Real Stories from the Pandemic

Still hunkering down, I hope….unless you are one of the heroes who needs to out and work with the public (thank you). Here are more stories from the pandemic. Enjoy!

Good to Go

Except for the surgery, I have spent the last five weeks in isolation. Larder getting bare. Contacted two grocery stores to order groceries for pickup, so that I wouldn’t have to go into the store and someone could put my groceries into my trunk. I didn’t want to lift anything because I am not supposed to lift anything over 8 pounds. First store could bag my list in seven days. Second store could bag my list in eight days. Decided against that. Michigan is going to be worse next week than it is now.

Had three prescriptions to pick up and so off I went to the grocery store. They had a spray bottle for customers to spray their carts. I sprayed my hands also. After gathering my stuff and loading it into the trunk, I wiped down the handles, steering wheel, etc., with Clorox Wipes. Travel with those now.

Drove into the garage, shut the door, and stripped. I put everything that I was wearing into the washing machine. Got dressed and unloaded the trunk. I wiped down every article that I had bought before I put it away. Then I wiped the garage stuff that I had touched — door handles, etc. Then I wiped down everything that I had touched in the house.

I am good to go! I can spend another five weeks in isolation.

If I get the virus, I will know that I tried to avoid it.

Love to all my family members and friends. See you in the summer,

Mom/Carol

– Carol, Kalamazoo, Michigan

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New Numbers

Math was not my major, but now numbers have become hyper- relevant to me. It’s no longer Four and Twenty Blackbirds. They’ve been replaced by the rules of Six and Twenty. I am in the over-60 risk group, so when I venture out for necessities, I’m tempted to wear a hoop skirt or carry a yardstick to help me estimate the six feet I need to put between me and anyone else. I’m tempted, but I don’t do it. I just repeat it over and over in my mind until it drills a hole in my brain. The same thing happens when I wash my hands with soap. I lather up well, and then, instead of singing Happy Birthday or any of the other suggestions that have been posted on Facebook, I merely count to twenty, feeling righteous and pious. The last relevant number for me these days is nineteen, (as in Covid-19). I pray that it and the other numbers will soon fade into disuse and remain a dim memory of the part of history others in the future will read about.

Evie, California

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We Still Need Books!

Here at Pro Audio Voices, we’re finding that authors are all the more in need of getting great stories and content out into the world to listeners who need resources and escapes. So we’re especially busy in this time of sheltering in place. Our team is spread across the globe, and I feel such gratitude and warmth for each of them — for the opportunity to see them via Zoom and to be a community. I feel like one of the best things we can do is to stay calm and be present for each other.

-Becky Parker Geist, California, Pro Audio Voices, Helping great stories come alive! 

Audiobook Production & Marketing, President of Bay Area Independent Publishers Association

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And We Still Need Music!

The first thing that happened was my gigs got canceled. Besides being my social outlet, gigs are a third of my income. Then schools got canceled, and I didn’t know if my teacher husband would get paid. All I had left were my trombone lessons. I messaged my students and gave them the option of lessons over FaceTime instead of coming to the music store, and every one of them opted for that. I wondered if they would just give up lessons for now? Would their parents continue to be able to afford lessons? I have never been so happy to see my students. All seven of them have been with me for years, and so we got to stare at each other and say how weird this all is. I realized in an instant what their parents were probably thinking. Lessons were one of the only links to their kids’ old schedule. Everything else was on hold. I think they were as happy to have me as I was to have them. My husband kept his salary for now, but getting to see my kids’ faces was worth more than the money I had been so worried about. Seeing their faces and keeping the music going is a commitment to the hope of being able to play in bands again in better times.

-Rae Rae, Petaluma, California, Professional Musician

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Grateful

As a single 72-year-old woman living in a luxury condo building in Atlantic City with my two cats, I am feeling grateful that I have a comfortable home, supplies for at least two months, activities that keep me engaged, and no one with whom to argue. Yes, I have been deprived of teaching dance classes and making pottery in a community art center, but the real lesson is about preparation for adaptability and change. I am very happy to say that I am passing this test. And in the words of Rumi, “This too shall pass.”

Another thought: While in the shower this morning, I thought about how fortunate we are to have the internet. Think about what happens if that gets a virus that really keeps us isolated. And no Amazon or Netflix or YouTube. Hmmmm.

-Judith Lokitch, Atlantic City, New Jersey, Tap Dancer and Potter

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What About Graduation?

This is all a big change and many people are in much worse situations than I am. A big part of my small publishing company’s sales come from school author visits and other events, so all the cancelations are felt. But my product (books) is not perishable. While it’s hard right now, we will bounce back. On the personal side of things, my son is a senior in a performing arts high school, and the kids in his program are very close. The school closures were announced while they were on Spring Break, so their world turned upside down without any warning. Prom is canceled and graduation is doubtful, but what is tough is they are realizing they may never be together again as a group. Their final Pops Concert is a big deal for them. The seniors select the music, and it’s when they get their senior recognition. The Pops Concert means more to the kids than the graduation ceremony. It’s hard to see the kids miss out on it. When my son was a freshman, I remember thinking I’ll be a mess at his last Pops Concert, and now I’m a mess because it may never happen.

-Luana Mitten, Mom and Publisher, Tampa, Florida

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Cruising Call to Shore

We’d been on the cruise for four days when eight Panamanian masked military men jumped off the tender and boarded our sailing ship. I was just stepping down from the ladder when they arrived. Pushing down the alarm that blared in my chest, I joined my nervous shipmates in the lobby. News of coronavirus filled the flat screen TV that hung in the hall. The captain’s voice came on the loudspeaker. “All passengers are to report to the Lounge.” And that’s when our vacation took an unexpected turn.

-Jeanne Jusaitis, children’s author, Petaluma, California

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Dressing for the Occasion

Even though the COVID-19 plague has many of us cocooned safely away at home, for some people, work continues online. For those whose professions require “virtual” meetings, here are a few useful tips:

If Time-Zone Follies require you to join a coast-to-coast meeting at “O Dark Thirty” and you haven’t yet managed to brush your teeth, save everyone from your Buffalo Breath by sitting at least two meters (six feet) from the microphone.

If it’s the kitchen that serves as your home office and you want your computer mouse to remain in good working order throughout the meeting, be sure to move the peanut butter, honey and ketchup off the table. And pull the photos of you and your buddies in goofy party hats off the fridge door.

Did you set up the man cave as your work-from-home hideaway? Don’t forget to remove the Playboy calendar from the wall behind your chair.

Is the bedroom doubling as your home office? Get that pile of laundry out of sight and for God’s sake make sure there’s no bra or panties left carelessly dangling from the handles of your Bowflex.

If your computer’s built-in camera catches a field of view wide enough to include the area behind your chair — you know, the one your spouse routinely passes through en déshabillé — the moment you hear said spouse starting to shuffle past, draw attention away from the embarrassing visual by leaning forward and loudly blowing your nose.

If you have small children or elderly parents living with you and, as a consequence, have rigged the entire house with an intercom or baby monitors, be sure to mute the one in the privvy for the duration of the meeting. After all, you wouldn’t want to broadcast bathroom audio [turn up the sound here, if you dare] to your entire audience.

Dressing for the occasion — best practices:

1. If your shirt is decorated with last night’s spaghetti sauce, undo the top four buttons and entertain everybody instead with a view of your hairy chest.
2. Anyone over 60 who sleeps in their birthday suit and thinks ZOOM is an invitation to “come as you are” is excused from the meeting.

Stay safe! Stay healthy! And don’t lose your sense of humor!

-Howard Daniel, Professional Writer, Santa Rosa, California