Coronavirus Daze

Pardon the war references. But today America reached a grisly milestone in this pandemic: its millionth confirmed infection with the novel coronavirus. It is expected to reach another grisly milestone within the next 24 hours: the number of American deaths related to the pandemic will surpass the number of Americans who died in the Vietnam War: 57,939 names are listed on the memorial wall, which includes some who were wounded during the war and later died of complications from those wounds. I believe a few hundred more died of self-inflicted wounds after the fact. The U.S. military tally is higher and may include those who died afterward at their own hands: 58,220. Please note that I did not make up that comparison. I heard it on Sirius Satellite Radio on my way home from the landfill this week. And there's no judgment here in terms of which is worse, pandemic or war. Neither is better nor worse; they are totally different situations with different causes, different numbers th...

Today is Sunday, I've lost count of how many weeks we've been on restricted movement and social distancing. I did experience virtual Mass, as I have done since we stopped gathering. It's not the same as attending Mass, but I'm watching virtual Mass celebrated by MY pastor, which makes me still feel connected. And it's comforting. And it's the only thing I get really choked up and feeling emotional about these days. I'm grateful for it. I spent all day today working on two things: One is a feature story about a well-liked person who died Wednesday after a Sunday afternoon head-on collision on Polks Road in Somerset County. She was heading home from somewhere. Home was in Whitehaven, which is west of where I live in Wicomico County. I just finished it. I alternated between that and making more masks for postal workers in Salisbury. I have a long way to go with the masks. I still do not have my new sewing machine. I ordered, at Robert's request,...

Appropriate for the times we live in, my own rendition to the tune of Matchmaker, Matchmaker ... Maskmaker, maskmaker make me a mask stitch it up straight in fabric that's fine maskmaker, maskmaker Look through your stash and make me a perfect mask. Oh, maskmaker, maskmaker, I'll bring the sanitizer You bring the mask Trendy and cool To cover my face, for I'm longing to be In compliance and safe, you see. For Papa, a print featuring his fave team For Mama, a pretty floral print But for me, I'll never complain if it's colorful and bold Maskmaker, maskmaker Make me a mask And make me a spare I don't want to risk a bare face at the store Make sure I can't catch (or spread) COVID-19 I'm counting on you to keep us all safe. OK, now I've gotten that off my chest. In the picture is the loaner sewing machine I got from my daugher-in-law, cleaned it up after years of neglect and it works like a charm. I've ordered a new sewi...

My coronavirus sweater project.  It's Monday. I got up and showered. I thought I was getting a loaner sewing machine to resume making masks, but what I got was a phone call explaining why I would not be getting one after all. But I have ordered one from Boscov's and it's paid for, so I should be getting it in a week to 10 days. Meanwhile, daughter in law Liz texted and said she remembered she has a machine in her attic. If it's in working order, I will have my loaner. I got 2 masks completed today and will get Liz's mask done in the morning. My fabric and elastic arrived today, 2 days ahead of schedule! I'm donating 100 yards of elastic to my DAR group; they donated a 20-yard piece to me a couple of weeks ago. I also started crocheting a scrapbuster sweater, a coat of many colors, it's called. I will call it my coronavirus sweater, if I actually finish it. It suits my short attention span because it's a different color in each row, and it's si...

It's the year of the pandemic -- 2020, to be precise -- and realizing this is probably going to be some kind of life-changing, society-changing turning point in human history, I have decided to avoid regrets later -- if I survive -- and start keeping a daily record of life during the novel coronavirus pandemic of 2020. I'm doing this for myself, but if anyone stumbles across this and wants to read, I'm OK with that. Comments are welcome. We are all in this together, although we may disagree about certain aspects of the response. But we are still in it together and one person's decision can have deadly consequences or life-saving consequences for those nearby (and beyond). I had such high hopes for 2020. I am recovering from a decision to accept an early retirement buyout at the end of 2018. Even though that did turn out to be the right thing to do, as far as I can tell, for reasons having nothing to do with me personally, it was a traumatic decision to end, ra...