with rain comes rainbows
I started the morning trying to be normal. The boyfriend (Sorry: The Stallion is what I’m supposed to call him) and I got into a flash fight about nothing. We’re both tense. He’s super stressed about his family. His mom, who’s in her 80s, lives in NorCal and she’s healthy but she’s obviously high risk due to her age alone. His 11-year-old daughter also lives there and she’s lower risk, but these are scary times for grown-ups... We’re both touchy this morning about the reality that he can’t be in LA and NorCal at the same time and so he has to leave soon. It’s the right choice. No question. I’m strong. I’m low risk. I’m resourceful. He needs to be with them.
But now is the time when you want to be with your loved ones and I’m trying not to think about what happens if I get sick and I’m here all alone. Such are the choices of this once-in-a-century situation.
Today’s the day I actually started this blog. I spent an hour dumping a week’s worth of thoughts on paper retrospectively and now I’ll update it daily. It’s been tough writing up the past six days. It’s a lot. Things have changed dramatically in just a week.
This morning we ran an errand, dropping my car off at the body shop for a quick fix for a scraped rocker. I sideswiped my own house last week because I’m a dummy and was distracted and stressed. I asked the body shop guy to please call me if he got to a place where he might have to shut down and lock the gates before I can get my car back. I don’t want to be stuck here without a car. It’s full of gas and I’ve got a couple days worth of water in jugs in the garage with my camping supplies. If I have to leave, I can… as long as I get my car back. I guess I can safely plan to flee for about 300 miles before I run out of gas. Not sure that’s particularly useful. But I still want my car. “What if…” is a real question right now.
Mom made her first flight from Mexico to Toronto. She’s traveling with hand sanitizer and a scarf she’s using to shield her hands from things as she touches them. I feel like there’s a flaw in the logic that has to do with transferring potential viral contaminants to something she’s got near her face, but… She’s trying.
Apparently there’s some announcement coming from Canada’s Prime Minister midday. As she boarded her first flight, she asked me to tell her what it is.
The west side of Los Angeles feels quiet and safe. Quite a few people are out in twos and threes walking dogs or children. I was surprised yesterday to see restaurants by the Venice Pier with quite a few people in them, but then I realized many might be staying at nearby hotels and eating out is their only choice. I guess they’ll UberEats now that restaurants are closing doors here?
I went for a run this morning – again, around the canals and without my usual coffee shop stop in the middle of it – and saw a rainbow. I pointed it out to everybody I saw walking their dogs this morning and received a handful of, “at least there’s something nice in a time like this” comments. I put it on Instagram, too. With the caption, “It’ll be OK, friends. With rain comes rainbows. Be kind to each other out there.”
But here comes the rain.
At 12 p.m.:
“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced the federal government will close its borders to most people who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents as part of its efforts to combat COVID-19.”
“Canadians abroad should see this as the time to come back,” Mr. Trudeau said Monday. "Let me be clear, if you are abroad, it is time for you to come home," he said.
So mom is heading home, but now the question for me is: Do I stay or do I go? By this time next week, there won’t be any flights. And is America able to manage this?
And minutes later, this headline from the LA Times:
“As coronavirus spreads, 6 Bay Area counties will be ordered to ‘shelter in place’”
“The order, to be issued Monday afternoon, will put the six counties on perhaps the most restrictive public health footing anywhere in America since the outbreak of the potentially deadly coronavirus.
“Only police and fire departments, hospitals, grocery stores, pharmacies and a few other businesses will be allowed to remain open under the shelter-in-place order, said Goethals, who holds a master’s degree in public health.”
Germany has closed its borders. France will deploy 100,000 police to enforce a lockdown, and fixed checkpoints will be set up across the country. The latest USA guidelines, for 15 days, include a recommendation that people avoid social gatherings of more than 10 people, discretionary travel, and going to bars, restaurants and food courts.
It’s 2:45 p.m. on Monday and we’re trying to keep it normal. But things are not normal.
The Stallion has to leave. Now. A group text between friends is spreading a rumor that the National Guard is mobilizing. Snopes says this is a bull crap Twitter meme, but they are actually mobilizing in parts of this country. New York and New Jersey have both called them in. So what happens if sheltering in place isn’t enough? Will there be roadblocks like in Contagion?
Can’t risk it. He needs to be with his family and the window to travel may be closing. We packed up a couple of cases of extra water, toilet paper, and energy bars as we left the office. He left me behind with the key and the alarm code in case I need to have somewhere else to go or need something from the storage room while he’s gone.
I made a few sandwiches and the boyfriend and I had lunch together before it was time for him to go. Funny how fast your perspective changes. We didn’t even consider whether he should get on a plane, something he has done basically every normal weekend in the past eight years that we’ve been together. Nope. I packed a couple of extra sandwiches in a lunch bag and sent him on the seven-hour drive north a day early. He needs to be with his mother and daughter for this… Whatever this is… For sure. But I couldn’t help but cry as I hugged him goodbye. I urged him to grab a warm jacket in case he winds up having to sleep in his car. He’s racing the clock, now, in case something crazy happens… like martial law at midnight? A week ago this kind of thinking would be unfathomable. Now… I don’t know. When will I see him again? It will be weeks, at least. A lot is happening in days. What will the world look like in weeks? If Italy is any gauge, it won’t be pretty. 27,980 total cases there to-date; 2,158 deaths. In the USA: 4,459 known cases; 68 deaths.
It’s gray and overcast. This morning’s rainbow is long gone.
