Pandemic Miscellaneous April 2020 John Calvi
I’m standing in line, 6’ apart, outside our food coop. This store is only allowing 50 people in at a time – when someone comes out, someone else can go in. The line is moving very slowly. The woman in from of me is much older. I can feel she is now in pain for standing so long, her left hip. When she becomes first in line, we are still waiting a long time, with people exiting the store, but not letting her in. In an act of charity barely covering my impatience, I implore the young man attending the door – Please let this woman in now, she’s old and standing in line so long has become painful for her. He does not take my suggestion. The woman turns to me and sheepishly says, I am old. Then she turns back to me with a quizzical look and says – My hip IS hurting.
A friend from Korea bring us two face masks that are equal to the recommended protection for hospital workers. Her sister has mailed them from South Korea and after outfitting her family in Massachusetts, she’s driven to Putney to make this lifesaving gift to us. She leaves them in the entry way on the floor and attempts to leave without seeing us. We rush out to the entryway and thank her profusely as she stands in the rain ten feet from us. We are all laughing and loving this moment of kindness and connection. Marshall and I helped with her wedding and I was present for the births of both her children. Then I wear this wonderful new gift to the post office. I know it works immensely better than inferior mask for construction I found in the shed, because I can hardly breath! Any particle that gets through this barrier will be truly minor.
My old friend is old and her health conditions make her much too vulnerable to meet this virus. I’ve been doing some shopping for her. Recently I sent an email asking what she needed. She replied- Can’t have too much chocolate! I pull up to the house with two large fancy dark chocolate bars and set them on the well head. She calls from her outside deck – The Coop has two bags of my groceries that got lost for the morning, please bring them to me. I did and brought them into the house because she should carry nothing more than five pounds. She’s bleached the counter where the two bags go and will antiseptically deal with each package in the bags. She’s ten feet away and we laugh at how absurd our lives are now without hugs and lots more bleach.
We live on a land trust of 105 acres with five households and 13 people. There has been a weekly dinner with us all since forever. I am missing cooking for everyone very much and catching up on the news of each person. Our houses are not close. Some we could holler to, but not others. There have been some driveway meetings, catching up briefly. Yesterday there was Zoom meeting of the neighbors including their children spread all over the land. The most fun for me was seeing the grandchildren making faces into the camera and watching themselves. Big fun. I am collecting some art materials for two of those households with young children now.
