New "Normal"

Today is my birthday, and as I look out the window at the sunshine and the blooming flowers, I have to pause and wonder what the next year will hold for me.  Will it be a year to relax (finally) and to enjoy the fruits of our labors?  Will it be a time to explore new avenues of friendship and experiences?  Will it be a time to watch in wonder as Owen grows?  Will it be a time of painful loss as Mother continues to age and to struggle with heart failure?  Will any of us still be alive a year from now as the Cover-19 virus continues to ravage the world?

While millions of people across the world have to change their lifestyles and ways of working and shopping to keep their families safe, we retired folks must adapt to a new normal as well.  So what does our new life look like?

Our plans have changed, and we have to make other arrangements to adapt to that.  Our first change was to cancel our April flight north to Wisconsin and to book an earlier flight.  We did so because we are afraid that as airlines struggle with cancelled flight reservations, they are starting to cancel flights.  They offered us less expensive fares, and since we are flying Southwest, we will be able to use our "credit" on future flights when we return to Florida. We leave this coming Tuesday.

We are happy to be heading north because Wisconsin has less elderly people in the population and (so far) less diagnosed cases of the Covid-19 virus.  If I am going to be ill, also, I want it to be in Wisconsin, not in Florida.  Wisconsin has a superior healthcare system, in my humble opinion.  We happily will head north, especially now that the snow is melted.

The second change was a postponement of Rick's achilles surgery.  Since his was an elective surgery, it now is delayed a month in anticipation that the hospital facilities will be needed for Covid-19 patients.  We suspect that the surgery may be delayed even further as the virus creates more demand on medical facilities.

Our third change is our lack of interaction with other people.  We view church services online.  We try to shop in the middle of the morning when stores are less busy.  We stand at least 6 feet away from our neighbors when we talk to them... or we use messaging rather than face-to-face contact.  We sadly watched as a memorial service for a recently-deceased neighbor was cancelled.  We were disappointed that our monthly meeting with our weaving friends also had to be cancelled until further notice.  Life has changed.

What we do instead is to take advantage of the glorious spring weather here in Florida. We take long walks twice a day for exercise.  The fresh air and sunshine are wonderful.  We read, we weave, we interact through Facebook, Facetime, and online, and we watch the news to get the latest updates on what is happening in our crazy world.

If we do go out, we choose places that are outdoors and not crowded.  Right now is Spring Break time, so the beaches are crowded and off limits to us.  The beaches will be closed as of Sunday. We will try to go to the Florida Botanical Gardens today for a nice, outdoor stroll among the blooming bushes and flowers.  If the parking lot is too crowded, we will just drive away.

Our fourth change is the way we will approach our travels home.  We thought about driving, but we calculated that doing so was more dangerous than flying.  In addition to the hazards of the road for a 1500 mile drive, we also would have much more exposure to people through restaurants, hotel rooms, public restrooms, and gas stations.  Additionally, Rick's back and my knee probably could not tolerate a 1500 mile drive any more. We figured we would have less exposure to people in a 2 1/2 flight than in a three-day road trip.

So we will fly.  The great thing about all of our construction for the last several years is that we have a long-ago-purchased box of N-95 masks.  These are the same grade filter masks that the government is asking construction companies to donate to healthcare workers.  We will wear masks both in the rental car to the airport and all the while we are in the airport/ airplane.  My doctor told me that wearing a mask, while it may not protect me from every airborne germ, will do two things: the mask will frighten other people away from sitting next to me, and it will remind me not to touch my face.  That is a win-win plan in my mind.

Years of painting and staining also have left us with a supply of blue gloves.  We will wear those, too, in the airport.  Those will help protect us from unsanitary surfaces, and we can easily discard and change them, as needed.  When we get on the plane, we will follow our normal procedure of wiping down all surfaces with disinfectant wipes.  We will refuse to eat or to drink anything while in flight.

When we get to Wisconsin, we will adopt a self-imposed 14 day isolation period.  I would never forgive myself if I carried the virus and passed it on to any of my beloved family members.  I would rather be overcautious than overly sorry if someone became ill or died.

Once home, we will restock our freezer with Schwans foods and make one giant, expensive trip to the grocery store.  I just hope they still will have the essentials of milk, eggs, yogurt, cheese, pasta and pasta sauce, sugar, flour, and canned goods.  Fresh fruit and vegetables would be great also, but we will not get our hopes up yet.  What will be there, will be there.

Health experts now are predicting that this virus could come in waves and could last up to 18 months.   I pray they are wrong, but I accept the fact that caution is imperative. We all will have to adapt to life in a survival mode.  That is our new "normal."