In short, it was surreal. Covid-19 literally came out of nowhere. I remember hearing news reports in early January 2020 that there were concerns that a virus was going through China, much like Bird Flu. The problem was, Bird Flu struck maybe 900 people. Covid was infecting hundreds and then thousands. A day. I think it started really getting attention and began to be reported daily by the news in mid February. A couple of cruise ships had outbreaks onboard and no one would let them into port so the passengers were basically quarantined for several weeks. I remember discussing it with the guys at work about the middle of the month. Then the virus started being reported in Washington state, ravaging Senior Care homes. By early March the White house was having daily briefs on it, and then the week of 10 March, it was pretty much decided that all the plans to prevent it coming to the US had failed; it had not been stopped by limiting travel from China - it had slipped in by air travel from Europe; and was spreading exponentially. Starting March 12th, I was working from home, and Jill came home the next day.
There were immediate runs on cleaning supplies and hand sanitizers. Because the media suggested it would become scarce, people began hording it and then offering it for resale at 5-10x the cost. There was no toilet paper anywhere. We lived off our big Costco supply for weeks, which actually lasted long enough until stores started restocking again.
And that’s where the complete collapse of civility in American society started. The President came on TV and said there was nothing to worry about. His experts said there was. He basically called the medical experts liars. The White House claimed it would be done by Easter. 100,000 people died by 27 May, 2020. 250,000 died by 19 Nov, after the first surge. 500,000 by 25 Feb 2021, after the winter surge. 750,ooo dead by 11 Nov 2021, fueled by a surge in a variant called Omicron. As of today, (March 27, 2022), 974,277 people in the United States have died from Covid. It didn’t disappear; the virus just morphed and changed, enabled by the idiocy of those who wouldn’t wear masks, practice social distancing, or give up some personal convenience for the sake of the “team.”
At some point Congress approved a plan to send out Stimulus money to every household. I think mid-summer we received a credit card in the mail with $2000 on it. We used ours to purchase take-out meals from local Zelie restaurants. For us it was free dinners, but for restaurants, it meant money coming in to keep the doors open and people on staff. A lot of people used it to pay off bills or add to savings. All good things, but it wasn’t an immediate impact on the local economy, which was the purpose.
Just before Christmas 2020, it was announced that the first vaccine had been developed and approved for emergency use, and initial vaccinations started on the 19th of December. Someone prioritized different classes of recipients, starting with first responders, followed by age and people who had been immuno-compromised. Pat and Stew got theirs fairly quickly. Laura and I both got our first shots though work in late January.
The 2nd shot was approved for disbursement a month after the first, so late February. For most people, getting the vaccines at first was challenging. You had to go online and hunt them out. Laura found shots for Patti up near Erie. Kara and Kurt Sydney got theirs in Butler, and Jill in Washington D.C. Later, as a second surge started ramping up, booster shots were approved. I got mine in late October. A shot is a shot, but I have to admit, it felt good to get it. We still had to take precautions, but I felt we at least had a fighting chance from a surprise infection.
On the home front, we quit traveling. Airlines parked airplanes, and the middle rows were open, My mother died and we couldn’t go to Lodi to bury her. But even if we had traveled, the cemeteries were not holding burials. Schools jumped through all kinds of hoops trying to hold classes so kids wouldn’t fall behind. At some point teachers were teaching on-line to both students in the classroom and at home at the same time. Colleges just sent students home, held all on-line classes, and then required attendees to show proof of vaccination. Businesses and government offices completely quit in-office work, and then found that people could do their jobs for months without ever interacting in person. Video conferencing software took off. Zoom, Teams, Hangouts, Webex, etc.
For me, I found it easy to work from home for months using nothing but computer, a VPN, some extra monitors, the internet and conferencing software. Laura found herself avoiding classroom experiences… but almost as busy as ever getting her various student groups outdoors. She was definitely impacted by the weather. The family member who benefited the most from Covid was Lindy. She had emotional support humans almost 24/7. No need for doggy day care, so we saved a ton of money there. Speaking of saving money, car travel went down to almost zero, and insurance companies issued rebate checks, because accidents went down too.
Vacations and big events for us declined, though we found ways to get things done and get way. Kurt and Sydney were married outside in the Zelienople Park in September, 2020. Later in October, we rented a farm house up in the fingers lakes for Pat & Stew’s 6oth Anniversary, and everyone took turns hanging out enjoying the turning of the leaves, enjoying wine tasting and hiking around Watkins Glen. In the fall of 2021 we joined 4 other families, including the Seamans and Leflers at the beach in Duck, NC to celebrate all the women turning 60. Had a great time touring the Quter banks and counting lighthouses.
There were only a few covid scares. Most notable was our group Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day get-together getting modified when someone Kara had been with the week prior came down with Covid. To be safe we decided at the last minute to change the meal to a distributed one, so I went around to all the houses picking up their dishes and then delivering them back around so that everyone had the same meal, only in their own house. A couple days after Christmas, Kurt came down with symptoms after going to work on Monday. Luckily, I believe his vaccinations kept him from feeling little more than flu symptoms for a day or so. And that was it, (Knock on wood).
As of 27 March, 2022, we are all doing well, but a third Covid variant is starting a surge. fingers crossed it’s milder than the Omicron variant. Word on the street a 2nd Booster for people over 50 (sign me up), and one for kids as young as five, have been authorized.
Fingers crossed the end will come soon, people can quit worrying about their health or their fake personal freedom, and we can get back to living our lives again. People go back to work; wages rise to pay people an honest day’s livable wage; production, and supply rise to meet demand again. And above all, the Republican party gets their asses kicked in every election from here on out, until they get back to putting America and the Constitution of the United States, not political power, first.
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