Pandemic Diary -- I'm back! And the world is crazier than ever...

Currently reading -- and wow, is it intense and moving!

Sunday, August 2, 2020 (Day 146):

I'm back from my one-month break. You may not have even noticed I was gone. But the world (and the Covid-19 crisis, among other crises) went on. I'm not going to bore you with details from every day of the last month (I've been journaling the old-fashioned way -- in a spiral-bound notebook). Good grief, no! I'm also not going to discuss mask controversies (just wear a mask when you go out -- please!), continuing protests over racial injustice, or politics. Especially politics. You get enough of that in your news feed.

Looking back, two things stand out for me from July. 

1) I received and finished going through my copy edits for EVERYWHERE BLUE. This was a new experience for me. Being a debut author has surprises every stage of the journey. Apparently, I have no idea how to type an ellipsis. Always thought it was dot dot dot. But it's not! 

It's dot SPACE dot SPACE dot!

And I've never known the difference between en dashes and em dashes -- and when to use each. Thankfully, my copy editor knows.

The only thing we disagreed on was the spelling of rainforest. One word or two? Rainforest or rain forest? What do you think?

After emailing back the copyedited manuscript to my editor, I breathed a sigh of relief, because of the second thing that happened in July.

2) Toward the end of the month, my mother moved into Assisted Living. This is a huge step, a narrowing of her world, down from a three-room apartment to a single bed/sitting room, about the size of the average dorm room, but with private bath. And now that she's in Assisted Living, I won't be able to visit her, because of Covid. We weren't able to visit from March to early July, when she was in Independent Living. Then when our section of Pennsylvania finally entered the green phase in early July, we could visit again, with masks and distancing, of course. But last week, they moved her and of course that wing of the lifecare facility is off-limits. 

What hurts the most: her phone still isn't hooked up so I can't even call her. My sister is working on that. It's frustrating, to say the least. I sent Mom a card, but I have no way of knowing if she received it. 

I'm trying to keep busy and work on my next novel in verse while I wait for proofs and cover sketches from my publisher. And the second half of my advance, which should be here this week. I hope.

How have you been keeping busy this past month?

COVID-19 World Stats as of August 1 (From WHO):

Confirmed cases: 17,660,623

Confirmed deaths: 680,894

US Stats as of August 2 (From the CDC):

Confirmed cases: 4,601,526

Confirmed deaths: 154,002

As a comparison, here are the stats from a month ago:

COVID-19 World Stats as of July 2 (from WHO):

Confirmed cases: 10,710,005
Confirmed deaths: 517,877


US Stats as of July 3  (from the CDC):

Confirmed cases: 2,732,531
Confirmed deaths: 128,648

Yes, it just keeps going up. This won't be over anytime soon, I'm afraid. 

Pandemic Diary: March Edition

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

The world has changed dramatically since my last post. That was only one month ago, people!

Figures. I finally get a book deal.... and the world falls apart. This, boys and girls, is an excellent example of irony.

But this isn't about me! We're all self-isolating and fighting to stay alive in the worst pandemic since the 1918 Spanish Flu. It's bizarre, and surreal. And it's frightening how fast it multiplied around the world and in the U.S. My husband and I are hunkered down at home, far away from our own sons (sniff! sob!)  and other family members.

They say you should keep a pandemic diary for future alien archaeologists, yourself and your family. So I'm starting one now, looking back at early March with the perspective of a few weeks. After this, it will be real time.



Pandemic Diary, March Edition

March 4, 2020

We already knew the virus was coming, so we stocked up on canned beans at the market (I still have my receipt!). The TP aisle was already nearly cleaned out, so we bought one 9-pack of the only brand left, Charmin', the most expensive one, naturally!

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

That was the last time I went out of the house and did something normal (besides picking up groceries). Actually had a mammogram. The waiting room was a lot emptier than usual, and I had no trouble staying six feet away from the other patients. Also took full advantage of the three hand sanitizer stations, after signing in with their pen, for instance.

Afterward, my husband (who has been my driver since my second aneurysm rupture) and I went to lunch at a sandwich restaurant. We already knew by then not to go somewhere with a lot of people, like Panera. So we picked a sandwich shop that we remembered is never crowded.

Little did we know that would be the last time we'd eat out in a restaurant, where you sit down and they actually bring the food to you. Remember that?


Wednesday, March 11, 2020

The last time we went out in public! That was for groceries and medications. There were still some meats and canned goods, but the frozen meals were already low, and the liquid hand soap aisle and TP aisle were completely empty. Why does everyone hoard stuff like that? We need bidets in this country!

Later that day, the World Health Organization declared this a pandemic. Here's a quote: "As of Wednesday (March 11), 114 countries have reported that 118,000 have contracted Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus... Nearly 4,300 people have died."


As of Tuesday, March 24 (13 days later), 196 countries reported 395,583 cases, with 17,234 deaths. That's quadrupled in less than two weeks!

And so it continues...

From the Portland Press Herald March 12, 2020

Speaker Pelosi bumping elbows with Senate Majority Leader McConnell on March 12th. How nostalgic now. Remember when people thought elbow bumping was the way to greet each other? Before we learned we have to stay at least six feet apart to stop the spread of the virus? 

Friday March 20

For the first time, we ordered groceries from Giant Direct. I put in the order on Wednesday, but the first available time slot to pick up in their parking lot was Friday afternoon. It went smoothly, but we only got about 2/3 of what I had ordered. Guess that's going to be the norm from now on. 

Week of March 22, i.e. this week

My husband and I spend a lot of time reading (I'm currently immersed in THE OVERSTORY by Richard Powers, that won the Pulitzer in 2019), cleaning, finding creative ways to make another meal out of bits of leftovers, taking walks for exercise, and watching movies. Funny movie suggestions are always welcome.

How do you spend your time while self-isolating? Have you done anything you'd never done before (like clean out that closet you've been neglecting)?

Stay safe, everyone! And remember to check on your neighbors by phone. Let's all hope this experience leads to more kindness, instead of more selfishness.