A quick note on these times

I'm sitting here at home, waiting for the all-clear from the novel coronavirus incursion, almost sheltering-in-place but not quite; the mayor and the governor haven't made that call yet. I don't know what's going to happen. If ever I wondered what it felt like when the Great Depression hit, I know now, because we are shearing suddenly down that path.

These are times I've been waiting for a long while. It's not that I've been hoping for this--quite the opposite. I've been afraid of this. Now that it's here, this time of COVID-19, I'm finding it...not so bad? To a point. The city is oddly quiet, the traffic on our street reduced to the odd car and truck. The sidewalks of SE Division Street, once a bustling restaurant row, are relatively deserted. The restaurants and taverns are closed, and the other stores closed, too. The people who worked there are now suddenly unemployed, most with no savings. I worry about them.

We're ok for now. I'm forcibly retired, John works in an essential industry, the girls are finishing up college. Louisa was planning on a career as a mixologist/bartender, Josie in retail until she figures out what to do, and both were looking forward to moving out. Not now. Now, their schoolwork is online, and they have only us for sustenance. Luckily, we can keep them housed and fed.

For now. Now, we are all right. Here's hoping all of our futures are rosier.