Reflections on my COVID-19 experience (so far)

A little while back, I shared some COVID-19-related questions/prompts  from a scrapbooking project about the pandemic. I thought they might also make good blogging prompts :)  and said I would think about doing a future blog post to answer some or all of these questions. Here it is! (It will be interesting to see if any of my answers change, further down the road...!)

When was the moment you knew this was serious. Where were you and what happened?

We'd been hearing about the virus for quite a while -- first in China, then on cruise ships, then in Seattle, then Vancouver... The WHO declared a pandemic on March 11th, followed by various American & Canadian governments. The world figure skating championships in Montreal were cancelled that same day (something I'd been looking forward to watching) -- and then the next day, the NHL suspended the entire hockey season (!).  (This, I think, was the moment that **** got real for most Canadians...!)

Dh & I looked at each other that night & agreed it might be smart to head to the supermarket the next day (Thursday, March 12th -- even though we'd already done our usual grocery run a few days earlier) & pick up some more food and cleaning supplies, just in case...  (We also made stops at the drugstore as well as the bookstore/Starbucks.)  The supermarket was not packed (yet), but it was much busier than usual for around noon on a Thursday, and there were a lot of grim-faced people stalking up & down the aisles with loaded carts. The shelves were generally still fairly well stocked -- although the soap, cleaning supplies, pasta & some of the canned goods were starting to look a little picked over. We'd already heard about people stockpiling toilet paper, and sure enough, when we came around the corner of that particular aisle, there was not one package of toilet paper of any kind to be had. I went back there while dh stood in the checkout line with our cart and I took a photo. I posted it later on Instagram & Facebook, with the caption, "So apparently the threat of the zombie apocalypse has reached [the supermarket here]." That, for me personally, was a defining moment. (I think of March 12th as "the last normal day," when we were still out & about doing "normal" things... even if things were already starting to feel a little less normal than usual.)

Empty shelves where the toilet paper should be, Thursday, March 12, 2020.
I originally posted this photo on this blog, here.

Looking back now, is there one particular news article or story that stands out to you?

I can't think of one, offhand... as I mentioned, hearing that not only were the world figure skating championships cancelled but the entire NHL season was being suspended was a "whoa, I guess this really is serious!" moment.

I remember a couple of news stories earlier on that brought home to me just how very contagious this virus was, and that you could be a carrier even if you weren't feeling sick yourself. One was about a choir in Washington State that decided to carry on with its regular practice on March 10, and 45 of the 60 members subsequently became ill (& several died). Another was about a cluster of cases & deaths among people who had been to one man's funeral in Georgia.

What was the first meme that caused you to laugh out loud?

I went back through my Facebook timeline, and while I had reposted a couple of humorous memes earlier in March, this one, from March 10th, was probably the first one that got a literal LOL from me (you might have to be Canadian to appreciate it...! -- Tim Horton's is a popular national doughnut/coffee shop chain, named for the late NHL hockey player who started it).

What have you observed in your community that has been heart-warming?

Personally, I haven't been out in the community much to observe anything!  But we saw a child's drawing of a rainbow taped to the window of a house nearby while we were out walking. Likewise, on a fence along the main road near our building, someone has posted a large homemade sign thanking frontline workers. Both those things made me smile.

What has been the biggest change to your everyday routine?

Our everyday routine is really not all that different from what it was.  We're both retired, so we spend a lot of time at home anyway... there have always been at least a few days during the week when we stayed at home and didn't go out, when we had laundry or housecleaning to do, or when the weather wasn't nice.

But we DID get out a couple of times a week -- for lunch, for grocery shopping and other errands, to the bookstore/Starbucks for a leisurely browse, to the mall, to visit BIL & family, for dinner on Saturday night.  These days, we don't go out AT ALL... so that's been a big change.  Dh goes out for groceries & to pick up any prescription refills, once every 7-10 days, and we go for the occasional walk when the weather is nice enough. That's it.

(Not that there's many places we could go, even if we wanted to. Malls are closed, restaurants are limited to takeout & delivery. Some stores that were previously closed -- the bookstore, Best Buy, Home Depot, etc. -- are now offering curbside contactless pickup of online orders. Garden centres were just allowed to reopen, but again just for curbside pickup. Grocery stores & pharmacies have been open all along, but they are asking that one person per family shops just once a week, with masks on.)

How has family life been altered in your home?

Not much. We already spent a lot more time together than most couples I know, partly because that's our habit, partly because we're retired, and partly because I don't drive (& even if I did, we only have one car -- we have only ever really needed one car).  We're both homebodies/couch potatos at the best of times -- but we've both been a bit bored/stir crazy at times in the absence of the little outings we've been used to (dh moreso than me, I think).

