Not Why, but How

   We are now in Week Nine of the "New York Pause."  63 days.  Tomorrow starts Week Ten.  There is talk of "Quarantine Fatigue," of people letting their guard down, not wearing masks, not standing six feet apart, and not staying home.
   In another era, there would be less complaining about compliance and more patience.  When did we become people who could not accept hardship on behalf of the health and safety of others?  When did we become a population of whiners, asking why this is happening to us instead of asking how we can get through this together?
   It's true that the pandemic didn't strike with the same intensity across all fifty states.  I live in New York, the hardest hit state in the Union.  Governor Cuomo, in his daily address, praises New Yorkers for taking this pandemic seriously.  As he points out, he couldn't possibly mandate that several million New Yorkers voluntarily stay home from work, wear masks when in public, and only go out for essentials.  We chose to do those things.  And, as a result, we have lowered the growth of the Pandemic in our state to a near-plateau.  There are fewer deaths, fewer new cases.  We have overcome the enemy!
   Now, we're poised for Phase One of the re-opening plan.  Half the regions in New York are now beginning, slowly, to return to some semblance of normalcy.  Why, next weekend, Memorial Day Weekend, our beaches on Lake Ontario will be open!  Last week it snowed, and next week we can go swimming, theoretically.   My fear is that the relaxing of the quarantine guidelines will result in a resurgence of this disease.  Cuomo speaks of "tightening the valve," of watching the numbers, and reacting accordingly.  If new cases, deaths, and hospitalizations go up, we will tighten up on the social distancing.  This is a cautious, measured approach.  Testing will be a key factor in how smoothly we can fully re-open our state.
   Meanwhile in Washington, the man in the White House has suggested that the U.S. has more cases of COVID19 because we are testing more people.  His solution:  Stop testing, and the number of cases will go down!  As of Friday, he has fired the fifth member of his administration who holds some form of accountability over him and his people.  The Republican Party stands by and watches him dismantle our system of checks and balances.  Are they even asking why?   I see this as a parallel to the logic of our mothers and fathers while in a crisis:  It's not why, but how we deal with this situation.  Whether it be pandemic or political chaos, our approach should be the same.  Seek truth. Listen deeply.  Find a way to control the outbreak.  And do it.  Not asking why, but how.  How can we eradicate the disease that reigns in our government?
   Vote.

 

Quarantine

Good afternoon.
   It's odd how things you daydream about sometimes come to pass, in ways you never could have expected.  During the past few years, I've actually thought that being under house arrest in my own home wouldn't be such a bad thing, if it ever came to it.  I have lots of books, art supplies, musical instruments, and a home on a Great Lake with beautiful scenery, wildlife, and flora.  I could be quite happy here!
   And then came the Quarantine.  COVID19  descended upon New York State like a jet falling from the sky:  swiftly, completely unexpected, devastating, leaving a pile of rubble and death in its wake.  We've been under state-wide quarantine for four weeks now.  In my last post, I shared some of my homegrown statistics, gathered from various official sources, of Coronavirus cases and deaths from my county, state, NYC, country, and globally.  As I look back at where my charts stopped, I am sorry to say that those data have increased exponentially at a truly terrifying rate.  As of this afternoon, here are my most recent stats:

Global Cases:                      1,978,769   Deaths:  125,196

US Cases:                                609,614  Deaths:  25,794

NY (State) Cases:                    202,208  Deaths:  10,834

New York City Cases:             110,465  Deaths:     7690

Monroe County (NY) Cases:         850  Deaths:        56

   If you refer back to my previous post, this is a huge increase.  Huge.

   Given these grim statistics, how does one cope with the enormous losses of life, jobs, food security, housing, and other issues of basic daily living?  I read a heart-breaking article this morning about the impossibility of maintaining the 6' "social distancing" space for people who share a house with many other residents.  If you're sleeping on someone else's floor with your children, there's no social distancing.  If you work two or three jobs to put food on the table and that goes away, there's no food on the table.
   And we're supposedly one of the richest nations in the world.
   Clearly, that only means, "For the rich.  For the middle class.  For the privileged."
   The human cost of this pandemic is staggering, and plays up the obvious discrepancies between the haves and the have-nots.  Ironically,  this pandemic is exploding in the prisons, detention centers, homeless shelters, and other places where America warehouses its undesirables.  And this could be the downfall of this nation:  By crowding human beings into tight spaces and denying them healthcare and adequate living arrangements, we could be skyrocketing the casualties to a point of no return.  Consider this:  Another recent article points out that the rat population world-wide is increasing, and becoming much more aggressive, due to the lack of food from restaurants and other public food sources.  Not a pretty picture!  The rats are beginning to eat their own.  And wasn't the Bubonic Plague spread, in part, through rats?
   Many people are having trouble with anxiety, depression, and insomnia during this crisis.  It's little wonder, with the information I'm sharing here.  So how do we cope with quarantine in a time of not only a health crisis in this country, but also a crisis of leadership?
   I focus on the little things.  Yes, I'm lucky - I live surrounded by water and woodlands.   I can take walks fairly free from crowds, although I do wear a mask.  I can see the beauty of spring unfold around me.  It's this that I choose to focus on, when I'm not watching multiple news channels, doing daily statistical research, and listening with incredulity to the ravings of our political "leaders."
   This afternoon I saw cherry blossoms, magnolia buds, waterfowl, and found a complete surprise:  a rustic chair built into a park, with a well-loved copy of "Anne of Green Gables" on the seat.
   There is beauty in the wreckage of our lives.
   If only we can take a mindful moment to walk away from the sorrow, the pain, the worry, and engage in our senses...
    What did I see today?      Cherry blossoms.
    What did I hear today?    Spring birdsong.
    What did I smell today?  Fresh earth, moist from recent rains.
    What did I touch today?  Pine needles.
    What did I taste today?   Half a bagel, with a shmeer.
    My husband and I often debrief our day by considering the senses, and we add another, final one:  How did I experience space today?  Walking in a forest.
     There is beauty to be found in everyday things.  It can help to heal the soul.
     For the majority of the world's population that struggles for the basics of survival, it is time to consider leveling the playing field.  What can we do to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, heal the sick? I may need to look beyond the beauty of my surroundings, and find ways to ease the sufferings of others.  What can I do?  How can I help? These are questions that I struggle with these days.  And while we are under Quarantine, there's plenty of time to think.