As best I can tell we’re still spinning around the sun and the moon is still spinning around Earth. I don’t want to take those things for granted.
Out here in the backyard with cool air caressing my arms and legs the world feels safe and comforting. The sun hasn’t risen yet, but it will in the next hour. Then this soothing air will turn heavy remembering we’re in the warm to hot season.
This year, I was still in long sleeves and pants all through April because the temperatures kept dropping into the sixties, even the fifties. It warmed into the seventies but only for a short while and the long cotton sleeves felt like hugs so I kept them on.
I kept them on because I wasn’t getting any real hugs. I’m keeping social distance in an effort to stave off covid-19 and give health care workers as much break as possible even as they are overwhelmed by the amazing array of symptoms presenting in the patients they treat everyday.
In March, I was overwhelmed by the images coming out of Italy and Spain when covid-19 ravaged their people and slammed their healthcare workers. Doctors and nurses in their bunny suits moved through hallways filled with patients so sick they did not move. And for all that was said about those Mediterranean Europeans being over run, it was America that so completely failed to prepare.
Here in Austin, city leaders waited until major players pulled out of South by Southwest music festival before cancelling SXSW for 2020. The spring festivities balloon deflated. We all went inside to practice social distancing and put on face masks to go stand in line for groceries. Two months later, we have more interesting facemasks because we’re stuck without work and have to pass the time somehow. All of our social gatherings have moved online and we still get to see the faces and hear the voices of the people who enrich our lives throughout this beautiful city.
Austin is a beautiful city with lots of greenery and color around the old Weird Austin and the new Developer Austin. Lady Bird Lake still cuts through the urban landscape. Hike and bike trails crisscross all directions. And the mild spring weather means the green might not fade under brutal heat before we get out of this lockdown. We already missed the bluebonnet season as we stayed inside trying to do our part to take care of our community. Our youth missed proms and graduations. At the same time, our hospitals have weathered the storm so far.
The weather has been gorgeous out here in my back yard while hours blend into days blend into weeks blend into months. It’s been eight weeks of living this way. Covid19 still has its way with us. But, best I can tell we’re still spinning around the sun and the moon still rotates around us.
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