Check on Your Loved Ones

 

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’ve been busy with work this week and with my writing. I’ve reached 30,000 words in my latest WIP and I must tell you, I’ve been coming up with some new ideas while I’m writing. I can’t write fast enough. LOL.

It’s a good thing, but it creates a little anxiety because I feel like I’m not writing fast enough. But enough about that. Today, I’d like to talk about keeping in touch with your single friends during this pandemic. It’s important to check up on them. They depend on their social lives to connect with people and with this isolation they could go days, weeks, or months without seeing someone other than people at the grocery store.

 

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Check up on your elderly relatives and neighbors, too. Especially the ones who are stuck in a nursing home. We can’t go visit them right now, but we can send cards. We can make phone calls. It’s important to reach out to our loved ones. We need the connection right now and so do they.

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Not only do we need to check up on our single friends, elderly neighbors, and relatives, but we need to check up on our kids. That’s right, the ones that live under our roofs with us. I’ve noticed that my youngest has grown a little reclusive because he hasn’t been able to see any of his classmates. We’re starting online schooling today and they’re using google meets to have a virtual classroom. I hope that means they’ll be able to interact with their classmates. Kids are attached to their computers for everything now, school, social contact, and gaming. They are dependent on their machines.

 

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We can’t take them to the trampoline park or to the community pool, they’re closed because of this virus. So, the only thing we can do is forced family fun and that always goes over like a lead balloon.  Especially when it’s mom’s idea. 😉

But we do it because they need to get a break and get away from the house. They need more physical activity, so we go on family walks and hikes through the woods. Forest bathing is good for you, you know!  They do play basketball or football with the neighbor kids when they’re around. I’ve also made it a rule that they have to get outside for an hour a day when the weather cooperates, and they do a pretty good job of following this rule. They still listen to their mom, right now, anyway.

 

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So, check on your friends, relatives, and kids. Make sure the isolation isn’t getting to them and try to get out of the house. It’s so good to get away, even if it’s only for a few days.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my post. What are you doing to keep in touch with your loved ones? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!

To Wear the Mask, that is the Question

 

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today after spending a week at our cottage. I really needed to get out of Dodge because I’ve been stuck in the house and haven’t been able to visit friends. I do talk with them on the phone, but I miss seeing movies or getting together for lunch.

In Michigan our Governor has issued an executive order requiring everyone to wear masks in public places and at public gatherings. Many people are protesting this, and it upsets me.

I’ve heard from friends who have had this virus, and it is no joke. I worry about my kids getting it. At Torch Lake (where my In-Laws cottage is located) there is a sand bar where everyone gathers especially on the Fourth of July. Everyone parks their boats and swims. Some people bring grills and sell hamburgers and hotdogs. It’s a lot of fun. We’ve always avoided it on the Fourth because the crowd is huge, and people are drinking and that usually results in a few fights.

 

We avoided it again this year and we’re glad we did. One of the restaurants we love to go to had to close for a couple of days because someone tested positive for the virus and was a patron there without a mask. So, everyone who was there when that person was there must get tested for the virus. The restaurant closed to disinfect everything. I’m sure that was expensive.

 

I know it’s hard on these businesses that have had to close because of this virus, but I’ve heard from medical professionals that this is no joke, and it could have long lasting health effects if you get it. Don’t listen to the politicians. They’re far removed from this. Listen to the doctors and nurses who are dealing with it first hand. They don’t have an agenda, and they’re trying to keep everyone safe. I’m sure they would love to see their families again, too.

 

On social media, everyone is screaming that this directive is unconstitutional, and the Governor can’t force anyone to wear a mask, and this is probably true. But who cares? I certainly don’t, if it keeps my family and friends from getting sick, I’m all for it. So, wear the mask. Be considerate so other people can continue to be there for their families.

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If you’re struggling with the wear a mask in public issue because it’s uncomfortable, just think about how uncomfortable a ventilator is, and when you think about it in that context, I’m sure you’ll make the right decision and where the mask.

 

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How about you? How do you feel about the mask issue? Leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you!

 

 

Why do we need to Quarantine?

 

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today after a long week of working and editing. I’m still trying to whittle my story down to a respectable word count without editing the voice out of it. 😉

 

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Anyway, as I was scrolling through my feed on Facebook, I came across a friend of mine who works in a store that happens to still be open, and a customer arrived without a mask and started ranting about Covid-19. She stated the virus isn’t as deadly as the media has portrayed and she has had it twice. The first time she had the sniffles and the second time she had a headache. She never got tested because her symptoms weren’t bad enough to warrant a test, but she KNOWS she had the virus.

 

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My friend was frustrated with this woman because while she respects her right to voice her opinion, she doesn’t have the right to come into her store and spread her germs to the other patrons. This woman coughed several times without covering her mouth so she could help with the “herd immunity.” It’s at this point I’m stepping up on my soapbox because this woman’s actions hit a nerve.

 

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First, who appointed her the patron saint of the “herd immunity?” Also, did she ask if anyone else wanted her germs before she coughed them into the atmosphere? Many people have loved ones who are at a high risk for this virus. The way I understand it, you could have the virus without any symptoms and spread it that way.

 

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The point I’m trying to make is, this person certainly has the right to her opinion, but she doesn’t have the right to inflict her beliefs, germs, what have you on the rest of us. I don’t want to catch the virus. I know people who have had it and it is no joke. It’s painful and many people are dying from it.

It’s people like this woman who have created the need for the quarantine order. How do you fight against total ignorance?

I get it. I know this quarantine is hard, but just the thought of someone in my family getting sick because I didn’t take the quarantine seriously upsets me. So, I do it for them. I don’t want my boys or hubby, or my mother, or siblings getting this virus because I refused to believe in it.

There are many theories floating around and politicians pointing fingers and lying. Don’t listen to them. Listen to the doctors and people who’ve had the virus. It is real and it’s deadly.

 

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So, the point I’m trying to make is let’s try to be considerate of everyone and when we have to go out in public, wear a mask even if you believe the virus is a conspiracy. Wearing a mask isn’t hard to do and it protects you and your family as well as the other patrons in the store. I mean what if all the conspiracy theorists find out they’re wrong and the virus is real? What then?

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Thanks for stopping by and reading my post! I appreciate it. Do you have any opinions about the conspiracy theory? Leave a comment! I love to hear from you!