A Month an a Half into COVID-19

I generally don’t worry about writing things down. I don’t really think my life is that remarkable, or that anyone will want to read what I had to say when I’ve gone. However, these are interesting times, and writing does help you process things, so here I am again.

Shortly after I wrote that my life hadn’t really been impacted by stay-at-home orders (besides the library being closed to the public and one stressful, weird day at the grocery store when the world panicked and started hoarding everything like it was the apocalypse and I stood in a checkout line that wrapped completely around the interior of the building for three hours), my boss mentioned that the library director had decided we needed to take things a little more seriously, and work from home when we could. I looked at my usual tasks, and decided I could easily work from home two days a week.

At the same time, my brother’s family all caught a raging cold that they don’t think is COVID-19 but was still pretty awful. This meant my mom didn’t have anyone to help her on Wednesdays, since my sister-in-law checks in on her in the afternoons on those days. So on Mondays and Tuesdays I worked at the library, doing my usual library tasks, on Wednesdays I worked from home and checked in on my mom occasionally, on Thursdays I worked at the library, spending most of my time at the Reference desk, answering questions for those who called in, and on Fridays I worked from home. Things went okay. I got into a rhythm, and adjusted to my new normal.

Last week, things changed a bit again. I spent Saturday the 18th babysitting my nieces, since my sister was at the hospital after having a baby Friday night! What a weird time to come into the world. Because of COVID-19, only my sister’s husband was allowed to be with her in the hospital. They brought the baby home on Monday, but were told not to accept visitors for at least the next two months. I have seen the baby twice, though. Both times I ran something over to their house, and they stood in one spot, and I stood 10 feet away, and we talked that way.

In my mind, based on everything I’d read, I’d accepted the fact that we’d likely be under a “stay home” order for about three months. However, a small minority are starting to protest, and there are a lot of people who are really suffering. I'm really lucky to have a steady, if changed, job.  It looks like things are going to open up again, whether they should or not.

I’m pretty worried about opening things up too soon, since I really don’t want to get coronavirus and give it to my loved ones. My mom, my nephew, even my brand-new niece could all really suffer if they got it. When the library opens up to the public again, I think I’m going to absolutely avoid my parents for at least a month, in case I become a carrier. I’ve been trying to avoid family contact except where necessary, but that’s still generally meant that I pop my head in at the door of my parents’ house every few days. That will have to stop, as will the helping my mom on Wednesdays. The thing is, she needs a lot of help, so saying I can’t help at all isn’t really practical. I hope I’m worrying over nothing.

The library is opening things up a little, starting this week, but they’re all in ways that are still in keeping with the “stay safe, stay home” directive. We’ll be offering curbside pickup of library books, and putting the ones we get back in a 72 hour quarantine before they go back on the shelves. And I was also a bit surprised on Friday afternoon to discover that we’re going to start trying to offer adult library programs through Zoom. We’ve been broadcasting story times over social media the whole time we’ve been closed, but I’d been told not to worry about adult programming (I’m in charge of it). So this came as a bit of a surprise, and I wasn’t quite ready for this, thinking that I had until the fall before we even thought about offering adult programming opportunities again. But really, offering programming through Zoom is something that’s totally possible under a “stay safe, stay home” directive too, so I really should have been prepared for something like this earlier. I probably should have thought of it myself.

In my mind, things are changing, and opening up, and they really are for other places around the state starting May 1st. But I have to remind myself that the library hasn’t really opened up yet even if we’re offering more services. I’ve generally been impressed by the thoughtfulness of those in charge of the library; they generally support their employees and they want everyone to be safe. So I’ll keep taking things one day at a time, and adjust as needed. And if the library does open up soon, I might not see my parents for many, many months. Stay safe, everyone!