Jan 31-Feb 1 Lib and I played bells in the workshop at Mt. Vernon Baptist Church with the Branderbells. The bell director at Oak Grove just happened to be there, was looking for a slot to play and happened to see Lib and I and as we were missing a few, joined our table. How very nice! After our concert and as we were driving out from the church parking lot, Lib discovered she had left her pocketbook. Thank goodness one of our ringers noticed it, picked it up and we were able to retrieve it.
This was the almost the last week of total life normalcy for Lib and me.
It was maybe a week later that we heard the first glimmers of the virus in China. It was a fast-moving epidemic and though CNN made some comment, it was felt that it was nothing to be concerned about.
We were able to have a nice mini Flory gathering at a new restaurant in Dayton, Va, about 100 miles from our home. We filled a table:Lib and I, Larry and Joyce, Abe and Ruth, Lillian, Marsha, Jim and Jodie on the 29 of February. We talked about our families.
My wife Lib is the last of her line and the group we had lunch with were all her nephews and nieces.
By the middle of February there were a number of cases in Washington State, on a cruise ship, and soon in New York City. Two main streams of public thought emerged. (1) It wasn’t more serious/dangerous than the flue, (2) It was a “pandemic” requiring unthinkable strategies to contain it and that all we had to do was see the terrible outcomes in Italy to understand where we would be two weeks ahead.
In March it began to be a serious topic in all the media. We had our last quintet early March and our last quartet on Thursday the 12th. Governments were moving rapidly toward the unthinkable. I could see the trend and canceled other musical obligations. We attended our last church service in early March.
Then in rapid succession public schools were shut down, colleges and universities followed suit with the intention of opening later in 2 weeks just to close for the year and try online instruction. When the big athletic leagues shut down the public began to understand. More serious tightening followed. Only food, medical, and other essential services were to remain open. No gatherings were allowed of over 10 people. When in public for necessary activities, we were to maintain at least 6 feet separation. During the day we followed the spread of this plague on TV. We learned the true meaning of “exponential”.!
Around the middle of March, the Federal government began to face the real consequences of the shutdown and passed a 2 TRILLION give back, loan to, a program to put a band-aid on the economic hemorrhaging for shuttered education and nonessential businesses forced to close or temporarily shut down. Each citizen will be sent $1200 toward the end of April to help buy the necessities. I understand Canada will give each of theirs $2000 each month for the next 4 months!! The stock market dipped way down then jumped up only to drop again. Smart brokers made zillions while less endowed lost zillions.
At this writing around 4000 have perished in America and hundreds of thousands have tested positive and many are crowding the capabilities of huge metropolitan hospitals. The country seems to have been blindsided by this scourge even though many physicians and people who knew were warning that this train was barrelling down on us. It seems incomprehensible that this is happening.
Tomorrow will be April 1. Lib and I saw our daughter Cathy and husband Jeff briefly 2+ weeks ago and grandson Devin when he mowed for us. We’ve gone for groceries about 3 times. Several days ago our Governor called for a Statewide lockdown until June 10. Thankfully, the virus doesn’t appear to be fearfully active here, yet! A favorite TV commentator on CNN, Chris Cuomo, contracted the virus and described a terrifying night of fevers, sweats, and hallucinations.....
