covid diary: day 90

How does your garden grow?

So, it's been 90 days. Three months. Has anything really changed?

In terms of the pandemic, not really. New York went up, New York came down. Now other states are going up and up in terrifying ways (looking at you, Arizona). The big difference is that the federal government isn't even talking about it anymore. They just want to pretend like it's solved, a victory for them. Meanwhile, 2 million people in the United States have been infected with the virus, and 112,000 have died.

112,000 have died. In. Three. Months.

And that's not even taking into consideration the people who had severe cases but recovered. What long-term consequences will they have? Will they require continuing treatment? Nobody knows because this is so new.

And still I hear people say that most people recover, and the only ones who get really sick are the people with preexisting conditions. As if that's okay. Think about it. In my house alone, four out of the five of us have preexisting conditions that would put us at greater risk. That's right, four, so it's not just my fat ass who could get really sick. Liam has pretty bad allergies, as does Henry, and let's not forget that Henry was premature. He's a perfectly healthy 10-year-old now, but preexisting conditions don't go away. So the "preexisting people are the ones who get really sick" argument doesn't hold water for me, because that's *exactly* why we need to be extra careful: to protect people with risk factors that could lead to them getting really sick or even dying.

I know people who went on vacation last month, and I know people who are going on vacation this month. And I get it, people have different tolerance for risk for different activities, and they are well within their rights to go wherever and whenever they feel comfortable. But for me, that means we can't spend time with people who have a much higher risk tolerance than we do. We just can't. I've said it from the beginning, that even if we knew we wouldn't get super sick ourselves, it's not worth the risk of exposing the people we love. Or anyone else.

So in conclusion, if you want to go on vacation, or stop wearing a mask, or go to a party or a wedding or a funeral or even a protest, that's great! You do you. Be as safe as you can, have fun, and we'll see you ... sometime later. Outside. With lots of space between us.

Listen, going to the pool is terrifying enough, and I literally do not touch any surfaces there. I'm usually the only one in the pool, and as soon as I get out of the pool I put my mask on and get the heck out of there. It's probably the lowest risk/highest reward thing I can do, but I still worry every time.

And this afternoon, we expanded our risk horizons because the boys had dentist appointments for their six-month cleanings/checkups. Here's how that worked: We parked the car and I called to let them know we were here. Once they were ready for the boys, they called them into the office, where they had to wash their hands and get a temperature screening. I stayed out in the car. They called about 20 minutes after the boys went in to say that Max had a cavity* and to ask permission to just fill it right on the spot so we wouldn't have to make another trip in and risk further exposure (to us or to them). I agreed, so they did the filling. Liam and Henry had no cavities, so they came back out to the car when they were done, and we waited for Max to finish. I talked to the office about scheduling their next appointment, and they scheduled it and sent the reminder cards out with Max when he was finished.


*Noting because he is very sensitive about this: Max has gotten a cavity in each of his molars before it has even come in. It's not something he's doing wrong in terms of dental hygiene. The dentist doesn't know why it has happened, so that's just the way it is. Luckily I think he's almost done getting new teeth.

Nationwide cases: 1,979,813. Deaths: 112, 006.