The Feast of the Annunciation
Wednesday, Self-Isolation Day #12
Half the population of the United States is under lockdown now and ours officially begins tomorrow at 8:00 a.m.
Meanwhile, Chris has been telling me fervently for nearly two weeks how the coronavirus data is totally unreliable (and enumerating why) and now I'm reading those concerns coming out publicly from Very Big, Smart Groups.
- Oxford-Based Group Stops Using WHO Data for Coronavirus Reporting, Citing Errors
- Stanford Professors: Coronavirus Death Rate Estimate Likely ‘Orders Of Magnitude Too High’
- Why coronavirus stats can be misleading, resulting in overblown projections
Throughout it all and with the Catholic Church shutting its doors to the faithful, the liturgical calendar's pages keep flipping: today was the Feast day of the Annunciation! I made a fancier breakfast than usual of waffles (traditional, even if frozen, ha!), bacon, sausages, eggs, and strawberries.
Homeschooling marches on . . . Because my curriculum is established, I had not yet tried any of the plethora of free online resources coming available. Today I tried something new for the first time, having the little boys watch the ten a.m. live talk about red wolves out of the NC Zoo, which is doing talks on different animals Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at ten.
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| Thomas playing with Flexees |
The girls practice their violins daily on the front porch, which we hope is an enjoyment for the cooped-up neighbors.
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| Mary practicing violin outdoors |
I knew that the sun was due to appear and temperatures to rise mid-day so I encouraged the children to finish their school with rapidity so we could really get outdoors today. They did it: they all completed every assignment by noon, like a miracle! At 12:06 as we were praying the Angelus before lunch, I truly saw the clouds part for the first time in days and sun fill the sky!
We've added in several new prayers during this time at home, some of which will be temporary, but one we desire to be permanent is praying the Angelus before each of the three meals. We did this years ago when the children were small and are trying to establish the habit anew.
After lunch, I sat outdoors reading Silas Marner (1861) from a treasured 1898 copy of the book recently received as a keepsake from my deceased grandfather's possessions. I'm trying to read something fine to distract myself. Whoever read this book originally wrote notes throughout in the margins, as I did in all my literature books throughout high-school and college, so I feel kinship with this anonymous reader.
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| Bumblebee in the fruit trees |
Later I went on a walk with the four boys, my biggest son playing street hockey for the whole mile and a half: he's good!
Then we experienced an adventure! I was laying down David for a nap when my seven-year-old burst into the bedroom (verboten!), gasping with excitement, "I've found a lizard! He is huge! And spiny!" The children find lizards daily, so I shooed the boy away and resumed naptime routine. Minutes later, he slammed back into the room, an old cell phone in hand with photographic proof of the prized creature, WHICH HAD NOW BEEN CAPTURED BY BIG BROTHER JOHN. It was so exciting that Joseph did not even get in trouble for twice interrupting the toddler's nap.
John did very detailed investigation and believes he has identified this fella (and it is a fella, not a gal!) as a Southwestern Fence Lizard (not Western, not Eastern). As those are found wild only in Arizona, we think this guy was a pet escaped or abandoned. I've put out photos on our neighborhood Facebook page, but we're trying to figure out what to do if nobody claims him.
After dinner, our family watched the Annunciation Mass live-streamed online and enjoyed dessert!
Bonus Reading for Meditation and Posterity
- SAY “NO” TO DEATH’S DOMINION (This is possibly the best article I've read in a long time.)
- Blind fear of death should not guide policy
There is a fair amount of conflicting information out there, but the one thing we know is that this virus is not behaving like other viruses we've seen, including SARS and MERS which are also coronaviruses.
ReplyDeleteIt is really difficult to be under a shelter-in-place order--my best friend in California has been under one for weeks now, and our in Washington went into full effect yesterday. The only places I'm going these days are the grocery store, Starbucks (drive-thru only and with gloves), and physical therapy. I cried my eyes out on Saturday when I had to make the decision to stop helping record worship for my (Episcopal) church because it really does feel like every life-giving thing for me has been taken away. I ended up being able to do the behind-the-scenes geeking to get everything live streaming from home, so I was able to contribute, but I really miss my church community. Unfortunately, we're an older congregation and COVID-19 would decimate us.
The big reason my family and I are taking this so seriously? I ended up in the hospital with pneumonia and sepsis last February from metapneumovirus, a minor virus that causes runny noses in children. I went from zero to sepsis in three days due to an undiagnosed clotting disorder, and I'm still amused (due to the dark sense of humor developed from being on a first name basis with the pediatric ER doctors at UC Davis Medical Center when my kid ended up in there every 3 months in respiratory distress) at how fast the ER staff started jumping when my blood test results came in and showed that I was in deep trouble. I spent three days in an isolation room on droplet precaution where everybody had to wash up and gown/glove/mask up to see me. It wasn't until I was out of the hospital that I realized how sick I was. I was on serious antibiotics and weekly bloodwork for a while because I'm asthmatic and my severe anemia exacerbated things. COVID-19 *LOVES* lungs, so my asthma (as well as my son's) mean that I would be in SEVERE trouble if I caught it.
My former Episcopal priest up here is a chaplain at an assisted living facility where they have cases and some deaths. She is now on a first name basis with the CDC and DOH people there who are trying to control the spread. When we message each other on Facebook at night, she has told me almost every day how contagious it is.
Please honor the shelter-in-place order. It is a massive inconvenience, but we also are going to be in serious trouble if the spread isn't arrested really fast. If you don't want to believe me, look at what is happening in Italy, where they are almost at the point of rationing care... and multiple priests have died, including one who gave up the ventilator his parishioners purchased for him so it could go to a patient with a greater chance of survival.
