Hunkering Down

Staying home today with the sniffles (a cold. Repeat, a cold. Runny nose, no fever). It has been interesting to see people's reactions to this whole coronavirus thing. When I passed the grocery store last night, I could see the line-up for the cashier was 25-30 people long. A month from now, they're going to wake up and ask themselves, "What do I do with all this bleach and granola?"

My church teaches us to be prepared all the time, to have a year's supply of food on hand, to have money in the bank and no debt, to be ready both physically and emotionally for emergencies. Other than Tylenol and dogfood, I haven't had to go stock up on anything, really. I've taken inventory, and I think I could feed five people quite normally for 2 months or more before having to tighten the belt and ration. (Then again, my oldest son said yesterday they would come to isolate with us and our apple pie filling, so that supply of food could dwindle rapidly if I add six more people into the mix.) But in a month it will be time to start my seedlings, and I can always grow lettuce and green beans indoors. We will manage! And I've already figured out how to rearrange the furniture to accommodate an influx.

The virus doesn't frighten me so much as the wingnut people fighting over toilet paper at the store. This isn't the time for combat, folks, it's the time for cooperation. Call your elderly or isolated neighbours and make sure they have what they need and don't feel alone. If you're stocking up on food, add extra so you can take some to your local food bank. Set up internet groups to check in with each other. It's also time for creativity. Our pioneer ancestors didn't have toilet paper, and they coped quite nicely, thank you. If the flannel mullein is buried under the snow, there's always the option of using rags (collected in a bucket of diluted bleach and washed). If there's no hand sanitizer, warm water and salt can be used as disinfectant. Garlic is anti-viral.

It makes sense to me that, instead of waiting until we're sick and going into isolation, we should isolate ourselves while we're healthy so we stay that way. If everyone stayed home for a few weeks, the virus would go away. But employers so far aren't shutting down. Schools yes, entertainment venues yes, churches yes, but heavens forbid the retail sector shut down! So people feel they have to keep venturing out and taking the subway and riding crowded buses because their employers aren't getting with the times and people must have uninterrupted access to Baby Gap and Best Buy.

I'm all for hunkering down. A stack of books, a fire in the fireplace, my dog at my feet, and a bowl of popcorn -- I'll weather this just fine.