Viral Pan-panic

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What a week of change! I last wrote about loving my bed, with no thought of preparing to die in it. We knew the COVID 19 virus was spreading, though there were no cases in our county. Suddenly all the schools closed, churches canceled services, and all restaurant dining rooms were shut. The only things that changed in our house were not going to church and the cutting of grandson David’s hours at a fast food restaurant. Burger King can function with only three employees per shift, since they are now operating totally through the drive-through window. David has always washed his hands thoroughly and has now doubled his awareness of the spread of a virus.

We wanted to get out of the house safely and drove to our favorite waterfall. John took a nap in the car as David and I enjoyed Sunburst Falls. I said we had silent worship there with the falling water. I always think of living water welling up to eternal life and paused to thank God for what He does for us.

The most dangerous part of the day was driving in heavy, heavy fog on the Blue Ridge Parkway. On the way home, we stopped by an Italian restaurant and picked up a stromboli full of meat and cheese to bring home. That was a winner.

Grandson Nathaniel was able to keep working until his university closed the dorms. Overnight he had to make plans to remove all his belongings, which had been accumulating for two years. He and John managed to cram everything in the mini-van. It was so warm by the time they got here that we had lunch on the back porch. Nathaniel plans to fly to stay with his dad next week.

We will now begin the next stage of anti-panic living. This is “V” living –virtual hugs and verbal “love you” phrases for victory over the virus.

I pray all who read this will be safe and well.

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

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52 thoughts on “Viral Pan-panic”

      1. Canada has about 900 cases and it’s rapidly rising. Quebec has 130 (as of 4 hours ago), and about half of those are in Montreal. The part of Montreal where I live, Cote Saint-Luc, has a cluster of cases and it’s really disconcerting to our mayor especially. (CSL is a city unto itself, right up against Montreal.) One of the cases is in a large facility for seniors – a nursing home, really – about 2 blocks from where we live. John & I were out for a little walk yesterday and passed right by there, unaware. Just found out today. Anyway: everything is closing up tight. Schools all closed, malls, churches, synagogues, mosques, all stores except pharmacies and grocery stores… no one is supposed to be in any group of more than 10 people. Everything is cancelled, cancelled, cancelled. They want to get on top of this before it explodes, y’know? So strange… And how are you doing?

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        1. Our lives are not drastically different yet. Church services have been cancelled, and John just had an eye doctor appointment postponed. We don’t go to the library, because I read ebooks the rare times I read. If shops have closed, I’m not aware of it. Dining rooms of restaurants are all closed, though many can sell take-out meals. I suppose we wouldn’t suffer as long as supermarkets and pharmacies continue to be open. These are strange times.

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  14. I went to the beach yesterday for a breather. Lots of people walking, but at nice safe distances from each other. Water is indeed a healer and a reminder of the gifts we have. Please do all you can to stay safe and hunker in. We love you too much to have anything go sideways with your health.

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  15. Great post !
    We are ok.
    I am glad for all the family time, everyone is having with the breakdown of almost everything. I am enjoying cooking after a long period of want.
    Keep safe.

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  16. I’m busy cooking comfort food for Pete and I. We’ve been in voluntary quarantine since the beginning of March, when Pete got out of the hospital. There are several active cases in Springfield and we are shut down tighter than a drum. The governor just shut down the whole state today.

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  17. Well that’s unfortunate for David but luckily he has you and will Nathaniel return to your house after visiting with his dad? I’m surprised they made them vacate the dorm as he has more school doesn’t he, as in a four-year course for his culinary arts degree? Does he continue to have classes online or is that it for the semester? What a mess and a worrisome mess at that. We have leapfrogged our cases … a week ago were two cases and today we are at 549. I’ve heard more press conferences in the last week than a lifetime … our Governor is being proactive since she says no action has been taken thus far … the automotive plants closed down Wednesday and there was talk yesterday already of ramping them up for respiratory masks. I’m grateful to not have to go out in the world but a time will come that supplies will run out and I must. Stay safe – all of you.

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    1. Nathaniel says he wouldn’t be able to concentrate to do on-line classes here, and that’s why he feels he has to go to his dad. He plans to do the classes and see if the university will open for the summer. If it is open, he’ll go back to work in residential life. If it isn’t, he might come back here to look for a job and hopefully continue school September.

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      1. Well that makes sense – you do have a lot of activity at your home. I’ll bet Logan is coming to visit now that school is out as well. So, if they open in Summer then Nathaniel has to find a place unless they open the dorms back up – what a hassle since all his stuff was already there. Well if he spends the Summer with you, likely he can get his job at the restaurant back again.

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        1. Logan has not come over. His parents are overseeing his assignments from school, and I suspect they are keeping him at home to protect us from possible exposure to the virus. I chatted with them a few minutes as they sat on their porch. I stayed on the road.

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          1. That is right – that is thoughtful of them to do so. I don’t think of you as elderly, nor more than I think of myself as elderly, but 60 is now considered “senior citizen” for purposes of this virus. Happily you’re not in NY anymore and Nathaniel hunkers down at his dad’s house and doesn’t move from there. My friend Ann Marie is like a lost soul – as a former nun, she is still very active in the church, teaches Sunday school and visits people at a nursing home associated with the church, works on a soup kitchenall day Monday and her husband, after a 3-week stay in the hospital, partly in the ICU due to heart issues, he was moved to a nursing home and in his second week there, they are on lockdown. Our cases are over 1,000 now. Scary and sad.

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  20. Yes! Our college students had to vacate their dorm rooms last minute as well, I felt badly for them because a good many of those attending here are from abroad and the majority of them from Asian countries, so I don’t know where they went. It seems this is happening everywhere. I’ve heard they plan to use them for overflow quarantine units. That’s only hearsay, of course.

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    1. I love your quick poetry. Will share it with the others.

      Nate has not cooked at all, since he has had a bad cold. Today he was able to work on his online classes, which is wonderful. He’s going to NY on Wednesday.

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