Coronavirus: Staying Home But Keeping Hope

Last week I was so sad and upset by the growing threat of the novel Coronavirus that I decided to take a short break from blogging to regroup my thoughts and to take a break from social media. I honestly could not concentrate on anything for very long.  I'm sure all the dire information I was hearing triggered a bit of PTSD that lingered in my psyche from my time when I lived in New York City post 9-11 when we were so uncertain as to what the future held.  

As of Sunday afternoon, public health officials in Colorado confirmed that there were 591 cases of COVID-19 in 29 counties, and around 5,436 people had been tested. There were 58 people hospitalized and 7 deaths.  Sadly, those numbers are all rising every day. 

This week, however, I feel more in control and more confident that as a state, nation, and world, we will eventually return to a normal life.  It may be for the long term, but I can "stay home," I can do "social isolation," and limit my contact with others.  I can take responsibility for my health and the health of those I love by reducing contact with others to "flatten the curve" of how quickly this virus spreads so that our hospitals are not overwhelmed by those needing care. I am so grateful for the doctors, nurses and first responders, and all other essential workers that must still expose themselves to regular work in order to take care of us and keep us safe.

My heart goes out to those who lost their jobs and are worrying about paying bills and rent or mortgages.  I know many students will most likely be home for the rest of the school year and are missing their friends, teachers and special school events and parents have had to scramble to find childcare or homeschool resources. I know vacation plans have been canceled, as well as holiday plans. It is a new dystopian world right now in most places, but in accepting all of these sacrifices we are saving lives, maybe even our own.

Right now, most public places have closed in Colorado. Most schools, churches, restaurants, bars, gyms, salons, entertainment venues,  ski resorts, and even Rocky Mountain National Park have been closed. Many people are working from home or have reduced their workplace density, and workplaces of essential workers have reduced staff as much as possible. The Colorado State Parks are still open, and we are fortunate that we still have many open space trails available where we can have solo recreation and enjoy the outdoors. In fact, all of the photos in this post I took along a trail in my neighborhood. 

Neighbors are helping neighbors, and we are all trying to keep as busy as possible.  Life goes on as best as possible. 

This was our St. Patrick's Day! Usually, my entire family will gather for our traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner and Irish Soda Bread dinner, but this year it was only my husband and I.  Neighbors had a fun idea to organize a St Patrick's Day parade of decorated cars to go through our neighborhood to share some cheer, and it really did cheer me up to go outside and see them pass by. 

This is a local news story about this event. You can also click on my Mille Fiori Favoriti Facebook link here to see it.

Next week I'll go back to my regular blog posts about Colorado, as I have much to share from prior trips we took, and I hope those posts will be a welcome distraction from the ongoing situation. I look forward to seeing how you all have been spending your time.  Please stay healthy and please keep hope that we will all get through this unusual time together!

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