The Guv says NY will be moving toward opening up again on June 8.
Things are slowly normalizing here: my favorite coffee shop is open again, but with acrylic shields to help the staff stay safe.
And honestly, when I saw the laundromat was open I nearly wept.
I can't wait to do the 400 pounds of wash that now have their own room and air cleaner in my apartment.
We're all in masks, and publishing seems to be "work from home" for the summer, but I think maybe, we're going to find a new balance.
The only thing that's still not certain is when the diocese will reopen the churches.
What will mark a turning point for you?
ReplyDeleteMy wife works on line with Advertising Companies located in Amsterdam, and my work is renovations and landscaping on our 50 acres. I have 8 acres of vines that require my constant attention, so our lives had been impacted so minutely by quarantining.
What I miss is gathering with friends at the small villages when they have their gourmet fetes. These are during the afternoon on the weekends, and in the evening during the working days.
On a side note, all motivation to write has dried up. My daughter said something interesting, that due to the inability for the body to go into the fight or flight mode in regards to this virus, there is another mode previously not quantified that might explain my lack of desire to write.
Stay well, stay strong, and be positive.
A few renegade garage sales have opened! That is my love language.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure it's going to feel normal for a long time, but next week will be the turning point for me because The Hub and Barbarians start back at work and school.
ReplyDeleteI think it will be June 17th for me. The Premier League resumes and I can watch footie again. Liverpool can win their first league trophy in thirty years. I know, I know...weird measure of things but I am a football (soccer) fanatic.
ReplyDeleteThe school district is staying closed until new school year so will be working remote through summer. We still do not have a definite go ahead to open the schools. That will also help. The rest of the state has been opening slowly for the last few weeks. I went to a bookshop Wednesday and it was weird. Everyone in masks, the acrylic shields between sales and customer. Still, it was nice to be in a shop again.
Hubs has been back to work for three weeks now. Garage sales are popping up here and there. Even though Whitless thought she could extend the stay at home until June 16th, and then proceeded to slowly open places and businesses which makes no sense to me, when this last SAM was extended, people said enough. Groups of 10 or less are pointless when Whitless opens the area where her vacation home is and then proceeds to have a graduation party. The hypocrisy astounds me sometimes. So our 'turning point' has pretty much passed and we're all getting out and about though with masks. Small price to pay to actually see a living person. And those who aren't ready yet, don't have to go out yet. That's the beauty of it. What works for one might not for another and that's okay.
ReplyDeletefrench sojourn do either of you follow cooking blogs? There's a wonderful little blog called Thyme for Cooking done by an ex-pat living somewhere in France though I can't remember the area offhand. She has wonderful recipes where most everything comes from her potager, but she also posts the most beautiful pictures of her area in France and talks about life, rabbits, the farmers 'next door'. Just thought I'd mention it.
We live on the edge of the biggest hotspot. When I can hug my grandchildren, (one has compromised health), I will know we are on the way to a new normal. I am lucky because we live close enough to press our hands against glass and speak love, separated face to separated face, yet it is heartbreaking. I cry all the way home.
ReplyDeleteOur parish is reopening sort of (no choir, tickets to Mass, etc) this weekend. Night before last at work I helped with a memorial for a co-worker who passed away. This morning I'm entering church for the first time since March for a funeral for a fellow choir member. It's the first time the choir can't sing for one of our own and that hurts as well.
ReplyDeleteI've been working the whole time, so I feel as though I've been living in a parallel universe. We've been working reduced hours, which will probably go away next week. Most hospitals are still bleeding money, so we've been doing a lot with a lot fewer people. Hopefully that will change and we will recover too.
My response to stress is working out, so very glad at least a couple of shops opened so I could get pants that fit and don't risk me getting arrested for them falling down in public.
I'm glad the theme parks are at least talking about reopening. A lot of people here are hurting.
Wishing everyone a safe and happy recovery.
Sadly, I feel that the turning point for many people here has already been. Too many people, at least.
ReplyDeleteWhen I go out to do grocery shopping, I am astonished every time how sloppy people around me and others are regarding social distancing. And it has been like that for a while - BEFORE the lockdown was eased for the first time.
The youth are gathering in groups when it's not even allowed yet. Yesterday I saw the first of them spitting on the ground again. I've never understood how this is something they feel they have to do here in the UK...
Yes, I AM frustrated! The UK has the second highest death rate in the world at this point. 38,000 are dead.
Germany, for example, with 16 Million more people, have seen 8,500 death.
I leave it at that.
