Covid-19

It's time for a journal entry.  I don't feel like I'm going to be very eloquent in this post, but I want to remember specific things.  Sometime in early February we started hearing about a new virus in China called the coronavirus.  We heard reports of the numbers of infected people were escalating very rapidly and that the death rates were also starting to rise.  It seemed like suddenly China was in lockdown mode.  All of this was happening half a world away, but we watched anyway.  We watched as confirmed cases moved from China, to Italy, to South Korea, and across the globe.  We saw photographs of people trying to protect themselves with face masks, latex gloves, and other very creative solutions.  We watched the red dots slowly spread from new epicenters in Europe and Washington State.  Suddenly the reports changed from "There's nothing to fear from coronavirus," "This is just a hoax because it's an election year," "It's nothing but a bad flu," "People are panicking for no good reason," to "Wash your hands!  Wash your hands!  Wash your hands!" "People are dying because there are too many cases all at once." "If we don't do something immediately then our entire healthcare system and economy are going to collapse," "Shut down everything now before this keeps spreading,"  Yesterday I watched as emails came flooding into my email account letting me know that things are indeed shutting down: the library, the gym, county buildings, soccer, schools, and even church.  Everything is going to be closed for at least two weeks so we can keep people at home and slow the spread of this virus.  If we are truly quarantined for two or more weeks realities and priorities start to change.  But while this is a very scary time for so many people, I have been able to feel a huge surge of peace through it all.

Whenever Jeremy and I return from a trip I typically have to do some grocery shopping to reset our supplies.  This trip to New Zealand was no different.  As soon as Bruce and Leesa left on Wednesday, I felt like we had to go to Costco immediately.  We were there right as they opened and I was able to pick up a bunch of things for our food storage.  I didn't feel scared and I didn't feel panicked.  I felt very clear minded as I walked down the aisles picking up things that I felt we would need just in case things started going south.  There were longer lines than normal, but everyone was very polite and calm.  The only real difference I saw was that all toilet paper, tissues, and paper towels were completely gone.  There were employees standing next to the bottled water limiting supplies to two per customer.  And on all of those giant shelves where extra product is normally stored, there were big gaping holes.  After our Costco run we went to King Soopers where I picked up more food storage related things.  Not a ton, but just what I felt inspired to get.  Once again, nothing felt too crazy.  On Thursday is when things really started getting crazy, that's when all of the closures started being announced.  I had friends who started reporting that the shelves at King Soopers were starting to empty.  I thought that they might be exaggerating.  But then this morning I realized that I still needed to do my normal shopping trip for the week.  I felt like I needed to be at King Soopers right when they opened.  When I arrived at 7:30 the parking lot was completely full and there were no carts available.  I found a cart and started calmly making my way through the store.  I saw that my friends had not been exaggerating.  Where just two days before I saw completely stocked shelves, I now saw bare shelves where the pasta, Macaroni and Cheese, Progresso soup, spaghetti sauce, Ramen Noodles, paper products, bananas, onions, and produce used to be.  It looked like something out of a movie, completely separate from my reality.  The check-out line at 8:00 was already six people deep for each register.  By the time I finished checking out at 8:30, the lines went all the way to the back of the store.  Reports I'm seeing from other friends show it's just getting worse.  But amid the chaos, I never felt panicked.  It's true that my food storage isn't a year supply.  Goodness, it's not even a month supply.  However, I knew that there was something there.  I knew that if I couldn't find a new can of diced tomatoes then I would be all right.  I had something ready to go.

All Church meetings have also been cancelled.  These include sacrament meeting, mutual, seminary, and General Conference.  But do you know what?  It's ok.  We live in a digital age where General Conference will still be streamed and we'll see be able to hear from the prophet.  No church on Sunday?  That's ok too.  We have been using the new Come Follow Me curriculum for over a year and are very familiar with family church.  We can teach our children here at home and don't feel lost in a sea of abandonment.  Worthy priesthood holders have also been authorized to bless the sacrament in their homes.  Well guess what, Jeremy can do that.  How grateful I am for an inspired prophet who helped prepare us for situations just like this.  I was supposed to teach Gospel Doctrine on Sunday, but while that's been cancelled I am fully prepared to use everything I've learned to bless my family.  I've also been much more self-motivated this year to do my own personal study.  Once again, I don't feel like I'm going to be cut off from the gospel.

My friend, Alexis, was supposed to race Puerto Rico 70.3 this upcoming Sunday.  The race was cancelled as soon as she arrived, as were other Ironman races and the Boston marathon.  I feel incredibly blessed that Jeremy and I were still able to visit and race in New Zealand.  We missed all of this by mere days.  I was able to get that worlds spot and my dream is still alive.  I don't know what will happen with Oceanside 70.3 in three weeks, but that's ok.

There's still so much to experience in the following weeks and months, but it will be interesting to have everything cancelled.  The kids are going to be home a lot.  There are no meetings of large groups of people anymore, and most of the places we go to when we need to escape the house have been closed.  As of now we are essentially self quarantining.  Until further notice, my kids and I are going to spend all day, every day, together and at home.  We've set up a schedule to try to keep some consistency and purpose to our days.  If the kids end up staying home longer than anticipated, I have a feeling this schedule will save our sanity.  All ready I've noticed a shift in the atmosphere around me.  After the craze of preparing, there seems to be some quiet settling over our city.  I have no idea how long this will last. After all, we still don't yet have a confirmed case of Covid-19 in Broomfield, even though it is spreading very rapidly.  Hopefully I can post frequently to track this very unique situation we find ourselves in.  It is wild to think that this is our new reality, and I don't want to forget all we are going to learn over the next few months.