Day #8
Boy has a lot changed since my last blog post back in February. The world is upside down. People wearing masks and gloves to go to the grocery store. The death toll today stands at 16,500. I fear this number is just the beginning. We are staying home, Sean is working from home (as he has been since November because mold was found in their building). The kids are home for spring break and we just found out last Tuesday that their school has been closed down for the remainder of the school year. We will attempt online learning starting next Monday.
I know this has been very tough on many people. Business are shutting their doors and sending workers home, some unpaid. People that live paycheck to paycheck are very worried. Individuals that are used to going out and socializing daily are ordered to stay home. Many people don't cook and rely on eating out. Most restaurants are closed with only the drive through open. Sean and I really enjoyed our weekly lunch date before all of this happened but we are curtailing that activity. I just don't trust other people to make my food right now. This virus can go undetected in healthy individuals and they can transmit it. It's frightening. I worry the most about the elderly, my elderly church friends who are home alone. I pray this doesn't last as long as I fear it will.
The media has done a pretty good job of painting a bleak and desperate picture of what is happening in the world right now. I'm not blaming them, it's an accurate picture. I just feel it's overwhelming the amount of information, articles and statistics that are being thrown at me every time I turn on the tv or log onto the computer. I have not wanted to leave my house out of pure fear of catching this horrible virus but I needed to get to the grocery store one last time before hunkering down. I researched when the store was opening and decided to be there bright and early and try and beat the crowds. So yesterday I woke up at 5:45 so I could be there right around 6 when they opened. It was dark and raining which I also thought would be a good way to keep people away. Boy was I wrong. Many cars were already in the parking lot when I arrived. There were a mob of people just standing outside each entrance waiting for them to open doors. They opened the doors and these people rush in and went straight for the toilet paper and bread. This store had limited many products to only one per person, so there was actually some left when I finally wheeled my cart over to each section. Although getting only one loaf of bread kind of sucked. I piled my cart high and feel like I have enough meals to easily last my family a month. I'm sure we will run out of fresh fruit after two weeks but canned fruit and applesauce to get us through.
I like to think of myself as sort of a prepper. Several years ago I was very into it. Did lots of research. I set up a pantry in the basement. I collected canned goods, bottle water, medicine and all sorts of survival gear. What I didn't do a good job of over the years was rotating out the canned goods, flour and sugar. It was too much work to lug all of the groceries down stairs and rotate up the older food and replace with the new food. So a lot of the food down there is past its expiration date. I wish I had done a better job right about now. Luckily I'd been slowly building up that pantry again after I read about how quickly the coronavirus was spreading in China. I felt pretty good about our food supply until I read about how the peak of cases could be as far as 30 days out or more for the US. I thought how much I'd like to hunker down and not leave the house, even for fresh fruit or milk. I also feel quite the burden of being the main food buyer and meal maker. Like, if I mess this up and don't buy enough food I'm going to be out there when this virus is every where. In the air (I read it can remain in the air for up to 3 hours) and on surfaces. It's strange, I've never experienced food anxiety before now.
This strange time we are in right now is something we've all never experienced. It's a completely new situation that we are navigating. I think journal entries will be good to have, to look back and read to my grandchildren one day. Take care.
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