Captain’s Log 11 May 2020
Ack, how did it get to be the second week of May? I feel like we are living in some weird time loop. We have been home for 60 days. 60 incredible, hellish, strange, boring, irritating, scary days. But somehow, I think it should still be March. Why? Because the day we went into SIP is the day my internal clock shut down.
Days and weeks are running together. It doesn’t help that I have nothing to set my day by. No appointments, no school schedules, no volunteer hours, no nothin. I get up and do a few things around the house and suddenly it is 4pm and I am exhausted. Probably because I stayed up far too late the night before binge watching Father Brown.
I can’t quite bring myself to delete the
trip that may never be.
I have been going to bed at ungodly hours. Hours that I have rarely seen since my college days, out dancing until dawn. Hours I only saw afterward to nurse a newborn or catch some insane flight out of South America (why are the flights out of SA so odd?). It wouldn’t be a big deal if I slept in but alas, sleeping in is waking at 0700 at best.
As we are well into the month of May the weather should be warm and I should feel summer coming. But that too is stuck in limbo as the temperatures have been in the 50s most days. I think mother nature must be in the time loop too. I lost almost every vegetable I planted to a frost I didn’t see the warning for. I guess when they say don’t plant until May they must mean May 30.
Yesterday was Mother’s Day. I was sad about not getting homemade gifts from the boys but my sweet husband not only had them both paint me something, he did too. We got up early made breakfast and relaxed until the boys woke up. We played games of my choosing and watched Anne of Green Gables all evening. It was wonderful. I also got my yearly gift of Mark taking the Christmas tree down. What can I say, he really loves Christmas and I indulge him, until ‘my’ holiday.
just for me.
Several states are opening back up. There is much hubbub about the timing and methods each is using. In Illinois, our governor has set a plan for opening regions in phases. The state is divided into 4 regions, 3 more or less horizontal bands across the state with the north being divided vertically to separate Chicagoland from the western part of the north third of the state.
There is a lot of animosity in many towns with very few cases. Several have sent in propositions for creating smaller regions and opening more quickly in places with few cases. Some businesses are just defying orders and opening anyway. Some can’t afford not to. So many have already gone bankrupt.
There have been protests in other states calling for faster openings. Many people are questioning the constitutionality of some of the mandates that have been put in place. So far as I know this hasn’t happened in Illinois. Though, there have been a few lawsuits filed on similar grounds. I don’t really have an opinion on any of it at this point. I will continue to stay home, leaving only as necessary but, I will yearn to do those simple things that were part of daily life before covid. I will also pray for the many millions of Americans and others who have lost their jobs due to this epic shutdown of the world.
Photo Credit: AP; Gene J Puskar, creator
I saw a statistic today that said 1 in 5 American families do not have enough food to eat right now. When this SIP started, I thought, it will be like the Great Depression. Liam said, there will be revolutions. I prayed neither of us would be right. I am afraid if things don’t change soon, if people cannot go back to work, if people continue to go hungry, things will become unconscionably worse. What can you do? Open town by town based on number of cases? Hope for herd immunity? Make masks mandatory for the foreseeable future? Each and every limit affects the outcome of the disease but also the livelihood of so many. How can we feed everyone if huge corporations and small businesses are all shutting down?
There are no simple answers it seems. I wish this damn virus had never come to be. I wish science could come up with an effective treatment. I wish misinformation would wither and die. I wish I could go spend a week with my and Mark’s parents. Maybe soon, probably not. I am grateful we are not hungry, yet.
Until next time…
Jocelyn