend to be a bit more careful. I still wipe down and clean groceries or let them chill in my garage for a few days before digging in. Those Oreos (no paid sponsorship Oreo but I am open to one) look better when I’m not thinking of Covid-19 crawling around their wrapper. I know the CDC says the chance of getting Covid from a box is not great, but why take a chance? We are seeing friends, at a distance. I’ve heard 90% of the cases are from airborne sources, which means 10% are not. That’s math or something like it. I believe math.

Because of Covid, you may be learning Spanish or Mandarin, or taking a virtual piano class. All good things. I’ve jumped back on my bike and will be pedaling to get healthier. I’ll be posting on that, too. It’ll be lighter than this post and I expect I’ll be lighter, too. All good things.

It seems a lot of the US has given up, given in, or just said screw it… and are opening back up. This isn’t a political post, so please don’t go there. But I am surprised that this has become political. This is about safety and keeping our country from a long and unnecessary bout with this disease. We already shuttered the place for awhile, so why start up before we’ve really done what we need to do. It’s like going to the supermarket for eggs but not getting the milk. Who does that? But others have decided they can’t sit still, can’t sit tight, and are headed out there as if there is no boogeyman. He is real and it doesn’t care that you want your hair cut.

So here we go, “opening up”! My kids are seeing friends playing with friends on their social media accounts while they are stuck in our four walls, they hear about parties happening as we continue to hunker down. It’s not fair they chant while banging skateboards against the thin walls of our house. It’s not fair! I know it’s not fair. None of this is. But, it is. And it will be for awhile. I guess the adult version of banging a skateboard against drywall is akin to heading to the bars, having your nails done, and eating in a restaurant. And the numbers will continue to go up and hospitals will fill up. More people will die, leaving family, and friends, to wonder if it could have been prevented like in New Zealand.

There is an amazing podcast for those battling it out in the trenches of this Pandemic, it’s called Staying In with Emily and Kumail. Any money they made from advertising went to causes associated with people suffering from job loss due to the virus. The podcast is about the ups and downs, the boredom and psychosis, it’s a couple’s journey through what they’ve titled “The Weirds”. Sadly for me and you, they have wrapped it up and moved on. Because, my readers, our country has moved on. They didn’t see the point in continuing a Social Distancing podcast when most people aren’t doing that any longer. But, lucky for you, if you haven’t listened to it you’ve got a bunch of fun and interesting casts to catch up on! it’s fun, it’s heavy, it’s life during the pandemic.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/staying-in-with-emily-kumail/id1503412182?i=1000477515972

Regardless of politics, let’s all work together to get through this and keep selfishness and put petty differences aside. Unless you want the world to look like The Road. A great story, but not one I’m ready to reenact.

Yesterday 6,600 new covid cases were reported in Los Angeles County and in Arizona, Children’s Hospital is admitting adults to their ICU.

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