By Shari Randall
Hard to believe that just a few short weeks ago I was thrilled to be in a building with eight thousand other people. The Public Library Association convention in Nashville was a festive gathering of thousands of librarians, publishers, and other book lovers. There were so many people to meet, from across the country and the world! How normal it was to shake hands, to hug.
That was then.
Now, after weeks under shutdown in Connecticut, I’m at the stage where I see photos and video of crowded beaches, concerts, family reunions, and other large gatherings and I think, Are they nuts? Where’s the social distancing?
My thinking has shifted. I have a sense of dislocation, of a bridge crossed from Then to Now.
Some events leave an impression so strong that we can’t forget how we felt when they happened. Most people old enough to remember know exactly what they were doing when they heard the news of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. (I was doing whatever one-year-olds do.)
Where were you on 9/11? (walking my daughter to school under the bluest sky I can remember)
I know exactly where I was on August 16, 1977 (in the family room playing Clue with my sister) because my distraught Aunt Gloria phoned to tell my mom Elvis died.
Spring 2020. There’s no thunderclap moment when the pandemic became real, just enough moments that made me aware of the Before and After, the Then and Now. Two weeks ago I read a post from a friend in Italy that she wasn’t allowed out of her apartment. She begged us to understand the virus was real and it was coming. That day – was it a Tuesday? - I went to the grocery store saw the empty shelves, the strained faces in the checkout, the panic. The dominoes kept falling – the stock market tanked, my husband started working from home, my niece’s bridal shower was canceled, then her wedding.
The reality of the pandemic sank in for me when I thought back to that conference. I’d seen a woman leave the rest room without washing her hands. I remember shaking my head and thinking, Doesn’t she know about the flu? I was worried about the flu. How ironic. How Then.
Has your state done a lockdown? How are you coping?
I find it hard to believe that so much has changed in such a short time.
ReplyDeleteWe were planning to move to a retirement community this summer, but now that's on hold, and I can't say as I'm sorry about it. I now we will need more help with my husband, but one of my daughters has been living with us to help out so things are quite manageable. Being in our reasonably sized home on seven wooded acres is much better than if we were in an apartment in the retirement community, which is totally locked down, with food delivered to each unit.
I have been roaming the woods via deer path, cutting invasive vines off trees. And reading writing and baking a lot. Just prepared a sour dough starter in case I run out of yeast.
This is a turning point. I'm sure there will be a new normal when things calm down. I am establishing a pattern and working on things I left for eventually. My first doctor's appointment by phone will take place today.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right! It's been SO sudden. I'm finding it very hard to realize what the reality is. It's surreal, bizarre, twilight zone material. I'm worried about things I never worried about before. I wonder if a day will come when I forget what this is like.
ReplyDeleteLife is bizarre, but getting outside for long walks everyday helps. And the weeds in my flower beds are calling my name.
ReplyDeleteI was reading Sherry Harris's Longest Yard Sale over the weekend. I was particularly struck by the scenes surrounding the biggest yard sale in New England. My first thought was what, are they crazy! Even when I reminded myself that the book was a work of fiction and had been written before anyone had ever heard of COVID 19 I still felt a vague uneasiness and concern for the characters.
ReplyDeleteIt will be a very different world at the end of the day. I think a lot of what we are experiencing now will be a part of the new normal, at least until we have some hard and fast assurances that it won't be coming back.
My State, Florida, has still not accomplished lockdown. We are under stay at home orders with no penalties. It's more of a suggestion than a command.
KM, I am so glad you didn't make that move. Sounds like you have a good situation, especially with your daughter there to help.
ReplyDeleteWarren, you're so right. This is the time to do all those things I've put off. "Eventually" is here now.
ReplyDeleteHi Kaye, surreal is the word! I wonder how we'll remember this, too. I've hesitated to put down my thoughts in a diary or journal because I'm afraid it will all just seem like complaining.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, your pics on FB show that you're soldiering on and being so productive! Like you, I find great solace in nature. Every bloom I see seems to say, it's going to be all right.
ReplyDeleteOh, Kait, I wish all the states would follow the same rules, especially Florida, which has so many people who fall into the high risk groups.
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