Well, the world is a scary place. The truth is it always has been. Most of the time I'm quite able to go about my business with little more than a cursory nod at the risks that are part and parcel with where and how I live. But there's a new bully on the block and this one requires more focussed attention not just to protect me but others around me, my family and my community.
I don't need to buy toilet tissue - nowhere does it say that Covid19 causes endless "poo-namies" and besides I've been a camper and a mom of small children. I know how to cope with toilet emergencies at inconvenient times and locations.
I don't need to buy bottled water - nowhere in the advisories does it even remotely suggest that the municipal water supply will be cut off or infected. In my house, there is a reverse osmosis purifier but only because we rely on well water. In my part of the world, tap water is just fine. Please, don't get me started on the over-consumption of bottled water!
I have the facts from reliable sources, (not social media, no advice from someone's wife's brother's uncle who had a friend who said...), and I'm washing my hands with soap and water often. There is a small bottle of hand-sanitizer in the car for those few times when I can't get to a sink. No gallon drum of the stuff tucked away in the basement, and I am wearing gloves when I'm out. NO, not the latex variety, but the typical clothing variety.
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| Mom, 1958 |
As I slip my gloves on, my late mother's words echo in my head, "Where are your gloves dear? A lady never goes out without her gloves on." Only in the heat of July and August did my mother go out without gloves on, unless she was going to church, then the lacy fish-net like cotton pair encased her hands. In the shops, she only took off the right-hand glove at the checkout to open her wallet and take the money out. My Dad also wore gloves when going out. Gloves were a fashion essential in the fifties and sixties. Maybe gloves are due for a comeback...
Because my love and I are both over 65 years old, we are modifying where we go. A concert at the end of the month (the Bach St. John Passion I adore) is on our watch list and likely to be canceled. As far as travel plans go, fortunately, we do not have anything booked until mid-July. Fingers crossed that by then we are all in the clear.
What I do need today is an abundance of comfort. A walk in the forest in search of awakening spring, then an afternoon curled up in the sunny living room with an old favourite book, a pot of fragrant chai, and soft music.
"...but all shall be well, and all shall be well,
and all manner of thing shall be well."
Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love
Take care, my friends. Be well.
©2020 April Hoeller
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