Postcards from the Edge

It's hard to know what to write.  We live on the East Coast, but I have family and friends in the interior of the country, and I think our lives are wildly divergent right now.  I live in a city that is on almost total lockdown, although we don't (yet) have curfews, and churches are still allowed to be open, although I expect that will change in the coming days. 

The city finally set up mobile testing units, but you can't get tested unless you have a doctor's order and a really good reason to get one, because they don't have enough.  The hospitals are running out of supplies already and are begging for masks.  (If you bought masks, please donate them to a hospital near you, as medical providers need them badly!)  There won't be enough ventilators for everyone who needs them.  It was a bad flu season already and the trees bloomed this week, so it is hard not to freak out with every runny nose or slight cough.

Lines at the stores are long and tedious, as the stores have implemented social distancing policies that only allow a certain number of people at a time, and seek to space out arrivals and departures accordingly.  The stores still open have begun rationing and have adjusted hours for cleaning and restocking, but I wish they had done so a few weeks ago when the panic started and shelves were stripped of paper goods, non-perishables, and hardy perishables.  Grocery deliveries are almost impossible to get now, unless you are able to wait for a slot that is two weeks out.  Given that we don't really know how long this will last, it is hard to know how best to plan.  The economic news is even more grim, and we are in for a lot more hardship in the time to come. 

It's a terrible catch-22, this social distancing experiment we're living in: keep people in isolation at home for week or months to slow the virus, flatten the curve, prevent some deaths, and the economy flatlines, or carry on as usual and 2.2 million people die in the U.S. as the health care system is completely overwhelmed, and many more suffer and receive inadequate care for other conditions.  It took 3 months to hit 100,000 cases, and just 12 days to nearly treble it. 

The isolation has been extreme, and I did kind of hit the wall with it on Thursday.  I've been homeschooling my kids all week, and having my daily schedule has been a big help in keeping a rhythm to our days.  The schedule posted on the wall helps the kids too, as they are all anxious and uncertain.  They know they are high risk and are worried.  Creating routines in the midst of uncertainty is one way of regaining some control.  We are still allowed to walk outside, so we've been doing so at least once during the day.  It helps keep the walls from closing in.

Our regular parish will close its doors after tonight's service because it is in a state that just went on total lock down until further notice.  We will live stream services from the monastery this weekend instead.

I hesitated to post this, as I know the news is not cheerful right now, but I also see some people still not taking this very seriously, and would hope that the message will get across loud and clear.  Please stay home as much as you can.  Take a walk in the sunshine or in the rain, but distance yourself from other people.  Have a dance party in your living room, do a zoom teleconference partywith your friends, but stay home.  It is hard, we are social beings, and crave contact.  I'm very introverted and I'm struggling; I feel for the extroverts out there who are likely feeling it more than me. 

But this is for all of us--to give more of us a chance to survive, to protect the vulnerable and elderly, to put the greater good ahead of ourselves. 

This is Lent.