Locked In

So Okay, a LOT has happened since my last entry, which anybody living in the United States with internet access certainly already knows! I mean...since Thursday night two weeks ago we've all been more or less confined to our homes. Those of us with a fear of death that is. To my amazement there seem to be a lot of others out there completely unconcerned about the current state affairs, probably walking around the city marveling at how clean and empty the streets are. For my part, I have done my utmost to stay on top of the developing situation with the Coronavirus, while at the same time trying NOT to lose my mind and despair. Most of last week I was walking around my apartment in a daze, absolutely dumb-founded by the way things seemed to have change--feeling fragile as I have most of this horrible year so far. I also did a fair amount of sleeping in and feeling sorry for myself, surfing the Net and trying to fill a void in my life that I had no idea how to fill, since I'd spent my life up until that point BUILDING around the things I now had to omit: -- Trips to the museum (nixed) -- Concerts (nixed) -- Church (nixed) -- Doing my own grocery shopping (nixed) -- volunteering at a music venue or church where people gathered (nope) -- Talking long walks as far as I wanted to go (not happening) It's been these four walls, and occasionally going down to the lobby to get my mail (blessedly still working), or to the garbage (blessedly still in operation). That's it. So like everyone, I've done some adjusting. I thought 2020 was going to be one way, but now that's changing. First on a State level, as our governor is expected to issue a "shelter in place" or Lockdown for the entire state of Michigan beginning in two hours. Because there are those in this mad world who still refuse to see Coronavirus as a threat--indeed I have talked to them. I have heard them laughing and coughing and socializing outside my door in the hallway as if nothing in the world has happened. As if the WHOLE world hasn't changed. It has, kids. It has. Of course nobody wants to believe it, especially in their Twenties. But at this point none of us can afford to ignore it any more. I believe this state-wide mandate will gradually work its way West, contrary to political election results and weather patterns! How ironic. That means we're in for a Wuhan China situation, and none of us will see each other in 3-D for quite some time. And it's frightening. Don't get me wrong. This entry feels a little lighthearted as I'm writing it, and maybe it comes across that way as you're reading it. But I am very afraid. Under certain Lockdown protocol, it's okay to venture out for groceries. And I hope that means that somebody can go shopping FOR me. Whether it be the service I always use or a friend...but if not, I'll just make it work. By the grace of God I have plenty of everything already in my possession, and I will be able to ride out this fiasco if it goes for a week or longer. It's the Co-Vid deniers who refuse to acknowledge the threat to human life that worry me. On Twitter the term "Co-Vidiot" is trending to refer to these folks, and they are everywhere. The depth of their delusion astonishes and saddens me. I cannot understand how they can be so cavalier with their own lives and the lives of others who they could unwittingly be spreading the Virus to. I know this is hard. I can't deny it's a huge disruption to our lives and our livelihood--but change is constant. Change is the ONLY constant. And if we can't move with it we are doomed. That's the thing about Lockdown. It will go on longer and longer if the Covidiots refuse to acknowledge it. If they keep walking around as normal and acting like nothing matters--and no ONE matters--that's exactly what will be taken from them. Everything and everyone. Slowly but surely.