Pandemic Update Volume One

I don't even know what to say right now.

The number of cases of covid-19 in the US has risen over three million.  The number of cases in my state have skyrocketed in the last two weeks.  And yet I'm seeing people going on vacations with their families, eating at restaurants, and living their lives as if none of this is happening.

Meanwhile, we're still engaging in only low-risk activities, haven't been into the office since March, and all of my Facebook post updates are about the flora and fauna in our backyard and whether or not the bells at the neighborhood church are working because that's all the updates I have. I live within a four-block radius of my house with the occasional outing to the grocery store and one memorable trip to get my teeth cleaned.

The university where my husband works is going full-throttle in the fall.  Face to face classes, students in dorms, the whole thing. He's going to have to go back.  I work at that same university, but my work can be done remotely.  

1) What if a student just plain refuses to wear a mask?  

2) What if someone, student or professor, gets sick during the semester?  Who is notified and how?  

3) How do professors tell students what the expectations are for their behavior prior to the first day of class?

4) Will the students maintain social distance? 

5) What's the process for knowing if the town where the school is located becomes a hot spot?  What will trigger the university to declare remote classes for the rest of the semester?

6) These are our concerns working with a population of students who are adults. How is any of this going to work with younger students?

Meanwhile, both my husband I, like everyone reading this I'm sure, are beaten down. We're fatigued all the time. We're on edge - is that tickle in my throat just allergies or is it this virus that we know virtually nothing about? Our motivation to do anything beyond the very basics of keep our jobs and feeding ourselves is gone.  

The dog is adorable and sweet and a giant pain in the ass. If there's not one thing wrong with her, there's another.  It's hard to sleep knowing that our precious puppy is in pain.  Even now that we have the pain under control, it's hard to see that she's still suffering. She can't jump anymore and I recently bought her a ramp because she can't get into the car.  The stress of worrying about Hannah and worrying about how vet trips will go is a constant thrum.

So, the raspberries in the backyard are bountiful this year.  The church bells are ringing again, but the clock is actually stopped at a little bit past seven o'clock. I'm bad at using calendars and time zones are super confusing to me.  Hannah is feeling a bit better after a rough couple of weeks.