COVID self-monitoring & quarantining

I am finally home and though I have no signs nor symptoms, I am into Day Two of self-quarantining for the next fourteen days, per my state Governor's recommendation.

I traveled from Nevada to Oklahoma by air in March, by way of a layover in Los Angeles when going there, and a layover in Dallas on the way back yesterday. The biggest airports in the United States were eerily unpopulated! Shops were closed and there was no drone of chatter, well, unless you count the backpacking, hippie-type guy, that airport security escorted along his way, after he stood in the middle of the airport and shouted about the next coming of God. I took pictures of the L.A. freeway from the air just before we landed; not a single traffic jam, traffic was sparse! On the way to Oklahoma there were only twelve people on the flight, counting me. It was almost as if I had chartered the flight! We all sat several aisles apart and had sections of seating to ourselves. It was definitely an experience! I saw something interesting at the Dallas airport – there was a guy who had a metal tape measure that he extended the required six feet, and he was walking down the middle of the airport walkway, sporting his tape measure extended out in front of him as he walked, and of course, wearing his N95 mask. I wanted a picture of that so badly but by the time I had gotten my phone out, he had disappeared.

The Corona Virus, better known now as COVID-19 or COVID for short, has impacted so many people differently! Socially and economically, we rely more on our internets now than we ever did. We are finding that items and events that we considered a necessity turned out to be more of a required luxury. Yes, I liked getting my hair and nails done, and oh my gosh I love my pedi’s, but with the realization that I may not have a job to go to when this has run its course, tells me that I’ve spent a lot of time and money on things that I don’t actually NEED. I wonder how many others are coming to the same realization? Oh, and COVID gets a lot of air time in my corner of the world. We talk of little else since this ‘event’ has impacted so much of our lives – the economy, shopping, travel, public contact, and most outdoor activities and sports. We like to think that we, the ones who are not in the ‘at-risk’ categories will be most immune, but then we see that twenty-somethings are dying, and now the other day the news reports verified that zoo animals were contaminated also. So now the widespread speculation is occurring and beginning to nag at the backs of peoples’ minds that this might not be the harmless little bug everyone first reported it to be. I am moderately concerned for me and mine. I try not to panic but my active imagination is running rampant with this and I have to confess that I have a fiction story in the works that I might post here once I determine how my little virus survivor, survives. Keep an eye out for an excerpt, and of course updates of my self-quarantine.

Finally, I have one suggestion for all of the United States - how about you get those road construction projects finished while we are all on self-lockdown at home?