Post #22 — Dispatch From Florida
From Lee Weiner in Florida:
Things in Florida seem like they're soon going to get more openly and loudly worse - some small signs we're teetering on some sort of edge: the first efforts to give seniors an opportunity to shop supermarkets early resulted in jammed parking lots, more shoppers than there were carts, still empty shelves anyway, and teems of people most at risk of bad outcomes crowded together for way too long a time; the newly imposed curfew in my area means that now the police have the authority to stop and confront anyone/any cars about anything after curfew kicks in, and they're promising to do that this weekend - this in a place where lots and lots of seemingly ordinary people are armed - I do not expect good things to happen; Prime deliveries from Whole Foods are essentially impossible to schedule - getting a date/time is like having someone randomly handing you a winning lottery ticket; some people I know in my apartment complex are beginning to pack up their cars to go somewhere they can cluster more comfortably with family or a small group of friends (family home pools aren't closed, but the ones in apartment complexes like mine are - on top of the closed beaches). Meanwhile the numbers of known infections/deaths in the Tampa Bay area are still "relatively" low - but in comparison to what? Louisiana (whose cars now join NY licensed cars in being restricted)? NYC? small comfort, and likely only for a week or two or maybe three.
Personally, I had my come-to-Jesus moment about the flattened curve earlier this week, emotionally connecting to the reality, long intellectually recognized, that I'll simply get the virus a little later than I might otherwise. So in addition to the conversations, texts, video chats, emails with friends and family, pleasant walks in the morning, reading in the afternoon, the simple pleasures of cooking and Netflix comedy specials, and trying to figure out how long the laundry and dishwasher soaps will last and how to get more, I have to review and modify as necessary the advance directives and living will shit and get it all to the right places.
I signed for the Misfits Market, but they not surprisingly told me yesterday that deliveries to my area (and I suppose many others) are delayed. I still look forward to making Melissa Clark's Any Vegetable Soup with whatever they send that I wouldn't usually eat.
Being worried and on edge is, I'm afraid, a reasonable response to our shared reality.
Here is a largish neighbor heading to the pond to shelter at home as ordered:
Things in Florida seem like they're soon going to get more openly and loudly worse - some small signs we're teetering on some sort of edge: the first efforts to give seniors an opportunity to shop supermarkets early resulted in jammed parking lots, more shoppers than there were carts, still empty shelves anyway, and teems of people most at risk of bad outcomes crowded together for way too long a time; the newly imposed curfew in my area means that now the police have the authority to stop and confront anyone/any cars about anything after curfew kicks in, and they're promising to do that this weekend - this in a place where lots and lots of seemingly ordinary people are armed - I do not expect good things to happen; Prime deliveries from Whole Foods are essentially impossible to schedule - getting a date/time is like having someone randomly handing you a winning lottery ticket; some people I know in my apartment complex are beginning to pack up their cars to go somewhere they can cluster more comfortably with family or a small group of friends (family home pools aren't closed, but the ones in apartment complexes like mine are - on top of the closed beaches). Meanwhile the numbers of known infections/deaths in the Tampa Bay area are still "relatively" low - but in comparison to what? Louisiana (whose cars now join NY licensed cars in being restricted)? NYC? small comfort, and likely only for a week or two or maybe three.
Personally, I had my come-to-Jesus moment about the flattened curve earlier this week, emotionally connecting to the reality, long intellectually recognized, that I'll simply get the virus a little later than I might otherwise. So in addition to the conversations, texts, video chats, emails with friends and family, pleasant walks in the morning, reading in the afternoon, the simple pleasures of cooking and Netflix comedy specials, and trying to figure out how long the laundry and dishwasher soaps will last and how to get more, I have to review and modify as necessary the advance directives and living will shit and get it all to the right places.
I signed for the Misfits Market, but they not surprisingly told me yesterday that deliveries to my area (and I suppose many others) are delayed. I still look forward to making Melissa Clark's Any Vegetable Soup with whatever they send that I wouldn't usually eat.
Being worried and on edge is, I'm afraid, a reasonable response to our shared reality.
Here is a largish neighbor heading to the pond to shelter at home as ordered:
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