Planet Earth: Closed for Pest Control

There's a silver lining to everything, right? I've been looking for one in the last few days while we are under advisement to self-isolate. As I thought of what is good, I was sobered by what is not.

Under the "silver" heading, I have...

1. Cooking and eating at home: Light and healthy meals are being whipped up twice a day with a minimal amount of ingredients. A kind of rationing based on not wanting to replenish supplies. We should be living like this all the time. Good for the waistline and good for the planet.

2. Long walks to battle cabin fever: The virus doesn't aerosolize, right?!

3. Catching up on movies on streaming services: SO SO much to catch up on and with commute time down to zero, so easy,

4. Ordering groceries online: This has been a long time coming for all of us. The hazard of touching a grocery cart far outweighs the benefit of feeling an avocado for ripeness. Bring on the unripe avocados!

5. Going native with grooming: If nobody sees my bushy eyebrows, they do not exist.

I'm filing these under "weird"...

1. Elbow bumps and air hugs: I hug everyone at first contact. It feels weird for the leg to move up and the elbow to come out.

2. Saying hi to the neighbors through the window: Nobody minds this any more.

3. Watching movies when we have all this time: Not nearly as much fun.

4. Humanity on the walking trail: Ugh!

5. The nagging cough and the slight sniffle: Of course it is not THAT, but what if it is?

And these under "scary"...

1. The scale of the pandemic: The fact that something we cannot see is creating havoc at such scale and speed is stunning.

2. The kids working in hospitals: I know they signed up for this but right now I wish they were stay-at-home adults.

3. The scarcity of things: I still don't get this thing with toilet paper...

4. Government incompetence: We saw this coming. For 2 months. Yet we waited like ostriches with head in the sand.

5. Need I say more...