Pandemic Diary Entry #7

From Goodreads

Hope you're all staying healthy. And staying home! It's not over yet and I suspect this coronavirus will go on for a longer time than most people think. Until there's a vaccine, and despite the strict measures most states and countries have in place, this virus might continue to ravage our world for many months or even a year.

If you know anything at all about the 1918/1919 flu pandemic (often mistakenly referred to as the "Spanish" Flu), you know it came in three waves: the spring, the autumn and the winter. There were at least 50 million deaths worldwide. Here's one link from the CDC about that pandemic. More links can be found at the bottom of that page. And here's another more detailed article from History.com.

This pandemic makes me more interested than ever in historical fiction. Can anyone recommend any MG or YA novels (or adult novels) specifically about the 1918 pandemic? The only one I've read is Like the Willow Tree, a Dear America diary by Lois Lowry (Scholastic, 2011). 



Thursday, April 16 (Day 36):  It was only 39 degrees F when I woke up this morning! (That's about 4 C for those of you from countries more advanced than we are here in the US!) Too cold for April. And cloudy and gloomy.

Spent far too much time on Facebook, and also read for a while. Still reading The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater. About halfway through it now. It's a wonderful escape.

Leftovers for dinner. And a few episodes of Anne With an E on Netflix, which is also a delightful escape from reality.



Friday, April 17 (Day 37):  Beautiful day, although still overcast and too cold for April. On our walk, I enjoyed how green everything is getting.

Our back yard

Yes, the American suburban lawn is an ecological disaster. It's only one step above a parking lot. But in a time like this, I love how green it's becoming. (I would prefer that we let it grow wild and turn into a meadow, but we think the neighbors would get upset!)

Didn't sleep well last night, as usual, so by evening I was too tired to do anything but watch Netflix.



Saturday, April 18 (Day 38): Finally got our food delivery. It's been two and a half weeks since our last food delivery! Now I know to order again right away. Thankfully, we received nearly everything we ordered, except, of course, toilet paper. Ha ha. We're okay for the rest of this month, but by May we'll need to find some.

The food arrived at 7:15 this morning. Yes, I was up and had the garage open for the delivery person to place those 17 bags (!) inside, since it was raining at that hour. Our fridge, which had been close to empty, is now full! And our freezer was empty enough for me to clean it out, and is now also comfortably full.

Food, glorious food! Here's a clip from the movie, "Oliver!" via YouTube:

Cold and cloudy the rest of the day. It snowed where our older son lives in New England, but not here.

Mopped the kitchen floor. My one accomplishment for the day.

Chicken for dinner! And two different kinds of vegetables. It's a small miracle. And I actually accomplished something else today: I spent almost two hours working on my next novel in verse. I've been too paralyzed by fear to do any writing at all. 

So I consider that a breakthrough.

Sunday, April 19, 2020 (Day 39):  It's cold again but at least it's partly sunny. I slept great last night! Seven and a half hours. This is unheard of. I must have been worrying about food too much the last two weeks. Or, you know, about this pandemic which could potentially kill us all! (Relax, I'm usually not too anxious these days. I think I may have actually reached the acceptance phase of the five stages of grief! Or at least gotten past the denial and anger parts.)

Talked to my mother on the phone, who continues to sound cheerful. Still no new cases of the virus, so that's excellent news.

On our walk today, which was a long one, plenty of trees were still blooming: 

A neighbor's tree, which I've now decided must be a cherry tree.
Not a weeping cherry like ours, just a cherry tree.
Correct me if I'm wrong, someone!

A wild crabapple tree down the street from us

We treated ourselves to steak on the grill for dinner! So nice to have plenty of fresh food to choose from now (no more SPAM! Yay!).

COVID-19 Stats (for April 19, from WHO):

Countries affected: 213
Confirmed cases: 2,245,872
Confirmed deaths: 152,707


How are you doing? Are you stuck in one of the first few stages of the Five Stages of Grief?

And what are you reading and/or watching to keep busy?