"In this sticky web that we're all in, behaving decently is no small task." -- Novelist Stacey D'Erasmo

Sunday, April 4, 2021

Rebirth or Regret?

      This spring brings rebirth in more ways than one. Yes, there are the daffodils and forsythia and other spring flowers, and the buds on the trees and the longer days and the warmer weather.

     But this year we are also coming out of the self-isolation brought on by Covid-19. Most of us have received our first vaccine, many our second. But hold on . . . not so fast.

     Despite the rollout of vaccines, the CDC is still reporting more than 60,000 new cases a day. Deaths are down below a thousand a day, for the first time since November, but the number of hospitalizations has leveled off. Some 40,000 Americans are currently in the hospital with Covid.

     Many states are lifting restrictions, which might explain why the majority are now showing increasing numbers of new cases. For example, Gov. Tom Wolf of my own state of Pennsylvania is increasing capacity for gyms and indoor dining to 75% -- despite the fact that case numbers for Pennsylvania, recently as low as 2,500 a day, are now back up above 4,000 a day.

     That's bad. But some states are worse. Michigan has gone from 1,200 cases a day to 6,000 cases a day. New York from 4,000 to 8,000 a day. New Jersey from 3,000 to 4,500.

     Still, we trust with vaccination comes the end of Covid. Over a hundred million Americans -- or a third of the population -- have received at least one shot. Some 60 million are fully vaccinated. And so some of us are making plans . . . not, we hope, prematurely.

     Carol Cassara at A Healing Spirit asks: How are you reintegrating back into the post-Covid world? Is it Katie-bar-the-door? Or are you watchfully taking baby steps? In her post After Shelter in Place she offers her approach to travel, masks, indoor dining and other issues that will be facing us for the next few months and beyond.

      For her part, Rebecca Olkowski at BabyBoomster reports in Tiptoe Through the Tulips that she took a stroll through Descanso Gardens in Los Angeles to see some amazing spring flowers. She had to make a reservation, required for crowd control, and wear a mask, but she brought home some beautiful photos of the springtime displays -- and according to her smartphone, got in her steps as well!

     On the other side of the country Laurie Stone breathes a sigh of relief, realizing that Connecticut has survived another winter of storms, freezing cold, icicles, power outages and slippery roads. Like many of us, she thinks of spring as the real start of the year. There are so many Wonderful Things About Spring she writes . . .  but also one thing happening outside her window that makes her a little nervous.

     Down in Florida, Jennifer of Untold and Begin offers My Ongoing Story of New Things. That includes her first Covid shot and an appointment for her second. But more ambitiously she has started her own Etsy shop to sell Vision Board supplies. And if you don't know what a Vision Board is, you'd better hightail it over to Untold and Begin and find out what you're missing!

     Meryl Baer of Beach Boomer Bulletin agrees that change is in the air as we welcome spring. For one thing, she says, "I shed a couple of pounds as light-weight clothing replaces weighty materials." Step over to Spring Unfolds to see how she has begun to venture out to see where she is going.

     Finally, I urge you to check out Rita Robison''s warning about Coronavirus scams on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide. It hit home for us, since we've been getting calls, purportedly from Amazon, saying we'd bought a $1,500 Apple computer,. It said to press 1 if this was not correct. And since it wasn't correct we were tempted to press 1. But, luckily, we didn't. Instead, we checked our Amazon account separately. Guess what. There was no such purchase on the account. Who knows what would have happened if we'd pressed 1?

     As Robison points out, scammers are inventing new schemes to take advantage of our Coronavirus anxiety. For some good advice on how to handle them, press over to her post How to Avoid Coronavirus Scams.

     Be careful. Be well. Get your shots. Wear your mask. We want no regrets. We want rebirth.

18 comments:

Meryl Baer said...

Great post Tom! We all breathe a sigh of relief and this year in particular welcome and appreciate spring's positive changes.

Carol Cassara said...

It IS a rebirth, isn't it. Well, that's how i am going to view it!

Rian said...

I agree with "baby steps"... that we should come out of this pandemic optimistic, but cautious.

Kay said...

