The Year of the Mask

It’s the year of the mask. Or maybe the year of the gaiter. I always thought masks were for Halloween and gaiters were to keep snow out of your cross-country ski boots. Not in 2020. John and I are definitely at-risk for Covid-19 infection because of our age. So wearing a mask or gaiter makes sense for us. But I resent being told I have to wear one. I believe the mask regulations or rules set by governors or other executive branch people are an overreach on the part of the government. We live in a free country. I have the freedom to live my own life, take my own chances. If I need protection from others, I should take precautions. Not make others do something they don’t want to do. Government’s job is to tell us about the risks. I know driving a car or truck is risky. People die all the time in traffic accidents. But that doesn’t mean driving should be illegal. The long-term effects of business shut-downs, schools closed, working remotely, allowing restaurants to only fill to 25% of their capacity—all of these actions will impact us and our country for years to come. I have worked in an office, even worked in a cubicle. These situations brought me into contact with other people. That was an important advantage of working, not staying at home. I would not have liked only working remotely. No matter how well I knew my job, there were always times I leaned around the cubicle partition or walked across the room to ask a question. Restaurants may or may not be able to survive at 25% capacity. But how many businesses can do that? Meat packing plants? Automobile manufacturers? Shoe manufactures? Beer bottling plants? What does remote or online education do to children? I believe being socialized and learning how to behave around others—even those you don’t know or don’t like—is an important aspect of going to school. And learning takes place in the give and take of being with others. At my age, I have lived through polio, and 2 or 3 flu epidemics. The world wasn’t shut down. Is the death rate from Covid-19 so high we should limit or shut down everything? The seasonal flu comes back year after year. Won’t Covid do the same thing? Flu shots, when available, only protect those who get them. Apparently, many people won’t get a Covid-19 shot when it is available. So, do we keep living this way the rest of our lives? I hate the way things are! I’m sure many of us feel that way. We can’t see our friends and give them a hug. Often, we can’t even greet family with a hug. Yuk! We have been hiking in national parks here in Utah. Sometimes most people are wearing masks or gaiters. As we approach other hikers, we pull up the mask—like we are afraid of them. I guess, in one way, we are. What does it do to our society to view everyone as a threat? We have been traveling in our RV for over 30 years. I have never been so careful in opening the trash dumpster to throw away the garbage. Or even opening a door of a business. It has always been important to wash my hands—but I have never really been afraid of the germs, like I am today. That being said, the Government has no right to make me protect myself.

Boom or Bust, Feast or Famine

A few days ago we drove 165 miles east on I-40 from Winslow to Albuquerque. We saw a number of RVs on the road, probably headed home at the end of the three-day Memorial Day weekend. There were also a lot of trucks--most noticeably, a lot of blue trucks with the distinctive white swoosh--Amazon Prime trucks. I wonder if online shopping is taking the place of buying from small local businesses--which are closed by the government in this pandemic shutdown.

Obviously, Prime is doing well, as are the businesses that produce the products that are being sold there. Main street isn't doing as well.

We arrived at American RV Resort in Albuquerque, an RV park we have been visiting since 1990. It is virtually empty. We are in the new section with approximately 38 sites--only 10 are occupied. The main section of the park is equally empty. This is the first week of the summer season. The financial consequences for the park must be devastating.

I wonder how many businesses will fail and close forever by the end of these shutdown orders?

Coping With Heat and Virus Restrictions

So, what are we doing these days? It is hot, really hot, here in Gold Canyon. Not as hot as it will be mid-summer. But hot. Just look at this temperature!

In addition to the heat, there are the restrictions of Covid 19. Everything in our resort is closed. The swimming pool, the gym, classrooms, tennis courts and pickle ball courts. It is the same all across the country, I know. Some people in our resort are trying to make do. These people put up a rope or something so they could play pickle ball on one of the parking areas.

If nothing else works, how about arranging small rocks in front of your house?

We have been trying to clean up and pare down some of our files. I have used my iPhone to make digital images of thousands of the photographs we have accumulated. Many of the pictures are ones we have taken throughout our married life. We have pictures of our children over the years, pictures of our homes and friends. And many, many photos from our travels. In addition, we have many of the old photos from our parents.

