We have moved into April with no real plan on when the social distancing and stay-at-home orders with be lifted. It is apparent that it will be in place for all of April but every day there is talk that it may be the middle of May, June or even July… 😦
Day 17 – Monday, March 30, 2020
Continuous On-Line Learning
Mondays are now pretty full with continuous learning in place. We have settled into a education pattern where everything is completed on-line. We end up with lots of virtual meetings with staff for a review of the previous week, but more importantly we are looking for updates on students and families we have not been able to contact or engage. We want to ensure that we do not have anybody not receiving a contact. Academics are important but are presently taking a back burner to just making sure all of our students are communicated with and supported. The weather has been cooperating lately so fortunatley my wife and I were able to get a walk in while we still can. There are communities that have taken away recreational activities so it is important to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air while we can, as we social distance. Unfortunately, today brought a new one day record with 486 deaths and now 30 states in addition to Kansas are in a stay-at-home orders which equates to about 285 million people. In New York, which has quickly become the new, global epicenter of the virus, saw the arrival of the USNS Comfort, a naval hospital ship with a 1,000 bed-capacity, arrive in its harbor.
Day 18 – Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Gen-Zers are Figuring it Out
An interesting debate is appearing in the news that suggests the actual social distance is not 6 ft but should actually be 27 ft, which would of course bring in a host of challenges in addition to the ones we are already dealing with. One of my daughters, the senior, whose year has already been tossed on its head was now having to enroll for college over the phone, instead of on campus during an orientation that had been cancelled like everything else. After the initial disappointment of everything being cancelled, she has responded very well, but today she felt a bit exasperated about losing some of her college experience and in frustration blurted out, “Can everyone just stay the hell home so I can at least go to college next year?” The Gen-Zers are beginning to understand the long-term effects of this pandemic and understand the role everyone has to combat it. The President is coming around to the seriousness of it an eased off his prediction to open the country up by Easter and instead said we are in for a “helluva two-week period.” Great. I did get a run in which was nice so at least the weather is still cooperating.
Day 19 – Wednesday, April 1, 2020
No Handshakes, No Bro-Hugs
No April Fool’s Day today because now is not a time to be joking around. Unfortunately, Kansas is now up to 468 cases and we have 10 confirmed deaths. We again have nice weather today and I was able to get out in it when I ran out during lunch to grab some milk. Apparently, with all three girls stuck at home, we go through a lot of cereal now a days and need lots of milk. I decided to go to the Thunderdome for milk because I needed a few other items and had not been there in a while and I was pleased to see that the store was well-stocked. I ran into a former student-athlete of mine that I had not seen in almost 20 years. My first instinct was to shake his hand and give him a “bro-hug” like I do with most of my former athletes but instead, we both stood there awkwardly, six feet apart as he introduced me to his daughters. It was great to catch up, but I would have loved to shake his hand but because of this damn virus, I couldn’t. Later that evening, we went to Baldwin where Amy’s parents live to grab a tree trimmer from their garage and Amy couldn’t even hug her dad. Instead we had to socially distance, sanitize everything and communicate from opposite sides of the driveway. In the 25 years I have known Amy, this is the first time I have ever seen her around her parents where she didn’t hug them when she was leaving. 😦 I know that hit her hard. Heck, not being able to demonstrate physical emotions with people you care about is hard on everyone.
Day 20 – Thursday, April 2, 2020
The Weather Cooperated
As of today, 6.6 million people have filed for unemployment and have pushed the national rate up to 4.4% with no definitive end in sight. There are businesses that are not going to come back from this even with the CARES Act passed by the governemnet. The weather today was absolutely beautiful so I mowed, we did some yard work and them sat outside for a few drinks enjoying the warm weather. We finally finished Ozark Season 3 with ended in a way that will no doubt bring a Season 4, but that only happens if studios open back up and begin producing shows again, which has me thinking whether I will ever see a Stranger Things Season 4…. At the national level, news came out that the US leads the world with 234,000 cases and now a national debate is beginning over whether or not wearing masks in public should be mandatory.
