COVID-19 #2 Quarantine/Stay at Home

As I mentioned in the previous post, the day after Seth and I arrived home from Orlando, Governor Little issued a stay-at-home order due to the coronavirus. The kids still had the rest of that week as spring break before school would begin on-line.

The Lego table came out and a very fine little town was created. 

Sheriff's office and jail

Pet store

Pastor comforting a grieving parishioner

Church--Note the stained glass windows

Doctor's office

Hair salon

Bookstore

Krusty's Cafe

Town park

The girls also taught Seth Cat's Cradle.

Adjusting to having the church shut down and not meeting corporately to hear the Word of God preached has been pretty difficult.  Russ decided to just work from home, going in on Saturday mornings to tape his sermons for Sunday.  This means a very messy table and lots of books lying around! He did find an unused three drawer end table in our garage that he has used for storing some of his books.  I've been reminded several times, "This is only temporary." 😒

Watching our taped services.  After the first couple Russ, the elders, and a few pianists worked on adding hymns before and after the teaching as well.

We are still "meeting" via Zoom with our several Bible studies.  I meet with our women's church Bible study for an hour on Tuesday mornings, our Psalm study still meets on Wednesday night (I think we had about 30 people last week!), Russ meets with his Friday book group, and my BSF class still meets on Tuesday evenings.  Using technology has been wonderful to connect with people, but nothing can replace face to face teaching and fellowship! 

I can't tell you how much this encouraged Pastor Russ!

Easter Sunday, a couple from the church stopped by with this beautiful Easter lily and sang the first verse of "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" to us.  We can honestly say it was the first time we'd ever been Easter caroled!

Russ tries to call all the elderly in the church every week during this time as they are even more housebound than we are.  Those in care centers are not even allowed to leave their rooms for meals.  He has also been Zooming his radio program on Wednesday mornings so he has stayed pretty busy even though the church doors are closed.  He is currently Zooming all his meetings for the Dordt Board of Trustees.  He had planned to be in Iowa this week for those meetings and to catch Nicolas run in a track meet.  When he is not doing church-related business, he is trying to fix our aging irrigation system which needs a bit of a tune-up.  

The kids have done quite a bit more baking/cooking while at home.  Anna tried a new Twix Bar cookie recipe, and Seth made lemon drops.   Seth has promised us some of his yummy yeast rolls...stay tuned.  Good thing Russ found a 25# bag of flour when all the shelves were empty.🙄

Anna also taught herself Morse Code when she was super bored (before on-line school started).  I found the song lyrics scribbled in Morse code in the middle of her puzzle pages to be quite hilarious.  If you are bored, see if you can figure out what song it is!

The weather was absolutely beautiful last week so I rummaged through the pantry and found smore fixings.

We are missing an "S" hook, so Russ just improvised with a padlock.  He did the same thing last fall.  Seth and I distinctly remember the day we rushed outside in a downpour to take down the hammock only to find it padlocked--WITHOUT the key.  Thankfully, he left the key in this time.  I have been reminded again that this too, is "only temporary."🙄

When we came in after enjoying our smores, snuggling on the hammock, throwing a frisbee to Zoe, and entertaining Iverson (cat) we were greeted by this look at the door.  She was so not amused to be left out. 

What else do you do when the spring weather is beautiful?  Clean windows!

Mom's cleaning windows?  The screen's out?  Why not just come in here?

We also experienced our first earthquake--the first since 1983 in Boise.  Having the earth move and the house shake is a very queer feeling, indeed.  My sister Cora dubbed this our coronaquake.  Lydia is sure with the earthquake, disease, forest fires, etc that our Lord is coming back soon!

We read in the paper and on social media about weddings being postponed or brides and grooms making alternate plans but saw firsthand the ramifications of COVID-19 on planned nuptials.   Last week Russ and I were out for a walk and stumbled upon a wedding taking place just a block from our house.  Notice the social distancing of the wedding party?

