Locked down. We’re now in the 14th week of self-isolation, venturing out only occasionally to shop for essentials. Otherwise, we have nowhere to go and nothing to do when we get there.
This, stretched out now over more than three months, has completely changed the shape of our days.
No laughing, now!
We’re out of bed at about 7 am. That hasn’t changed, that’s been our usual time since we retired.
I wander into the kitchen, turn on the coffee maker. I unplug my iPad and start reading the news while Laura heads outside to get our daily paper.
So far, so good, right? But at this point, we’re still in our pajamas and that’s what’s been different about our routine since the coronavirus started scaring the shit out of us.
As I said above, we have nowhere to go, nothing to do when we get there. No Central Oregon Center for the Arts meetings, no choir rehearsal, very little shopping, no going out to lunch.
The one bright spot is that on Wednesdays, when the housekeeper comes, we head out to see if we can find a minor adventure, one that does not involve being around other people.
Otherwise, we pretty much live in our pajamas, at least for most of the morning, while we consume the news. We sometimes stretch this until 10 a.m. or so, long after we’ve run out of coffee. Being in one’s sleepwear past that point just somehow is unseemly, suggestive of decadence, don’t you think?
That’s OK, we can do decadence, as long as it extends no further than staying in our PJs until 10 and eating an occasional piece of chocolate cake.
That’s another thing. Laura, never one to be still for long, has been baking chocolate-chip cookies. This is good. She does about a batch a week. These batches never, ever, overlap. Why is that I wonder? The thing is, she’d never done this prior to the lockdown.
Like the rest of you, we have no idea how long all this will last. Longer than we’d like, certainly. The news today is that Oregon, our state, has 278 new cases and at least 100 new cases eight of the last 10 days.
Here in Deschutes County, we’ve had 137 cases, total, but no deaths. Bend, population about 100,000 and 15 miles south, is by far the largest city in Central Oregon. It is a blue city. That’s important because blue folks seem more likely to wear masks than folks from red areas.
I think that’s probably one of the reasons our case count has remained relatively low. But Redmond, the closest town to us, about 6 miles to the west, is red. People we see out and about in Redmond tend to not wear masks.
We wear masks. We will continue to do so. We also probably will remain in our self-imposed isolation. That’s because we don’t see this ending anytime soon.
Second wave? Hell, I don’t think we’re done with the first wave.
I just hope we can all stay safe. That means us, and it means you, too. And please, wear a mask! It’s not that I’m sick of wearing pajamas. But I would like to get out and around without the risk of this awful illness. I’m sure you’d like the same.
Enough with pajamalama, as nice as it’s been!
-JFT