Plague Journal (7): Making Ourselves Useful

I find myself fascinated by the numbers. The map and graphs at this JHU site are my primary source.

My state is around 40th in terms of the number of cases. At last look we had 118 cases, with 74 of them in my own county. The more rural counties are doing much better, as also the more rural states. The hotspots are the cities.

The question is, when will the rate of increase in infections begin to decrease. When will the curve level off. How close or far are we?

It seems likely that the answer to that question will vary from place to place. Some states in the U.S. may already be into the period of decreasing growth, while others are still on the steep side of the curve.

This is why it's helpful to think of this not always in terms of national policy or decisions at the top. After all it was states and localities who responded to the pandemic first, not the feds. Since then the White House has made a pretense of leading, and at some levels they are, but the decisions about when to ease up, when to begin getting people back to work and school, etc., are going to be made at local and state levels also, simply because there is so much variation of circumstances from place to place in this large country.

My own day yesterday was uneventful, although I did make a trip to the store. There are far fewer staff-people at the grocery store, fewer registers in action, etc., at least in the afternoon. The cashier tosses your receipt in your bag. They're not allowed to hand them to us now, and they're wiping down the credit card keypad after every customer.

I stocked up on some meats for the freezer, some granola, and of course supplied myself with more Guinness, which is turning out to be my beer of choice for the duration, it seems. These trips to the store are my point of contact with people (apart from my wife) and so I suppose they present some danger. Everyone is friendly but keeps their distance.

Two nights ago we had a sudden snowstorm, a few inches. So yesterday when I walked down the street I noticed many people shoveling their driveways. I mean, people I have literally never seen before. I think they were just happy to have something to do, and happy to be outside. In the morning my pastor came to my house and shoved a path from the driveway to the door for us. He really didn't have to, since yesterday's warm weather melted most of the snow anyway, but it was a kind act nevertheless.

This is the story now for us who do not have kids in the house: the story of finding useful things to do. Today I think I'm going to make some cinnamon bread to take to a neighbor.

See you tomorrow.