Except for
rare trips to the supermarket and brief walks outside I haven’t left the house
for two weeks. We are compelled now by government edict to practice “social
distancing” in order to slow the wave of the novel coronavirus.
The U.S. now
tops the number of infected in the world, if you trust the numbers, which I don’t.
Thanks to the woefully inadequate response of our federal government, far fewer
people in the U.S. have even been tested, so the numbers are probably much
higher.
As always in healthcare, we are less prepared and our poor are worse
off than any other developed country in the world – to say nothing of our overworked
and under-protected medical professionals who have to beg the public to
help them get safety masks and gowns.
Our dumbass in chief, who has always been
inept, has outdone himself with daily proclamations of bellowing ignorance. His
stupidity is surpassed only by the 47 percent of Americans who continue to rate
his performance positively.
While Washington DC has provided less than
inspiring leadership, we in Colorado are somewhat better off because our state
leaders, Governor Polis leading the way, are taking a serious, scientific
approach to the crisis. Republicans, typically, are critical of Polis’s strict orders
to stay at home, but it’s so much better than some states (North Carolina and others with higher infection rates of destructive Trumpism) where governors
refuse to take action.
Clyde and I are very fortunate, so far, to be disease
free (at least Covid-19 free – we still have our regular repertoire of health
issues). We have plenty to eat. Charles the cat is just as sweet as ever. As
the meme says, we are called to sacrifice by sitting at home and watching TV –
we got this.
We are still working, albeit at home because our offices
are restricted to all but “essential” personnel. In fact, I’ve been as busy as ever
coming up with creative ways to teach people through the magic of technology. I
meet just as often with my colleagues in Montreal and Phoenix. The conference
calls with people in the UK and other non-North American locations have slowed
because the Diversity and Inclusion initiative which I’ve been honored to help
with has been temporarily shelved.
Of course all of that changes if one of us
gets sick. The virus, for us, is still something only in the news. To my
knowledge, it hasn’t afflicted anyone we personally know. That’s bound to
change as the peak may still be weeks away.
For now, I have to admit that I am
enjoying the quieter, calmer life of staying home. I like not risking my life
twice a day fighting traffic on I-25. I like not planning my day around where I
have to be hour by hour. I enjoy communicating with people electronically from
the comfort of my sofa.
Clyde’s and my church attendance has actually improved
because St. Andrew’s services such as the Thursday night Evensong and Sunday
morning prayer (no eucharist until we can be all together in person) are broadcast
over the web. Even church committees continue to meet through the miracle of Zoom.
I don’t want to make light of the suffering which Covid-19 has inflicted, but I
love the fact that air pollution levels are down. Dolphins are swimming in the waterways of Venice for the first time in centuries. Mountain lions are exploring
the streets of Boulder because there are so few humans outside.
We’ll
see how many more weeks I can stay content. If we’re lucky, the worst that will
happen is that we start climbing the walls with boredom before this situation
abates and we can return to some version of normal.
