Hey, things are nuts. I get it.
A little over a month ago, things were fine. There was a virus on the other side of the world. It was infecting a lot of people. This has happened before, right?
Then it started to spread. Everywhere.
Then all of the sudden a lot of us started working from home. No big deal, right? It was only for a few weeks.
Then more of us ended up home. More time passed… was it days? I think it was, even though it felt like so much longer.
Then things started closing, and people got furloughed.
Then people started losing their jobs permanently. And when all that started to level out, a second wave of people lost their jobs.
It’s hard to get food where I am. Well, you can get food, but if you want brown rice, you might have to get white. Groceries cost more, because you have to buy whatever they have. Toilet paper is gold. So is frosting, for some reason. And Yeast. Sometimes milk.
You have to wait in line sometimes to get into grocery stores. You even have to wait in line in a cue to shop from home on grocery websites. Lots of things you can’t even get online, or even picked by a personal shopper. If you do go to a store, there is a new law that you have to wear a mask. It you don’t have a mask, you need to tie a scarf around your face.
Inconvenient, yes, but this is because of a horrible truth.
People are getting sick and dying. Lots of people.
Hospitals can’t keep up. New York has freezer trucks in parking lots to store the dead. People have to say goodbye to loved ones over the phone, if they get to say goodbye at all.
Not cool. Not cool at all.
And all of this started a little over a month ago. It seems a little surreal now, like we are lost in time. Sometimes I wonder if it will ever be that same. Normal will look different after this, and I have no idea what that will look like.
For now, I look at the positives:
- I’m spending more time with my kids.
- They are not complaining about the food, because they understand every meal is a blessing now, and nothing can be wasted.
- So far, we have managed to keep the virus out of the house.
- We are all healthy.
- We have a home.
- I know my kids are as safe as I can get them, even though we live in an epicenter
- Hopefully, we will soon see some unemployment money. (I’m confident we will)
No matter what, things could be worse, and I try to look at the bright side of things wherever possible.
We will get through this.
How, I don’t know… but I have to believe that things will get better. And maybe when this is all over, we will have learned a lot as a nation, and as a world, and we will know what to do the next time we are faced with a pandemic.
If you want to read something…
Anyway, for those of you who’d like to read, I’m lowering the price on most of my books to $.99 for a while. And I’m also dropping them all into Kindle Unlimited for those of you who want to take advantage of Amazon’s 30 days free offer, or their three months for $1.99 offer.
If you read on any other platforms, email me and I’ll try to help you out if I can.
Hunker in and stay safe, everyone. As my mother always said, “This too shall pass.”
I sure hope she was right.
[Hugs]
–Jennifer
Take me to Amazon to see all the books on sale and free in Kindle Unlimited!
Jennifer M Eaton 
Great summary of what is happening around the world right now and how quickly it came about. Thanks for sharing. Glad you and your family are safe and well.
This isn’t good at all, is it? I’m in Melbourne Australia. We have lock down as well, though it doesn’t seem as bad here. The numbers are much lower but the same precautions are being taken to reduce the spread. There are only 4 reasons to legally leave your house, or get a $1600 fine. 1 – Essential work or education if it cannot be done from home; 2 – to get food and supplies that we need; 3 – to provide or receive medical care; 4 – Exercise. The rules are quite vague in Victoria. People have been fined for being “Too far from home”. A girl was fined while practicing learning to drive with her mother, apparently too far from home and it being “non-essential travel”. A guy was fined for driving his bike to a bike track to exercise. Although these and many other fines have been overturned after public outcry and review. Public transport is eerily quiet. A normally packed rush hour train might have 6 people in a carriage. The streets are empty. Coffee shops are closed because it’s not worth opening. Most workers are either unemployed or working from home. Many restaurants have quickly converted to take-out only. Or not. Only the bike and running tracks are full of people, ironically, making the social distancing a little challenging because gyms, golf courses and all other indoor and outdoor sporting facilities are closed.
But we Aussies still have our sense of humour. People are dressing up to put their bins out (Look up “Bin Isolation Outing” on Facebook – Thankfully garbage collection is still considered essential, though I’m nervous about doing a tip-run for fear of a police officer disagreeing). Then there’s the Covid 19 song parodies from all around the world. It’s a great way to keep your sanity in these hard times.
Stay safe Jennifer! This will soon pass.
Hi Richard! It actually isn’t quite that bad here, even though we are in the second worst spot in the country. Even in New York, I don’t think you are fined for leaving the house. They just request that you don’t. We still go bike riding and running, but we keep 6 feet away if we see anyone else out.
Keep safe!