Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Grounded.

A throwback to simpler times (eg ten days ago)


Well. This has certainly been a week, hasn't it? Let's recap: we were enjoying an idyllic Spring Break- my husband, son and I rented an RV and drove across Texas to Big Bend National Park. On the whole we had a lovely time; the scenery in Big Bend was spectacular and we had lots of laughs in the RV. I was pleasantly surprised by the RV parks where we stayed; the people there were absolutely lovely, and everybody looks out for each other there. We felt completely safe the entire time. We ran into some snafus: some elements of the rig weren't working, particularly the shower. I'm a girly-girl. I'm not the one you want as your guide on a rugged mountain hike. A hot shower every day is a must. After one small-to-middling meltdown, I resigned myself to "bathing" with the packets of wipes I brought with me on the trip (former Girl Scout- be prepared!). While we had a great time RV camping, I couldn't wait to get home to a long, hot bath and civilization.

That is not what we came home to.

I mean, the bath- yes. Still having plenty of those, and thank God for 'em. You see, while we were gone, it seems that the dang apocalypse was hitting back home. Yup- the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020. We've been home for a week and a half now, and it's becoming jarringly clear that life as we knew it? O-v-e-r. At least for the time being. School has come to a halt and we are HOMESCHOOLING NOW OMG (more on that later). There is a run on pretty much everything. Toilet paper? Ha. Eggs? If you get to the right store on a good day. Bread? Hope you have yeast and flour. Disinfecting spray? Don't even think about it. The world has been through this before. Not in our lifetime, not to this extent, but it has. That should be a consolation, but when I think about the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918, it's a small comfort because that was also in medias res with two world wars and the Great Depression, so that doesn't exactly inspire confidence in a return to normalcy any time soon. And now they are talking about springing us all from house arrest in a couple of weeks, before this thing has even totally ramped up. God help us all.

We like to read and study history. We learn from it- some more than others. But, for better or worse, we are living history Right. At. This. Moment. As someone who needs to get things out on paper, I think it's important to make a record of this experience, hence the blog. I'm not sure what this will comprise, exactly, but it will be my experience and it will be real. Good days and bad days. If I happen to catch the virus (which experts are saying has a 40-70% likelihood of happening), I'll do my best to write about the reality of it, so that people know what to REALLY expect and what REALLY helped (and didn't). If I don't, and my loved ones don't (praying that this is the case), then consider it an historical snapshot into the era. After all, the internet is forever.

1 comment:

  1. Love to follow you through this crisis. It at the very least gives me something to do��

    ReplyDelete