The turning point for me will be when I am able to see and hold my now 3-week granddaughter and my husband. My daughter is only 8 miles away. My husband is in Denmark. We live in CT and Europe. I was stateside when the lockdowns started and he was there. We miss each other terribly but neither of us is anxious to board a plane.
ReplyDeleteI hope that my daughter will soon feel it's safe enough for close family to see the baby. My husband is hoping to join me stateside in late August.
Things are quiet in suburban Cincinnati. Meat is rationed, our food selection is limited, but we can shop.
ReplyDeleteThe Cincinnati-Hamilton County library system is starting a slow re-opening. Four libraries have drive-up and two have curbside for current holds (they shut down the holds system March 26th). New holds June 1st. Accepting returns June 1st.
Our local branch is usually a beehive of activity in the summer: reading program, story and movie hours, tutoring, computers and printers, central a/c. Opening the building while observing social distancing will be difficult.
Our farmer's market opened last Saturday. It was like magic.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThe turning point was last Friday when we were able to dine-in. The tables were properly spaced out and the staff were incredible. The whole mood was cheerful.
Drove over two and a half hours to a friendly state to visit the grave of my great-great grandfather who died in 1937. Walked around a river and had lunch at a cafe with outdoor seating. Probably the first time in my life that I've driven that far for lunch!
A turning point? When my dad can get an antibody test. Either he almost died from an ordinary flu in February or he had Covid. If he’s had it we can relax a little.
ReplyDeleteAlso, when either covid or a vaccine actually gets here. We’ve only had two confirmed cases within 500 miles. The result is that the hoax folks are in full cry. The paranoia and arguing is a little hard to take some days.
Not that we compare in any way to what you've been through. You’ll never look at a laundromat the same way again.
There are two things that will mark the turning point for me. Neither of those will be the old normal because that is gone.
ReplyDeleteThe first will be when the powers that be get all their homework done and use some knowledge to open things. The world is too complex for simple proclamations to work well.
The second is when the grocery stores are no longer a scavenger hunt. When you can go and get what you want. There are too many holes in the shelves and they rotate around. If you see toilet paper, paper towels, or napkins, you buy them. It could be weeks before you see any of those things again.
Maybe the turning point has already passed me by and I missed it because it is so different from what I am expecting.
Nobody here in masks. Even at the medical clinic. Life feels the same as it ever was. With only one case, this community is convinced the virus has passed them by. Or, like the guy in the hardware store, that it is a hoax.
ReplyDeleteA vaccine will mark a turning point for me. And that's providing that immunity to this turns out to function more like smallpox (God willing) than the common cold.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that parts of things are reopening means that people from closed areas will travel to them (already ARE traveling to them), possibly bringing the virus in where people assume is is "safe" because, well, things are open right? Yes, we're still being cautioned to socially distance and wear masks but...so many people never did that in the first place.
- When I can sit and work in a coffee shop again
ReplyDelete- When all the shops I want to go to are open.
I had hoped to go out this week for some errands. The kids have outgrown ALL their clothes, but the shops I need to go to aren't open yet. Certainly doesn't feel normal. Also, I can't wait until I can take my laptop and settle into a table at Starbucks and write for hours.
The day is coming, and I'll wait patiently for it, but everything is so different. It *feels* different.
June 7th when I land back home in France. I'm a little apprehensive getting on a plane, but I'm hoping it'll be partially empty as the border is still closed to travelers except for citizens and long term residents.
ReplyDelete(I should say closed to travelers outside the EU.)
ReplyDeleteHere in L.A., everything is starting to open up but that doesn't mean it's safe to return to life as it was. When I can gather in person with my spiritual community, no masks needed, hugs ok, that will be the turning point for me. Oh, and when players AND fans return to Dodger Stadium. Believe me, I know both are a long way off.
ReplyDeleteThe things I miss most seem to be at the very end of Phase 3: going to my hairdresser, getting a pedicure, buying a new pair of jeans and getting them shortened, going to our favourite restaurants and coffee shops. I hope all those places are still in business when things finally open up.
ReplyDeleteMy hairdresser's daughter was going to have her baby in early April. How scary for all of them, and lonely and frustrating for my hairdresser who has never seen the baby in person.
Today is our 27th wedding anniversary. We're celebrating with a delivered pizza, Chardonnay, and my chocolate pots de creme.
A turning point for me will be when we actually see 14 days of decreasing cases which health experts said would need to be a condition for re-opening. Friday we had the highest new cases in a single day for our county, the state is still rising in # of cases, yet we are moving to Phase 2- indoor restaurants, salons, camps, gatherings. People are traveling to beaches and crowded boardwalks, bars, restaurants without wearing masks. So for some, the pandemic is OVER because places are re-opening. As for myself, we have risk factors and are staying home. The virus is still out there and it doesn't look like we have control of it just yet.
