Life in a COVID-19 Hot Spot – Week 3 – Things Cutting Closer
Despite our vote to continue, my dancercise class is cancelled – no meetings of more than 10 people allowed.
Instead, the teacher set up a Zoom class. Prancing around in my family room is not quite the same, but I did keep moving for an hour.
My neighbor Mike was in a horrific skiing accident several weeks ago, was comatose for several days, tore his shoulder apart. He has recovered wonderfully from the brain injury, but he has no use of his right arm. The surgery needed to repair the torn tendons and muscles has been classified “elective” during the lockdown. If too much time passes, he may use the use of his arm permanently.
A pack of coyotes wandered up our unusually quiet street from the creek at the end of the cul-de-sac.
I received notice from the Food Bank where I volunteer that, as I am considered “vulnerable” to COVID-19 due to my age, they can no longer accept me as a volunteer. This hurts!
I canceled my annual trip to Texas to visit my #1 Brother and my Friend-since-4th-grade.
Grocery stores are setting aside an hour each morning exclusively for us vulnerable folks to shop. My husband waited 20 minutes in line, as people were admitted in small numbers in order to maintain the recommended 6 -foot social distancing.
One of our local newspapers has announced that it will no longer publish a paper version; it’s too expensive to publish without the ad revenues from restaurants, theatres, and real estate companies.
If the media shut down on us, how will we know what to be afraid of?
Last week I mentioned that life was slowing down in my area due to the COVID-19 spread, and suggested going to a museum as a way to avoid both crowds and stress. Things have changed in a week!
A neighbor and I were planning to carpool to an adult education class at nearby Stanford University. The class has been re-vamped to take place on-line until further notice. My brain will get dusted, but the friendly chats on the way to and from class will be lost.
#2 Son is organizing a neighborhood meeting to strategize how to assist parents who can’t work from home since the local day-care center is closing.
I live in a COVID-19 hotspot – 43 cases and one death since the beginning of March – and public and private events are being cancelled left and right to prevent transmission. So what is one to do if you are healthy, not in one of the “vulnerable” groups, and needing some relief from the stress of it all? Maybe it’s time to visit a local museum.
The exhibit that drew me to the museum featured 
If you are going camping in a tiny trailer, and you left your bikes at home because the forecast call for a 99% chance of rain, better hope you can find some indoor activity to pass the time! If you are camping at 
If you are going to spend some time in a small museum on a rainy weekend, it helps if Executive Director happens to be an old friend from college. Dr. Samuel E. Johnson and I had more than a few memories dating back to our freshman year Ballroom Dancing classes together. (I took the class to fill a Physical Education requirement; I suspect Sam took it because at that time the ratio of men to women at our college was officially 3.5 / 1, and it was chance to meet girls.)
Dry shoes for Sis, a couple of chocolate bars, working lighters for the stove, and a hot lunch in our stomachs – what could be finer than driving up I-5 as the sky clears and the sun shines on us. Our operating rule is that the driver minds the road while the person riding shotgun manages the heater/AC and the sound track. I’m driving so we are listening to Sis’s playlist of Scottish reels, blue grass, and Nova Scotian folk music. Not my favorite but she put up with my Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Joan Baez, and other 60’s relics for the previous day. Won’t hurt me to listen to something different.
I had the good fortune to be among the 12,000 + invited guests at the 75th anniversary ceremonies commemorating the D-Day landings in Normandy.
We were among the last 4000 to arrive at the American Cemetery, and the stage and podium seemed several football fields away in the distance. But giant Jumbotron screens gave us close up views of Air Force One (both jet and helicopter) and its occupants as they landed, and of President Trump’s ceremonial greeting of guests President and Mrs. Macron onto what is considered American soil.
San Jose’s Japantown, centered around the intersection of Jackson and Fifth Restaurant, is one of only three remaining centers of Japanese culture in the US (the other two being in San Francisco and in Los Angeles.) Almost destroyed by the forced internment of most of its citizens during World War II, it has bounced back as a nucleus of Japanese restaurants, shops, and community organizations.
After lunch, a stroll along 5th street on the other side from Kubota’s will lead you to the 
W had made arrangements for us to attend a Star Party at the McDonald’s Observatory 15 miles west of the Lodge. We knew reservations were required and had them, but did not realize that each party had over 200 invitees. I negotiated the twisty road in Moby Dick, our outsized 4×4 pickup, and parked in daylight, hoping to be able to find the truck later in the dark.
We were early for the star-gazing, and browsed the Visitors’ Center and Gift Shop, as my spouse, a big fan of the Observatory’s Star Date broadcasts on PBS, had asked me to bring him something from MacDonalds. I managed to find some postcards and an affordable and portable book at the gift shop, and made it through the line at the cash register just as they were calling for the partygoers to come to the outside auditorium for the start of the star gazing.
Whatever did we do before fleece! Cozy in fleece jacket and pants and three layers beneath, topped with hats and scarves, we sat on concrete benches as the star ranger pointed out details we had never seen before of Orion. The ranger drew a big laugh with his description of “the hunter, he has a sword, shield and these two bright stars mark his brawny shoulders, but like some other athletes, his head is this fuzzy thing…;” We were introduced to Leo, Taurus, 
Then the host recommended we adjourn to the telescopes for viewing, as clouds were beginning to obscure the sky. There were three outdoor telescopes and two domes open, but even though some of the 200+ viewers had left the amphitheater early to get a head start, there were still long cold lines. We wished we had a fourth fleecy layer. We saw the Pleiades up close and two star clusters and then headed for the interior Sky Tour, which was rather redundant but at least it was indoors, warmish, and sitting. We bailed at 10:30, foregoing another classroom talk, and I drove prudently down the mountain. We crashed into bed at 11:15, piling on all the warm quilts we could find.
Allyson Johnson 