I have finished copying them. Now, I have to put them into digital albums so we can find them if we ever want to.

We also have been trying to clean out old files. Here you can see some of those John has been going through.

I have been working on financial files. I don't have to keep everything, for ever. For legal reasons, 7 years of financial data is all that is required. We also have deeds to property we have bought and sold, as well as to property of our parents. The paper really accumulates.

We also have many genealogy files. I was surprised to find those had already been pared down. I didn't have to do anything there.

We are trying to put this time to good use. And so far, we haven't been bored. And when we die, our children will appreciate what we are doing. Their job will be simplified.

So, What Are We Doing?

We are staying home, of course.  We don't have any choice.  We only leave our resort to go grocery shopping.  Since everything in our resort is closed or cancelled, we only leave our house to walk.  It is the same for everyone here.  Lots of people are walking, some riding their bikes around the resort.  We saw a woman on roller blades yesterday.  And if exercise isn't their interest, people just drive around in their golf carts.  Reminds me of Sunday afternoon drives when I was a child.

I did a lot of house cleaning when the stay at home order first came out; recently we have begun going through our storage compartments.  John found a box of old letters.  In 1973 he spent 13 weeks attending the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. The FBI established this academy to provide training to local police department command officers  John was a lieutenant on the Boulder Police Department.  I stayed home in Boulder with our two boys, Doug age 5 and Eric 18 months.  We wrote letters to each other every day.  Since it was before the cell phone era, we only talked once a week.  Long distance calls were expensive.

We have both been reading those letters before destroying them.  We feel like we have stepped back in time 47 years.  Nixon was president, Agnew resigned during that time and the Watergate hearings were underway.  Our parents were all still alive and we almost feel we should give them a call this afternoon, just to see how they are doing.  We are in a real time warp.

We have been a keeper of old family photographs in both our families.  We all know printed photos deteriorate.  I have been making digital copies of these photos periodically over the years.  I decided now was the time to finish the job.  Yesterday I copied 620 photos, mainly from the first 25 or so years of our marriage.  In the past I have copied many of the family photos from before we were born.

I am almost done with the copying.  Now I am trying to move them into albums so I can find something when I want to.  So far, I have only done that with part of the 620 newly copied pictures.  I wonder if I will finish this task before we are free to travel and shop again?

Other folks in our resort have different ways to keep busy. We see notes on the streets, written with colored chalk, hearts cut out and put up in windows, banners of encouragement. Here are two cute signs put up in one yard. We saw the top display today for the first time. The second was from late March.

Stay safe and healthy, everyone.

Signs of Our Times

I am sure none of us has ever lived in a time like we are in now.  Social distancing, wash your hands, stay at home, no gatherings, no funerals, limited travel.  I feel like everything I touch might be infected.  Today we went for a walk.  I didn't touch anything.  But as I straightened my glasses, my first thought was--now I have to disinfect my glasses!  Really?  Probably not, but I feel everything is a threat.

These signs around our resort help build this fear.

Even the grill is closed.  No carry-out available here.

We went to the post office the other day.  Look at the plastic hanging from the ceiling to protect the clerks.  And notice the empty mail crates stacked in front of each window to keep is 6 feet away.

This is an encouraging sign we saw yesterday in someone's window here in our resort.  In case you can't read it, it says, "Social Distance Hugs to all!"

There are signs from God throughout the park that brighten our days.  The cactus plants are in full bloom.

Follow the guidelines and stay healthy, everyone.  Hopefully, all this will be over in the not-too-distant future.

Bloomin' Beauty

There is beauty everywhere in the Arizona this year.  We have had rain and the cactus is gorgeous!  What a bright spot amidst Covid-19, quarantines and shelter in place orders.

The Argentine giant cactus blooms have started to open.

Prickly pear are loaded with buds and blooms.

I'm not sure of the name of this one but I know there will be either flowers or new growth soon.

Even the non-native plants are loving the warmth and putting on blooms.

These look like very small sunflowers.

The runoff wash near our entrance gate is full of yellow flowers.

There are so many things we can't or shouldn't do right now, but here in Arizona we can go outside and enjoy God's beauty in creation.