ReplyDeleteTurning point: When my wee extrovert can hug everyone she meets.
ReplyDeleteWe moved mid-quarantine so, in many ways, this is the first we are getting to know our community. What astonishes me is how well our neighbors have supported us already.
Our county has cracked oh-so-slightly open. We can hike with friends, the library drops off books, the yarn store will open. It feels like I can breathe again--an ironic metaphor.
There will be church soon, but I feel ill at ease about singing. Not for my own sake.
I can't stop thinking of the death toll among our African American neighbors in Detroit or our Hispanic neighbors in NY or our neighbors who immigrated to work at the meatpacking plant here. Friends want to "just live our lives" and let the chips fall, which doesn't impress me coming from someone as low-risk, white, and middle class as I am. We aren't the ones suffering.
The price is paid by those who live in neighborhoods with systemically limited access to food and medical care, going to essential jobs without adequate protective gear or hazard pay. Who can't choose to work from home and can't get their needs met because they're meeting ours.
This has been a hard spring, but so easy for my family, relatively. We are so blessed, and so privileged.
We've had it easy; despite being a densely-populated port city and international air transport hub, our infection rate did not explode, and we didn't go into one of these enforced lockdowns many others have been in. I've been free to go for walks and go to the supermarket or drug store whenever I wanted, though most other businesses were closed. Now our world is opening up again, and the big concern is not to ruin it all by being careless. The dangerous time will be when they open the border with the U.S., as we get so many travellers through here.
ReplyDeleteMy turning point will be when I can go sit with a coffee and watch people in the street without feeling like I should be getting danger pay.
Nightmusic, I checked out her blog, how fun. She is listed as being in Marmande (Think Tomoaoes.. lol)...20 miles from me. I don't know her, but will follow her blog as it looks delicious and I am turning into a good cook in my old age. I know a couple ladies that are ex-pats that have serious cooking chops. I will see if they have blogs and will pass those on. Stay well. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteWhen my roommate takes the dang tin foil hat off.
ReplyDeleteWe live in NYC, but we've been quarantining separately since March (me in GA, her in Ohio). We are lucky enough to both be in places where the impact has been extremely minimal. But she has gotten it into her head that the whole thing was a hoax cooked up by politicians to seize and keep emergency powers. She has sent me numerous screenshots of some reddit thread to support her claim. I can see where some of it is coming from, buuuuuutttt....people really are dead. It's not a giant conspiracy.
ReplyDeleteThe turning point for me will be when I don't have a variation of the below conversation with my clients almost every day.
Client: Tenants in my building are – choose all that apply:
___ playing loud music 24/7
___ hosting parties with 100+ people
___ cursing and swearing and throwing things at other residents
___ leaving the water running in the unit with the sink blocked so it overflows into the downstairs unit
___ pulling out the wires from the electrical breaker box and making the entire building go dark
___ yanking doors off hinges
___ breaking windows
___ vandalizing other residents' cars
___ selling drugs
___ manufacturing meth
___ starting fires
___ brawling with other residents in the building
___ threatening to kill other residents if they complain – choose any which apply: (a) ___ while brandishing a baseball bat, (b) ___ while waving a handgun, (c) ___ while aiming a handgun
Me: Have you called the police?
Client: Yes, they either do nothing, cite and release, or book and release. The tenants come back and jeer at me “hahahaha you can't stop me!”
Me: We can start an eviction case but we have to convince a judge to allow the case to move forward.
Client: Okay let's do that. What are the chances a judge will allow this case to move forward?
Me: Depends on the judge and the severity of what the tenant is doing. Out of the 8 we've filed, ONE has been allowed to move forward.
Client: My head hurts.
Me: Yep, mine too.
Yes, these have been actual issues my clients are dealing with since mid-March. And yes, only ONE out of EIGHT requests have been granted.
Today, for the first time in ten weeks, I spoke to a human being offline. Even though I'm a complete introvert, that did feel like a special occasion.
ReplyDeleteThis past week, I have started to see signs of life at the local football (soccer) stadia. I'm a bit apprehensive about them restarting the Premier League season, but it has been sad to walk past two abandoned stadia every day.
Being able to leave my city again will also be wonderful. I took the train down to London in early March. Nothing since. My mum confirmed that that is the longest time I have ever been in one place in my entire life. It's a new adventure, but I do look forward to public transport being okay to use for non-essential travel once more.