What have you learned to do because of this pandemic?

How to stay inside (almost all the time) for 8 straight weeks without completely losing my mind. (I think??)

How to make a no-sew mask out of a teatowel or sock, & possibly some elastic bands! (I have not needed to wear one yet, since I've barely been out of the house, let alone around people -- but when the time comes, I have lots of how-to articles & videos bookmarked, lol.)

How to use (if not completely master) some new apps like WhatsApp and Houseparty.

How to conserve toilet paper/how long a roll generally lasts (lol) and be more mindful about wasting food.

What change has created the most disappointment for you?

The cancellation of so many public and family events that I was looking forward to:  the world figure skating championships in Montreal, the Elton John concert SIL & I had tickets to on March 29th, all remaining local performances of "Hamilton," which we were supposed to be seeing this weekend, a family dinner at a restaurant to celebrate dh's aunt's 75th birthday, Great-Nephew's baptism on June 14th (now rescheduled to September)... Not being able to spend time with Great-Nephew, period (probably the biggest disappointment of all! -- especially after waiting for him for so long, and moving here specifically because we wanted to forge connections to the younger generations of the family).

I understand why these things were cancelled (& I probably would not have wanted to risk going, given the current situation), but it's still been disappointing.

What has surprised you?

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised (after everything else that's happened in the last four years...), but it's absolutely, stunningly, mind-boggling to me to see just how many people (Americans, but also some Canadians) are actively (proudly!!) resisting doing the things that are proven to reduce the spread of the virus, like staying home and wearing a mask in public.  The rush to re-open (ignoring the established guidelines), the willingness to put financial gain ahead of people's lives... it's very difficult to fathom.

Also: I'm surprised that I haven't read more!  But apparently I am not alone in finding it hard to focus on a book right now...

What has not surprised you?

This pandemic has brought out the worst in some people... but it's also brought out the best in many more. Some lovely stories of what people are doing to help each other out. And the dedication of the frontline hospital staff in the ICUs (at great risk to their own wellbeing, especially with the lack of PPE)... it hasn't surprised me, because that's what they do (we saw it here in Toronto with SARS almost 20 years ago) -- but it does make feel thankful for their expertise and their dedication.


What about the future creates feelings of worry or fear?

Not knowing when I am going to be able to travel to visit my family again. Worrying about my parents, who aren't taking the social distancing recommendations as seriously as I think they should (albeit they do live in a small rural community in a province where the case numbers are much lower than they are here).

What have you truly enjoyed about sheltering in place?

I like staying at home a lot of the time anyway, & I like spending time with my husband. :)  The pandemic has not changed that. I haven't been able to focus much on reading books (which has been disappointing), but I'm in two different online book discussion groups that I enjoy tremendously.  I've also been trying (not entirely succeeding, but trying...!) to get to the bottom of my email inbox (all my daily newsletters...) and blog reader, and that keeps me busy.


Who or what has impressed you in a positive way?

I did not vote (and doubt I will ever vote) for the current premier of our province (more specifically for the local candidate of the party he leads... we do not directly elect provincial premiers or the prime minister in Canada). He's done a LOT that I do not agree with and that I flat out think is wrong and harmful.  At the very beginning of all this, he took a lot of flack (rightfully so) for telling people to go on vacation (for spring break) and have a good time.

But I will give him credit:  he very quickly changed his tune when the magnitude of this crisis became apparent, he has listened to the medical experts, he has worked together with the prime minister and federal government and other provincial premiers, and he has said & done the right things for most of the time since then.  Unlike (cough cough) certain other leaders of other governments I can think of...

Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, has also impressed me with his command of the situation.

What will you do differently when life normalizes?

I'm not sure life is going to "normalize" for quite a while yet (if ever...)...!  But I'm pretty sure everything I've learned about handwashing during this time -- its importance and how to do it better -- is going to stick with me for a very long time!

Also, I've never been someone who pays for everything with a piece of plastic (debit or credit card)-- I've always carried & used a healthy amount of cash, especially for smaller purchases (watching people pay for a $3 cup of coffee with a credit card drives me up the wall...!!) -- but I have a feeling I'll be doing that more often in the future. A lot less contact involved (especially if I can just tap & go).

What memory or moment will talk about in ten years? 

I will tell Great-Nephew about how hard it was not to be able to see & hold him, and about how we brought him his Easter gifts and waved to him from behind the glass of the front door. (And about how the dog broke my heart, scratching and whining at the door because he wanted to greet us in his usual way so badly!)