Clara Barton’s Ambulance, 1898

Saint Louis area officials have banned all gatherings of fifty people or more. The CDC is recommending that these types of bans remain in place for eight weeks. All area schools will close this week. Anne’s school is already closed for spring break and now will not reopen afterwards. These school closings are only scheduled to continue for a few weeks, but likely will last longer, possibly for the remainder of the school year. Illinois had already closed all of its schools statewide and this week will close all restaurants and bars. Missouri is contemplating similar closings and I expect will soon follow suit.

We have already lost two people dear to us this month. We don’t suspect that either of them had succumb to the Corona virus, but they were both members of our “OK, Boomer” generation and the causes of their deaths are still unknown. It is always one of the first questions asked, “What did they die of?” It is sometimes a sensitive question and in the end the result is the same. Anyway, a person’s life is more important than just their end. As we await the tsunami that has already washed upon our shores, my dark thoughts cannot be held at bay. I apologize for them here, but it helps me to vent.

Much has been made of the President and his government’s bungling response to this epidemic. Mistakes were made. There is the problems with the testing, the mixed messages from the President and the testing debacle. Did I mention testing? I certainly have not been shy about heaping scorn upon him and he certainly deserves his share of blame, a share that he seems unwilling to accept. I hope come November, he pays the price for his hubris, but I fear that the American people will have to bear a much greater price before then.

I broke quarantine this morning, to go to the grocery store. I have been limiting my visits there and had not gone since last week. I went early, hoping to beat the maddening crowd, but the parking lot was already full. So much for my plan to avoid any interpersonal contact. Was there a snowstorm or something that I missed? Some of the shelves were fine, but many were bare or nearly so. I got in and out as quickly as I could, all the while lathering myself with sanitizer.

Word is that now the grocery stores are curtailing their hours, making it so that we customers have to squeeze together even more than before. Most of Galleria has closed and the zoo has closed too. I expect that the other attractions around town will be closing down soon too.