April Fool's Day is Canceled!

US Numbers as of 3:50pm on 4/1/2020: 203,608 infections and 4,476 deaths. 1,139 in NY alone. But again, we have to remember that they aren't testing everyone. Some of my friends have been sent home presumptive positive. Never heard those words in my life. Yes, they have bad symptoms but they don't warrant hospitalization, so they don't get a test. Therefore, they don't have to tell folks that they may have been infected because they just don't know. So many stories like this. But here we are. No one is laughing. Florida finally shut down. No April Fool's joke can compare to real life right now. Everyone is scared and guess what trump is talking about? His ratings. Yeah, the rating on his Coronavirus Task Force daily briefings! They are higher than Monday Night Football and Bachelor Finale. WTF!? He is really delusional. He is not the people's president. Folks are tuning in because they are SCARED and they need reassurance and guidance. They want information...let me correct that, CORRECT information! I still try to watch everyday. He is trying to read the statement as written but still ad libs. Then he tries to answer questions and sounds like a fool! He lies and covers up and doesn't take any blame for anything. It's appalling! I only watch to listen to Fauci and Dr. Birx to get the facts. We still try to catch Cuomo's briefing, but we are still trying to be productive at work as well. They are talking about having more guidelines for masks and their daily use. Turns out the countries that have culture norms for wearing masks already have fared better in the numbers of infections. Of course, we still don't know if the numbers that China gave us were accurate. That's even more frightening since it started there. Italy and Spain are going through it now. UKs Boris Johnson has tested positive and he's one of those that wanted to wait it out and ride the wave. Crazy! So here we are. Quarantined, Day 18 I think. All the days are running together. We stay up late watching TV. Then scroll our phones to wake up in the morning. Then we work off and on. I finally cleaned the floors today. It was soooo bad. So much dirt. I brought up the new cheerful rug from the basement. Stella is happy to get the peacock rug downstairs, too. She keeps rolling around on it. I'm cleaning the rugs and towels. Again, just trying to get stuff done. I finally found a few things I was missing when we were cleaning up the yard last weekend. I found my lighthouses and my winter cover for the car! They were in the shed! I can't wait to tear down that other shed. We have to clean that out as well. So much stuff in there to organize. We need to prepare the garden beds. Tons of projects to keep us busy - I have a list. You know, folks are talking about how this isn't much different for them - staying at home. I can see that. I got so tired of being at home all the time, too, since I work from home. So I created a schedule and a project list months ago. It kept me from going crazy or sitting down too much. So it does feel a little the same. Unfortunately for some, this is very different. They have no job. They are running out of food and money. Not sure how to pay their rent. Or, on the other side of the coin, they have a job still and are terrified to go into work everyday. Some of my friends are doctors and nurses. They aren't even allowed to talk about what's going on at the hospital. They don't have enough equipment and then they have to come home to their families and attempt to not get them sick. I can't even imagine. Some aren't even doctors and nurses, they work in a factory or a grocery store. Same fears. Same lack of protection. Some under so much stress and around sick people who may have been forced to come to work or they lose their jobs! So I have lots to be grateful for. But I continue to be concerned for myself and my family and friends. Who will be next? How many will we lose? Am I safe to go out? We are both scared. What will the future look like? How will this change the world? The light that is shining on the darkness places of our society must not be in vain. We must illuminate our essential workers and pay them a living wage and protect them. We must not forget or leave behind our marginalized communities. It's not about us. It's about them. It's about what we can do for the sick, the poor, the elderly, the infirmed. We must look for the helpers to be encouraged. We must use kindness in everyday interactions. We must stay connected to our humanity and each other.