Day 21 – Friday, April 3, 2020
Ghost Town
Normally, I do my weekly grocery runs at 7 AM on Friday mornings in order to avoid crowds but also to also take adavntage overnight stocking efforts to make sure I get what I need. However, based upon my experience at the Thunderdome earlier in the week, I was confident that I could go to the store at a more regular time so I was going to wait until Saturday afternoon. Today it is freezing rain, seriously like winter temperatures. I guess the only satisfying thing about it being cold today is that the track meet that would have scheduled for today would have been cancelled anyways so I was missing a track meet today regardless. I decided to go to Free State and pick up a growler of one of my favorite beverages. I pulled up to the to go parking spot and I called to see how to get one and they told me to just come inside and fill it because nobody else was in there. It was true, There was me, a bartender, and a hostess and that was it. The emptiness was kind of overwhelming since I have been in the restaurant so many times before and it is always bustling. I hate it and hate seeing my favorite social spots turned into ghost towns. Later that night, with no one to share it with, I did a virtual toast on Facebook. That experience brought some level of joy so I may look to do another virtual toast next week.
Day 22 – Saturday, April 4, 2020
Family Game Night
I decided to see what a grocery run in the middle of the day would be like. As of today, Dillons has not restricted the number of customer allowed in the store but other stores in town have begun that process. There was a definite increase in people wearing masks which is something I will have to get used to. There are still items that are hard to find – toilet paper is always a hot item but I wasn’t looking for any today but there was no rice and for some reason, no taco seasoning. Today we took our senior daughter out to Rim Rock Farms (with permission from the owner) to take her final senior pictures. Rim Rock is the cross country course north of Lawrence that our daughters have become very familiar with over he last few years. My sophomore daughter with with us and was starting to worry that maybe she would lose her fall season too. The sun came out in the middle of the afternoon which definitely helped the mood, but still, the uncertainly of a timeline can be overwhelming at times. That night we decided to change things up and order take out food to support local businesses even though I had already survived the grocery store run and there was plenty to eat around the house. Amy and I ordered from 23rd St Brewery which allowed me to get some wings, which I hadn’t had in about a month. I Frickin’ LOVE wings! They had also drafted a new brew during the pandemic called #together so I picked that up too. After dinner, we played games as family until late at night which is something we hadn’t done for a long time. Before we went to bed, Amy and I watched the first episode of Tiger King on Netflix. It was, uh, interesting. Nationally, confirmed cases have passed the 300,000 mark – thats a +32,000 new cases in a day!
Day 23 – Sunday, April 5, 2020
The Community Impact
Lazy Sunday morning but it turned into a beautiful day so we got some yard work done and then decided to drive down by the lake to go for a walk. There are some trails off of Lake Henry that we like to hike and are fairly secluded. Even when we are not in a pandemic these routes are not very populated so walking these trails actually felt somewhat normal. After dinner, we jumped on Zoom meeting with our small group of couples from our church that we generally meet with once or twice a month but are now having to do so virtually. We all come from various industries so it was interesting to hear how everyone is adjusting to the coronavirus. Things you don’t even think about like the story of a friend who owns a auto body shop but with nobody driving anymore he has vey little work. Family doctors who do not have walk-ins anymore because nobody wants to get out unless it is an emergency but also means that people who aren’t feeling well are getting treatment. Things like that The cure for this viruses preventing people from getting care they may need and is having a profound impact on our community. At least with Holy Week starting next week there is hope, but we will see.
Current Mood:
Stuck at home with more and more opportunities taken away each day. I know this isolation is the only way to kill the virus and we all have to do our part, but I can’t help feeling like we are trapped. We are healthy and safe, but the social isolation will take its toll eventually if we don’t continue to focus on healthy habits we can still control.
Man in the Box – Alice in Chains
#ucandewitt 