March 20, 2020
The US CDC reported 10,442 total (confirmed and presumptive) COVID-19 cases and 150 deaths nationwide. This represents a 48.3% increase in reported cases and a 54.6% increase in deaths from the previous day. – From Johns Hopkins daily update.
Orange Julius abused a journalist today during a news conference when he was asked to address the fears of millions of Americans. Some senators are reported to have possibly benefitted from sales of stock with insider information while assuring ordinary Americans that our economy and our markets were strong, there was nothing to fear. Doctors and nurses plead for masks, gowns, swabs, gloves, goggles, ventilators…
Orange Julius lies and lies and lies and mis-informs and mis-manages while the specter of gross negligence and incompetence are costing the lives of American, our beloved ones, our neighbors….
We ride our tricycles and visit the wild rabbits and wild turkeys. We listen to the birds singing throughout our community. Someone is playing a saxophone. The sound is smooth and sweet in our ears. We wave at cars, the UPS and FedEx trucks, and the workers servicing our neighborhood.
I take picture of the rabbits and turkeys, blooming irises, a radiant ornamental pear trees with a young woman sitting near, a young wisteria flowering for the first time, and cotton ball clouds in the blue sunny light sky of our afternoon sky.
I go down my to-do list of selfcare: meditate, eat well, rest well, get exercise, connect, connect, connect, stay home, except for the pharmacy & the grocery and then only with mask and gloves and when there a very few people shopping. Watch less TV, but stay informed. Listen to music. Play games and laugh a lot with my partner. When I feel the fear, she holds me tight. When I feel the rage, I scream at the TV and make a list of positive and productive things to do.
March 19, 2020, 11:50 pm.
The Vernal Equinox arrived to align day and night. Long nights have passed. The Anglo Saxon Goddess, Eostre, announces and celebrates a new life with the gifts of Easter. She asks us to awaken from our soul’s sleep. She demands that we cleanse our homes, our minds, our bodies, our hearts and our souls. She urges us to enjoy the returning sun while we prepare ourselves to turn the soil, plant the fields, husband the animals, protect and preserve the land, air, water, every natural resource. She admonishes us to do our work in the world that protects and preserves life. She insists that we tend to ourselves and each other with love, respect and honor. This she asks of us to assure our survival, our thriving in abundance and joy.
I begin to chronicle these times.
© Andrea Canaan, MSW, MFA
A Writer's Life 