We had just moved to Tier 3 and was beginning to open up the island for some activities. Then the numbers promptly went up again. Now we're wondering if we have to move back to Tier 2. They actually started opening up weddings for up to 100 people. Good grief! I'm worried about all the variants out there. Leaders are trying to open up too quickly.

Celia said...

I am taking it slow. It's a small (wine tourist) town in E WA but for a time we had the worst county percentages in the state. Friends died. We have gone up to level 3 recently and the rate of infection here is beginning to rise again. I don't think opening up more was wise. Our next family wedding has been changed from July outside with a crowd to a small gathering in a large space New Year's Eve.

Janette said...

OK- I am the evil one. I traveled early Jan. to help care for my Godson as he lived his last seven days with liver failure and then helped plan his open aired service- which I did not attend. I returned COVID free.
I leave in two weeks for Idaho to check on our house and then to my mother's new residence. Delta- middle open seats.
I travel the same way I live: masked, wipe down seating and tables, keep distance and occasionally wear gloves (yes, I still wear my Nana's gloves). I was not able to get in line for a shot until last week (I didn't line jump).I am hoping to get J&J in the next week- if not I will go for whatever---but I will stay masked with Mom no matter what. She is vaccinated- as are all of my sibs.
Then...I am taking my dd and her dd to Disney for their May virtual graduations (preschool and college). My dd is already vaccinated. Her state opened and she had the 40 day wait in place. Whew.
We move to Idaho, lock/stock and barrel in June! WOOO HOOO!
To me, it is all about being careful. Wear the mask. Wash hands. Be good. I can do it. I won't be "out and about". I shop early. I know the drill. I don't fear the airlines- my goodness things were clean in January!
My next "non family" trip will probably be late 2022. Gosh, I hope to go to Europe for my big 65...but it is SO slow in getting the vaccine. I want to do No Africa- but doubt they will ever get the vaccine.
Our Idaho home will be a rebirth for sure! I am SO ready!

DJan said...

I just went to the Skagit Valley to view the early tulips and gorgeous daffodils. We had to buy tickets ahead of time, wait in our car until our designated time to enter, and boy was it fun to see how different it is without hordes of people everywhere! Only a few tulips just yet, but it was so nice to be out tiptoeing among them! :-)

Arkansas Patti said...

I am fully vaccinated but I will continue to wear my mask in public and avoid gatherings. The rising numbers in so many states is concerning and I have put in too much care this past year to blow it all now. Think we need to be just a bit more patient.

Nancy Coiner said...

Hi, Tom -- Yes, I'm astonished at people who aren't still being careful, with the numbers rising as they are. But I'm starting to do things -- cautiously. My husband and I hit Liberation Day (full vaccinated plus two weeks) next weekend, and we're celebrating by having another couple (also fully vaccinated) to dinner for a quiet little dinner party. Yeah!!!! We're also going to go out to lunch the following week -- outdoors, but still OUT.

ApacheDug said...

Wow, a very good read Tom. I liked your optimism here, but appreciated the reality check too. (I felt like I was reading an article in Readers Digest!) Well, we live on opposite ends of the state but share the same governor, and frankly I'm worried he's rushing to restore normalcy (but God knows he's been pressured enough). Meanwhile, I have YET to find a way to get vaccinated. I'm not yet 65 or have a bad habit (like smoking) or have a medical condition like diabetes or obesity. I feel like I'm being punished! I have no choice but to stay squirreled away until I can get my first shot, at least. I think this whole thing has been run haphazardly. Still.. I'm glad for blogging friends like yourself, at least.

Laurie Stone said...

I'm so heartened by all the vaccines being given. I hope its our path out of this crazy time. I get frustrated when I see a lot of people flouting common sense, but hopefully they'll see the light someday.

gigi-hawaii said...

I agree with you. Governors are trying to push ahead with the reopening of the economy too fast, and rising numbers of cases prove that.

Wisewebwoman said...

I've been Pfizered, no cases here for a while but we are practicing an "abundance" of caution as our CMO puts it.

Those variants are terrifying and the after effect study on Covid sound harrowing. So many hospitalized even after vaccination.

XO
WWW

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Mage said...

I do, I do.

Tikno said...

If a lot of poor (and developing) countries still struggling for vaccine then this pandemic still a horror for us.

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