Coronavirus

It's a weird time in the world right now - a new virus (coronavirus) was discovered and exploded in China, spreading quickly in faraway countries in January and February. It causes a disease called covid-19, which is (in my non-medical terms) a sort of nasty pneumonia flu. It's especially lethal to the elderly and other immuno-compromised populations. I heard the news and knew that some of my Chinese students were stuck at home and that their parents couldn't go to work. I thought "wow, that's so scary for them" and couldn't imagine being in their position.

Now, weeks later, coronavirus is in the US wreaking more and more havoc each day. There is a lot of uncertainty and fear: will we get sick? are we doing enough to prevent the spread? when will life return to normal? For now, federal and state guidelines have us "sheltering in place." Schools, non-essential businesses, and churches are closed. It's so weird. We are supposed to be staying home unless we need the doctor or groceries. No playdates, no traveling; even going to the park is frowned upon. There is a shortage of face masks and other protective gear because in the panic that this was causing some people ordered masks for themselves and hoarded them and other supplies, leaving a critical shortage.

I am sure there will be articles and books and shows about the time that we are in right now, so that's all I'll write about the background, but it's an unprecedented time (at least in our lifetimes) in many ways. Never have I seen the entire world be universally affected by something. Rarely have our schools closed for more than a day or two in a row for snow....as of right now, we've been out of school for three weeks, with 7 more weeks in the semester that probably won't happen. It's not specific to country or state; it's a global pandemic that literally everyone on Earth is talking about and affected by.

In my own family, Sam's trips to England and Italy were cancelled; Annie's study abroad to Greece was cancelled; my cousin Katie had to come home from her mission in Ecuador; my cousin Bennet had to return from his semester in Florence; my mom cancelled trips to San Diego and Montana; and I had to cancel my upcoming trip to New York to visit Ananda.

Travel is only one disruption; with rules in place to avoid gatherings, there is a massive amount of financial insecurity worldwide. Many companies have shifted to work at home, but for other professions that would be impossible, and many people are out of work. We have friends who had to close dental practices; Max got a new job two weeks before all of this exploded in America and his company had to lay him off, along with half of the other employees; restaurants have shifted to completely doing take out, but the servers are out of jobs. It's just a complete disruption of life as we know it both in big ways and small ways.

And, of course, people are getting this disease and dying in droves, so it makes the rest of these complaints seem small. Last I checked (March 30), there have been 37,820 deaths worldwide. A few days ago, the CDC reported that the US is up to over 2,000 deaths, but that number is rising dramatically, with the worst statistics in NYC so far. It feels so apocalyptic and scary and uncertain.

I miss my friends. My kids miss their teachers. Austin misses playing basketball. We have church at home, which actually is really nice, but still abnormal. We are all in this together and people are totally rising to the occasion: CEO's donating their salaries to employees who are unable to work, grocery stores offering bonuses to all of their overworked employees, celebrities reading story books to try to keep kids learning and engaged, musicians uploading concerts online, companies like Disney and Amazon offering certain services for free since kids are out of school, and nurses and doctors and medical workers worldwide working around the clock to fight this scary disease at the risk of their own lives. It's heartening to see positive responses like this, but it feels like we're living in an alternate reality.

So, that's pretty much consuming my (and everyone's) life right now. Here are some pictures from our first week of "social distancing:"

I don't think my house will recover from the messes that it has seen as we have been cooped up at home.

helping Jack be more confident on his bike

trying to get some sort of movement in since I'm tired of sitting on the couch (Claire had other plans)

the first few days, Stockton was pretty compliant about doing worksheets for at home school, but now they make him angry

for Natalie, we pick a topic and research it together. On this day she picked "mummies" and we watched a national geographic video about going to Egypt. She takes notes and gives me a report.

when we could still go to the grocery store as a fun outing instead of just as a necessity

peace in the scriptures - I love that He will be waiting personally for us at the end of our road

signs like this are on every building and business (this was a pharmacy)

waving to the neighbors across the street - Natalie and Taylor both had their dolls and were "playing" through the window

Legos!

Claire's FAVORITE perch. You can find her on the dismantled couch allllll day.

dogpiling Dad

dinner helpers

couch again

My job isn't affected since I'm already teaching online....this slide made me laugh

Austin hiding in the kitchen after a rambunctious morning

before/after a good clean

I was so sad when the Brahms 2 concerto concert I had been looking forward to was cancelled. But Austin was sweet and suggested that we look up a recording and watch it at home! It was thoroughly enjoyable and definitely lifted my spirits. I love music! I love sharing the piano side of my life with Austin.

The Wii has been really fun to play every day. The kids get tired of it after a little bit, so it's nice that they aren't old enough yet for me to worry about them playing for hours. Kirby's Epic Yarn, Mario Kart, Supermario Galaxy, and Wario Ware have been popular recently.