June 8th here too! My son's H.S. has settled on a graduation of sorts. On June 8th, we will drive up to the front of the school, get out of our car with him in cap and gown, walk to the doors, receive a diploma, and then pose for a professional picture. After this we will get back in our car and drive off so the next senior can do the same thing. The school will be doing this every day in five minute slots for a week, and that's how they will process all the graduates.
ReplyDeleteIt's better than the nothing I thought it was going to be and we'll have a nice picture at the end, which is more than I have of my own very normal inner-city graduation.
So here's a toast to June 8th!!!!
The retirement residence I live in has been under lockdown since mid-March. The turning point will be when lockdown is lifted.
ReplyDeleteHere, churches are opening this weekend, but in a very limited capacity. Currently, provincial law says no more than 10 people may gather, so Father is having 3 masses each weekend and 4 weekday masses, each mass having only 10 people present, including Father, a reader, and an usher. There are other restrictions and protocols that must be followed, but at least 30 people (in total, over 3 masses) will be able to attend mass in person this weekend.
As long as the number of current cases does not rise, the province will raise that limit to 30 people sometime in June.
As long as they don't open too quickly, and keep an eye on outbreaks, I'm cautiously optimistic.
Our numbers of new cases/hospitalizations/deaths are all still rising here in NC. So I guess a turning point would be if they ever begin to fall. Or, in a negative turn, when they begin to rise drastically, which they will do during the second wave.
ReplyDeleteThe positive turning point for me will be when we find an effective treatment or develop a vaccine. Or perhaps if they ever conclude that immunity from having had it is a real thing, provided the antibody tests are ever reliably accurate.
I sincerely hope those of you whose lives have not been touched by this virus continue to enjoy good health.
One turning point for me was going on a walkabout date with one of my goddaughters. We washed hands and walked holding hands for a bit, and actually hugged (albeit in masks, with heads turned away). Touch is my love language; that was the first human contact besides my wife I'd had in 7 weeks at that point.
ReplyDeleteAnother small one was last weekend. We had people over for two different picnics in the back yard. Ten feet apart, but at least they were there.
The big one will be when the daily case counts are down and stay down for two weeks. That's when Sharon is comfortable with us going back to church, hugging people we trust are being careful, maybe (maybe) eating at a restaurant. She works with pregnant women, many of whom are poor and/or minorities, and therefore at higher risk. So we can't take chances.
At least I love working from home!
Turning point yet to happen: the gyms re-opening again. Hubby needs it!
ReplyDeleteWe've been more blessed than most here in Australia; and in my immediate family too. Both Hubby and I have remained employed, so our kids have been travelling to and from school campus for their education as per usual (children of essential workers could still attend campus here) so our routines remained consistent throughout lockdown.
Work's been busy. As a teacher, I've been working what feels like double to cater for online learning; and in the library part of my job, as the only Librarian in my school it's fallen to me to develop and implement our re-opening procedures. We had Kindy kids, Preps, Year 1s, and Years 11 and 12 students return three weeks ago; last Monday we had everyone else. But no-one's allowed in the Library yet, and I'm doing 'click and collect' (well, it's click and delivery, really) for all borrowing at the moment. Which is good, but I have a feeling it'll wear thin really quickly!
So yes, the biggest turning points for me have been already: just the gym to re-open now, and that'll keep Hubby happy. He's one of those COVID19 deniers, so to get him back into his endorphin-producing routine would be good!
What will mark a turning point for you?
ReplyDeleteWhen I can drive home to see my kitty.
Our state (Texas) is open with certain safeguards put in place.
ReplyDeleteMy church is open, with limitations. The six-foot social distancing requirement limits attendance to 100 people, who must register in advance (servers, volunteers and singers are in addition to the 100). I am a volunteer. Even though the announcements recommend wearing masks, I'd estimate only ten percent or so of worshipers donned masks.
I love music. Three of my favorite singers performed here this weekend at local clubs.So tempted to go, but I worried about coronavirus and stayed home.
I called to see if my dental appointment was cancelled.They said come on in so I had my teeth cleaned Friday. I've also had my regularly scheduled doctor checkup recently.
Except to pick up orders, I've avoided restaurants (but they are open).
Other than restaurants and bars, which I miss tremendously, my next big decision to when to head out to the tennis courts and to a barber shop (and when to to start a diet to get back into my tennis shorts).
I did visit Wildseed Farms, a private sort of nursery/botanical gardens, mid-week. Few other visitors. Quite pleasant.
Western Australia, one of the most isolated places on Earth, is slowly opening up. Only internally, of course, as we're keeping our borders firmly closed while the rest of the world is more dangerous.
ReplyDeleteStill, I won't feel safe until Donut Day, when all of Australia has reached fourteen consecutive days of 0 new cases.