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US Infected: 1,375,129 Dallas Infected: 6,771 Texas Deaths: 1,133
There is a great deal to be said about these numbers. It has been 11 days since my last post, and the increase in numbers is sadly staggering. In the past 11 days, 280,106 more people in the US have contracted the virus. That is double the size of my hometown. I really am having trouble wrapping my brain around that figure. If my entire city doubled, they all would have the Covid-19 virus. It’s only been 11 days. That means, the whole 280,000+ people are still fighting it. Not even the full 2 weeks yet for them to recover.
Here in Dallas, 2,516 more people have it. That’s astounding. And humbling. It seems surreal that the state has opened back up for “business as usual” despite the fact that these are the numbers. I’m now learning of people that I know personally losing loved ones to Covid-19. I’m sad for them. I fear that more are coming, and there’s nothing I can do to help them.
My brother, who has significant military training, says that everyone needs to make decisions based on “calculated risks”. In other words, does the benefit of what we are doing exceed the cost of doing it? I want to go visit my friend. Neither of us are sick. However, I could possibly have the virus and not know it. The outcome of me visiting her for a few hours could be that she gets sick, passes it to her kids and her husband, who is a doctor. He then goes in to work and sees hundreds of patients. That is the cost. What is the benefit? I get a few hours of laughs with my friend. There’s no way that the benefit is greater than the cost in this scenario. If she loses one of her kids or husband to the virus, instead of sharing laughs, I will be sharing tears.
In another case, I need to restock my meat. The only place to restock my meat is at the specialty store. They won’t bring the meat to my car for me, I’ll have to go in. Some of the people are wearing masks, some aren’t, but it’s a tiny store and if I go early, it should be pretty empty. I can wear my mask and sanitize my hands as I go. In this case, the benefit of getting the meat I need is greater than the chance that I will get the virus from the checkout lady (hopefully).
It’s a difficult thing, trying to adapt to this new “normal”. We have to function, but it really does take a whole lot more thinking and I have to slow down to make sure I’m being very careful as I go. The lazy part of me wants to just say “forget it” and go back to doing things like we always did. I hate having to clean every single thing that comes into the house. I hate waiting for my mail to dry after spraying it down with Lysol spray. I hate having to remind the kids daily to take vitamins and put frankincense on their feet every night. But the alternative could possibly break my heart.
The monotony of every day stuck in the house with the same three people is getting to me. The kids are in full rebellion about the school work, and we’re in the final stretch. This is (s)Tinker’s last week. As of this moment, he’s 3 weeks behind in math, 2 weeks behind in English and still has this week’s work to do in P.E., Orchestra, Science and Social Studies. Sunshine is no better off, and she actually has to sit for final exams before the 26th. I would be lying if I told you that everything was good in our house these days. I’m suffering MAJOR anxiety from their lack of concern.
Another new thing for me today is that I will have my first virtual doctor’s appointment. I’m not really sure how this is going to work, but my prescriptions have run out and the doctor won’t refill without seeing me, so I’m in a pickle and I’m forced to do something. I REALLY don’t want to go into a doctor’s office right now, so I’m opting for this instead. Hopefully it will work out so that I don’t have to go in.
At the end of the week, I will be having another reunion online. This time, my high school band is having a reunion via Zoom call. I’m not sure what to expect with this one, but I’m going to join in anyway. I was one of the founding members of the band, and it was a significant part of my high school experience, so I feel a bit nostalgic about the whole thing.
As summer slides into the DFW area, I’m excited to have our beautiful pool and backyard to enjoy. I’m looking forward to dining al fresco on our patio and doing some good ol’ grilling on our barbecue grill. I’m also looking forward to the reboot of the Wonderful World of Disney on ABC channel on Wednesday nights because I loved it as a child.
If you are feeling downhearted about things right now, just know that you’re in good company. I know that this period of time will pass, just as they all do, and that we will somehow muddle our way through. I just keep looking for that rainbow and praying for a better tomorrow!
