Quarantine: Week 1 — GIRLVETICA

Saturday, March 14th was the last day we spent out in public.

Mike and I sat in our local pub having a few pints and a farmhouse cheese plate. We were celebrating me finishing a UX course at Bentley.

The Corona virus arrived in the US in February, but up until now there had been a feeling that it would be like Swine Flu, terrible but swiftly contained. Bosses and professors were instructing to wash our hands properly, use lots of hand sanitizer, cough into our elbow. Offices and classrooms were being “deep cleaned” and sanitized at the end of each day. Lots of extra safe precautions.

That was at the start of the week.

Then as each day went by, it became very apparent that things were escalating quickly. Cases in the US were growing exponentially overnight. Government officials were asking the public not to gather in groups larger than 100 people. Large events like concerts and parades were being cancelled. Mid-week the WHO officially declared a global pandemic.

At Bentley, our class of 16 students buckled down and hoped to finish out the week-long course. On Friday at noon, we completed our last assignment and squeezed together in the lecture hall for a group photo, everyone holding up their certificate. Shoulders and legs touched. That was probably the last time I made physical contact with someone besides Mike. It’s weird to think about now.

On Monday, I emailed my boss to let her know I wanted to work from home that week. Just to be on the safe side. She said that’s fine, many other employees were choosing that option. Schools in Massachusetts were closing for the next two weeks and most parents were opting to work from home. I was kind of relieved to work from home in my pajamas. Mike was happy to not spend two hours in traffic on the Pike every day.

Also, my Animal Crossing New Horizons Edition Nintendo Switch had just arrived:

After drinks and cheese at the pub, we decided it would be prudent to stock up on groceries for the week ahead. Just the basic essentials plus a few self care items. We didn’t buy too much because the previous week we had been to BJ’s for our quarterly bulk haul of essentials. In hindsight, stocking our basement with 48 rolls of toilet paper, two quart-sized jugs of liquid hand soap, and a two-month supply of coffee was the best thing we ever did.

It was beautiful March weekend and since our errands were finished, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and get outside. The general recommendation was to start “socially distancing,” keeping six feet apart from other people. We drove to Macomber Estate park and took to the hiking trails for a few hours. Nature is beautiful and restorative and calming.

Also, weather in New England is unpredictable so if you get a sunny day, you get the hell outside. Because three days later, on St. Patrick’s Day, it snowed:

For our first week working at home, we set up our workstations on the dining table and filled the bird feeder outside so we could invite some new, colorful coworkers.

Spring officially arrived at the end of the week on Saturday. Crocus and daffodils are the first arrivals on our street.

After a week spent indoors, we desperately needed to stretch our legs in the sunshine, so we drove to Concord and took a walk through Old Hill Burying Ground. Cemeteries are ideal for getting exercise while social distancing. The graves here have a lot of hand carved faces, so I’ll put those photos in a separate post because they deserve to be appreciated in detail.

Surprisingly, there were still many people wandering in downtown Concord. Most were following guidelines and walking in a loose six-foot bubble radius of distance, but teens and twenty-somethings were still very much hanging out in groups. One thing that never changes, youth will always believe they are invincible.

All non-essential businesses were ordered to temporary close this week, so everyone was reduced to window shopping. Restaurants remain still open though. We chose to patronize our local Chinese place, both to support independent businesses and because racist people are blaming Chinese Americans for the virus and they could use our support right now.