Strange Days

Strange days have found us 
Strange days have tracked us down 
They're going to destroy 
Our casual joys 
We shall go on playing 
Or find a new town 

This was Not the Intended Post

For a few weeks, mouse has been noodling with an idea or concept, but since the world exploded with talk of self-isolation, the thread of that post was lost. At the time of this posting we are healthy and hope to be so tomorrow. Hand-washing is part of our daily lives. We are effectively housebound, with bars and restaurants in our area shuttered, but honestly would likely be anyway. 

In early February Master came to mouse and asked her to begin "stocking up" on certain things, at first it was cold medicine, items for fever and since we were still in cold/influenza the purchases made sense. A week later, He suggested we stock up on a few staples, soups, canned goods, things like that. Again, mouse bought a few things, but didn't go wild. Other stuff He suggested were actually left behind, like flour because she had no plans on baking for the next several months anyway. 

Then things became strange, the news media became more dire, and Master said that mouse had better make sure we have enough paper products, again oddly ahead of the curve by a week, mouse bought some paper towels and toilet paper. The following week, there were none of the shelves. Not only that but there wasn't a single fresh vegetable or loaf of bread left in the store. Shelves were completely bare. 

Now, mouse has been keeping up on the news so the Coronavirus is on her radar, when she grocery shops once a week, she is extra careful. We assume that EVERYTHING she brings home is likely contaminated with the virus and sequesters certain foods. Foods that are cooked, and put away, hands are washed before and after handling them, the same one might do with raw meat, to avoid cross-contamination.

Being extra careful has changed everything about our lives, and regretfully, mouse didn't follow through and get extra flour until recently. Next time she goes to the store, we'll need laundry detergent. But she did buy a large container of bleach, with the idea if the cleaning supplies dwindle, bleach will come in handy. Sure enough the supply has gone from stocked to barren, so that purchase ended up being extra fortuitous.

We have plenty of Lysol spray, which also kills viruses and wipes for the bathrooms and other areas.

Yet there is this underlying fear, going to the grocery store is a taxing thing now, difficult to explain, except there is the constant fear that there days from the last trip, mouse might become sick and infect our whole family. Sure we're not in the dangerous age group, but is there really a non-dangerous age group where the is virus is truly considered? You hear the stories of healthy 20, 30. 40 year olds with no underlying health conditions dying from this, and sure you try to rationalize that there are always outliers in everything. Still it's unsettling.

We hope all our blogging friends are well.

Stay safe, stay smart.