Dear Katherine,
ReplyDeleteI find your thoughts on the pandemic situation thought provoking. Although your blog is primarily your family chronicle of events published in the public realm I appreciate your thoughts and also additional information. Thank you for allowing comments for an opportunity to express a point of view. Here’s my personal rant on the pandemic.
I think this is something that we will not fully understand until it’s all over. Since it is new, there’s no vaccine and no “herd immunity” to protect us we have at least a moral obligation to try to stop it’s rapid spread. I think it’s wrong to label it as an old person’s death sentence and that the country will be economically devastated just to save a few old people. I’m exaggerating of course. Irregardless of the statistics I find it appalling that the media continues to say or imply this. I think it gives younger people the impression that they don’t have to be careful that it won’t harm them. From the demographics that I have read of those who have tested positive the highest percentage around 50% are people in the 20-39 age range while the percentages of older people 70+ are much lower. I’m no expert but uniformly from country to country it appears that persons in the younger group are the spreaders. So let them go to work get each other sick, recover and let’s isolate the elderly. I’m exaggerating. But I’m really tired of hearing how saving a few old people will ruin the economy forever.
My 87 year old father who has cancer lives with me. I’m in the 50+ group and I am absolutely terrified that I if I get sick I could infect him or I could die and he wouldn’t have a caretaker. Although I work from home and we have no need to go out except for food or medicine. I take great precautions but I’m afraid I could accidentally become infected. Since March 14th the last time I went to a crowded Harris Teeter, I now regret, I’ve been counting the days praying I wasn’t infected. On Sunday evening March 22 I made a trip to CVS to pick up medication. I used the drive through thinking it would be safer than going inside. I wore rubber gloves but did not think it necessary to wear a mask. When I drove up to the pharmacy drive through window I opened my window to speak to the young lady attending the drive through. I expected her to speak to me using the speaker. Instead she shoved open the window and a huge wind from the store blew into my face. I was terrified and ordered her to close it immediately and use the drawer. Now I’m counting days (incubation days) again. On Monday the Mecklenburg county commissioner finally decided to publish the demographics of positives specifically by zip code. Again I was terrified to learn that my area had the highest number of positives in the county. Of course we should assume that there are a lot more positives than have actually been tested perhaps many more infected in my area. Had I known I would never even gone near that store. I would have had it delivered. For all of us it really is a situation of who knows.
To the young people, this will not last forever. We all have an obligation to protect each other. Please stay home with your families and do not congregate in groups and spread the virus.
I think it’s wonderful that your children will have a chronicle of these historic events as well as their daily activities and adventures.
I really think the country will come out stronger than before. We have a resilient pioneer spirit.
As a wise man, a renowned scientist and a Christian, once said “we’re all in this mess together”. How true.
Ann
Amen to all of that, Ann.
DeletePrayers for your protection Jen and for our country.
DeletePS My husband just helped me calculate the actual percentage of the Mecklenburg County population as of today 3/26/20 that is known to be infected with Coronavirus. Out of a population of 1,077,000 people only 204 persons have thus far tested positive. That is just .019% of the population. Still seemingly rare. But since one doesn’t know where the invisible enemy is lurking percentages aren’t very comforting. Let’s nip it in the bud. My heart goes out to the Italians and other countries who’ve been devastated by widespread sickness because actions to stop the spread were not taken early on. Ann
ReplyDeleteDear Jen and Ann,
ReplyDeleteTo answer your implied question, yes, our family is following the guidelines to stay home and we were following them for two weeks before the local Proclamation to Stay at Home.
I understand that it is very personally frightening to be a vulnerable person or to have a loved one who is vulnerable. We also have loved ones--relatives, elderly, local friends who are age-peers, and children of our friends--who are very vulnerable due to comorbidities. If one of them catches COVID-19 and dies, we will scream and grieve, as would anyone. I don't describe them on my blog because they would be identifiable and I would be invading their privacy.
Yes, young people are catching COVID-19, a statistic which will probably be shockingly high when we finally develop an antibodies test. However, 99% of those dying are elderly and with comorbidities. Most people who catch this have a mild illness or are asymptomatic.
It is a very difficult subject to discuss--and I will not succeed--without sounding like a crass person who just wants old people to up and die and spare us all their uselessness. I'm a devout Christian and value all life. (What is disgusting and horrific is all these politicians claiming "anything for just one life!" while continuing to exempt abortion clinics, allowing them to murder thousands of babies daily during this COVID-19 event.)
However, our personal loved ones do not make for good science. Our decisions about what we do about our economy have real consequences, including real deaths. When we cause the country to collapse, possibly to face upcoming Venezuela-style inflation (they are starving to death there), businesses to shutter that will never open again, retirements to be lost (without enough years for those people to regain their investments), people to die because an objectively much smaller number of people died of an illness than are dying of many other causes, we are not really doing triage. For example, we decide that the societal benefits of driving cars is worthwhile, even though 36,000 people died from automobile deaths last year. We choose not to shut down the economy despite an average 34,000 people dying of influenza yearly, because we know that shutting down the economy for that would be far more deadly to far more people than influenza.
Looking at causes of death and numbers in this country is an interesting exercise because it reveals the risks we choose to take rather than shut down the economy:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm
I simply am *trying* to look at this situation with a calm head and advocate for rational decisions based on actual statistics, not bloated, false models and terrifying predictions. There will always be sorrowful anecdotal stories that make us weep (including me), but those do not make for good decision-making or actual science.
We certainly will not know the real situation until several years in the future, I think. It will make a fascinating study in retrospect.
Absolutely agree with you. We must be rational about this and consider the economic consequences. Hopefully though this temporary shelter in place will slow down the spread so that the hospitals do not become overwhelmed with sick people as they have in other countries. Peace be with us all. Ann
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