Life in the Age of Corona

A Daily Diary

Monday, September 7th, 2020

Six Months

Today is the day we have done #stayhome for half a year or six months. This is hard to believe. In a way it feels like so much longer and then again time seems to have just passed by, one day more or less like the other, with minor adjustments to schedules and a sigh of relief when pools reopened and Aikido practice with masks and weapons returned, impacting our daily routines. The realization that the pandemic is here to stay, for a while at least, has meant we left the complete lock down we did the first three months at the end of May, starting Memorial Day, which is also the beginning of summer, to give our lives some semblance of normal. Other than that, one day is like the next.

This has also been the first summer for as long as I can remember that we have not travelled home or the years I lived in Germany gone away anywhere (I am discounting our two short escape to the local shores and our day drives to the lake).
Our diving trip to Puerto Rico – cancelled.
EM’s trip to her father – cancelled.
The trip EM and her two girl friends had planned to visit 15 universities in eight countries over three weeks – cancelled.
Testing in April, where I was going to test for 4th Kyu – cancelled.
My plans to attend the cherry blossom Aikido seminar which Shobukan hosts – cancelled.
The Aikido seminar I had signed up for hosted by Shoshin Dojo in Berlin with 13 teachers from 12 countries – cancelled.
Meeting the girls in Madrid and going on to Lisbon – cancelled.
Most importantly spending time with mum and friends in Hamburg – cancelled. Time with my brilliant friend with pre-existing conditions - cancelled.
And still, we are not unhappy, but rather trying to make the best of the hand we have been dealt.

EM has found a boyfriend. She has three friends she meets socially distanced in an outside space regularly and one friend whose family is our social pod. Virtual school is not the same, but I think not as terrible as feared. We have a handful of people we meet for socially distanced outdoor meals. We undertook a lot of day trips. This intense togetherness, while it has its downsides, has brought EM and me even closer together, despite the occasional tiff. This is her last year living at home, which is very hard to fathom.

Today I celebrated six months of confinement by being out and about. After a sleep in and a leisurely breakfast I met my friend Maureen at the Washington Canoe Club and we paddled once around Roosevelt Island. Washington from and on the water is beautiful. It was a gorgeously sunny day so we hung out on the dock for a bit after and will definitely repeat this. I will just need to make sure I grab longer oars next time. Somehow I ended up with a kids version and as a result had to work much harder. I am sure I shall feel it in my arms tomorrow.

I headed home in time to have caramelized salmon and salad with EM for lunch before I made my way to the pool and she went exploring abandoned houses with the BF. I do hope she is safe doing that.

To round the day of my special friend stopped by to entertain me for a bit and now I am enjoying a glass of Vinho Verde on a warm late summer night in my garden.

All in all, life is good. We and our loved ones are healthy, which is the most important thing. 27.2 million people worldwide and 6.48 million people in the USA are not. And while the USA seems to be incapable of getting things under control a so called third world country, Senegal is perfomring at world class level. Test results are available within 24 hours, temperature checks at done at every store and there are no fights over masks; people just wear them. So who is the shithole country now?

At least there are efforts underway to ensure the distribution system for a vaccine is in place once there is a vaccine. CDC is tackling the complex task of distribution of a vaccine to ensure it can get out across the country when it becomes available. What I do find questionable is this fixation on the Moderna and the Pfizer vaccines. Yes both are in or starting phase three trials, but they are also nowhere close to being ready. The vaccine developed by Oxford is much farther along, but obviously not considered by CDC. This is disconcerting and reeks of political meddling.