Pet Picture

Madison had to take a picture of a pet this week as a class assignment, and she did get a photo of one of our neighbor's pets, but of course we don't currently have any pets.  That's why a picture of a plush animal was acceptable to the teacher, which is why we have a picture of a cat here above.  Madison submitted this picture today, and it's cute.  She set up the cat on our front porch, and it looks nice and cozy on the rocking chair there.

So today the Governor of Georgia made an announcement for all of us to hopefully step back into real life again, ending the quarantine in phases.  It's a controversial decision, but no matter what, it would be a controversial decision.  We could open everything up in December and walk out of isolation after eight more months of this, and still people would be enraged, and that's mainly because of this invisible threat that some asymptomatic person could walk into a crowd and infect everyone.  And that's a crazy way to live, isn't it?  Held hostage by fear.

When all these closures were first started, the shut-down was not about eliminating the threat of the virus completely, but rather about "flattening the curve," which is to say, it was more about making sure that the hospitals weren't overwhelmed.  I thought the plan was to spread it out more so that everyone didn't get it all at the same time.  That much was said over and over again.  "Flatten the curve" means the same amount of people get it over a more extended time instead of all at once.

And so the recent trends have shown we're "past the peak" and we're on the other side of the curve, and the cases of this are decreasing in many places.  So the idea is that now is the time to start planning our emergence from our caves to look out at the sunlight again.  At least that's the hope.

The other day when we drove over to Chick-Fil-A, we saw a huge line at Starbuck's, which to me is not an essential service.  Neither is Chick-Fil-A when you come down to it.  But nevertheless, businesses was booming for these locations, while other places like hair salons and bowling alleys are shut down, prohibited from saying open.  Why is this?  It is a fact that grocery stores have an identical amount of risk, depending on the diligence of the employees and the customers.  How are Starbucks employees screened?  We all know this is asymptomatic, so the fever check on the way in the door does not tell us anything.  And how do we know their counters are all washed, and how often are they washed?  Who touches the cups, or the door to the place that all employees have to handle to open.  What about the beans themselves?  The refrigerator and so on.  How often are these washed, and how often is enough?  This is just one example, and if you overthink it, you might as well shut the entire universe down.  Which we haven't yet, of course.

But somewhere along the line, someone determined what was essential and what was not.  Coffee, apparently, is essential.  Insert jokes about that here, but why does a place like Starbucks get to survive financially while all those small businesses on the Gainesville Square have to lose nearly everything?

While grocery stores can remain open because they are essential, the employees and owners of these small businesses cannot even afford to buy groceries if they remain closed.

It's certainly a quandary, and I think a matter of trust as we move forward.  I trust our martial arts studio to wipe things down and do their best.  I trust other places as well.  I can't control the other people that walk in, but am I going to let that control my life?

Do we trust others to wash their hands and not cough all over everything?  That's an exaggeration, but do we trust a place of business to be more vigilant about cleaning their counters, bowling balls, and hair salon chairs?  Do you trust that the other people who visit those locations will be equally attentive to the situation at hand?  If not, then stay home.  If so, then go do business with that place, and don't live a life held hostage by fear.

So we'll do the masks and the gloves, and we'll ride this one out.  But we're getting ready to walk into a new phase of this, one where we can all hopefully be free again.

Let's change the subject:  Madison was doing her classwork today, resuming her classes and working hard on various topics, including social studies, where she is looking into the nation of Japan.  This of course gives us a perfect excuse to watch a Miyazaki movie now!  But Madison is making a brochure about Japan, and she's even made some nice cover art for it that we'll share here soon enough.

Today Daddy was out getting some grocery shopping done, and also picking up a few things at the hardware store.  We were wearing gloves and masks, and I was able to get everything I needed rather quickly and conveniently.  It's been a while since I've been in a store, but there's still that level of care getting products and getting into the car and so on.  It was good to see a lot of other people in masks and gloves this time - I think it's caught on that there's a virus out there or something.

It was raining a lot this morning, but that gave way to a really pleasant day.  The pollen was lighter, and that's welcome news too.  Tonight we were watching some more of our regular programming, with "Kickin' It," "Clone Wars" and "Big Hero 6."  We've got a little rhythm going on now there, and of course we do our bedtime rituals with prayers, hide-and-seek, and reading from Narnia.  We're about to leave the Lone Islands, and go into some undiscovered waters.  But God is with us as we sail on, and not matter the storms that come, we don't have to live in fear.