We have been trying to walk every day just to get out of the house; most of the time going to church to grab the mail.  Sometimes the kids go with us, sometimes they just run their track workout, sometimes Seth and Lydia will go biking instead.  Those who know Lydia know she is accident prone so it was no surprise to us when she came home all banged up from a fall on her bike.  She was mortified that it happened in front of the Einstein Oil building.  Evidently, the guys came rushing out to see if she was okay.  She said they had smirks on their faces like they were trying not to laugh.  I told her that wasn't very nice of them, but she reassured me, "I think it's because I slapped the ground really hard after I fell and yelled 'BLAST!"😂  Good thing she heals quickly.

Other than going on walks, I have not left the home since I got back from Florida.  Russ has been our designated grocery shopper, errand runner, etc.  After the CDC recommended that all grocery shoppers wear face masks, Russ reluctantly agreed to put one on when out and about.  The last time he was out he noted that he would have been in the minority without one.  

From the back page of the Idaho Press last week.

COVID-19 #1 Travel

 One week after I posted my "End of Winter" post the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic (March 11, 2020).  I'd been following the progression of this coronavirus since it was first discovered in Wuhan, China in January.  I noted when travel was restricted to/from China and when key U.S. international airports began screening those coming in from overseas.  By the end of February and the beginning of March, the first deaths from COVID-19 occurred in Seattle, WA.

The sequence of events the next two weeks occur so quickly it is hard to keep up.  Nationally, big events/concerts/festivals begin canceling to prevent the spread of the virus, including the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament.  The stock market plummets in anticipation of this pandemic. Closer to home, the girls' school begins training teachers and students on a video platform.  Greg calls to tell me his meeting in Boise is canceled so he won't be seeing us at the end of March.  People are crowding into Costco and Walmart to buy toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and bottled water. Soon the toilet paper shelves are empty at every store in the city.

Seven days before the Ligonier conference was to begin and five days before Seth and I were to leave for the conference, they announce that they are canceling it based on new orders to limit meeting sizes (less than 100, then 50, then 10, now 5).

Our church still hosts the Pacific NW Classis meeting on March 10 and 11, but if it had been scheduled even a week later it would have been canceled.  Not only was it bringing in people from all over the Northwest, but it was also a meeting of more than 50 people.

Our older boys were on spring break from Dordt from March 6-16.  Caleb stuck around a few days to help coach at the NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships (March 5-7) and then traveled to Florida with friends for the rest of the week.  Nicolas drove with friends to South Padre Island, TX and was back in Sioux Center early on March 15th.  As things crazily unfold with COVID-19, Dordt decides to extend spring break a week and then resume with online classes.  Caleb decides to stay in Florida and meet us at our house in Orlando and buys an inexpensive return ticket instead of driving back with friends.  Since Nicolas now has an extra spring break week, he decides to join us in Florida as well.  In the meantime (and we are talking days here) the governor of Idaho meets with educators on Sunday the 15th of March and decides to keep schools in session at least through the 18th.  But the next morning (Monday) several Boise schools decide to begin spring break a week early, and the girls' school follows suit.  I had left the house super early that morning to get groceries at Winco while the girls were getting ready for school.  I get the text at 7:30 while in the check out line and quickly call the girls not to go to school--spring break starts a week early!  After many phone calls and much angst, Seth and I decided to still go to Florida.  We change our tickets to make the flight more direct, and stock up on hand sanitizer and Chlorox wipes for the flight.

The flight to Orlando is surreal.  The planes are nearly empty, as are the airport terminals.  No one looks strangely at the person wiping down their seatbelt, armrests, tray table, etc.  Many people are wearing masks.  We meet up with Michael and Nicolas at the Minneapolis airport and are on the same flight to Orlando.  Grandpa and Brooke pick us up and we drive straight to our rental house.  The following day we eat out for breakfast and do some serious grocery shopping for our week.  We not only enjoy our house pool, but also the pool in the resort/housing development.  

Sandhill cranes right outside our house--the babies were so cute!

Many books were read by this pool this week.

A few days in, we realized our pool was actually heated (we didn't pay for it) and we enjoyed our hot tub.

Since all theme parks had just closed in Orlando the Friday before, quite a few families were choosing to hang out at the pool instead (most did a good job of social distancing). On Thursday after we watch some of the live-streamed Ligonier Conference (Made in God's Image) we drive to Cocoa Beach (maintaining social distancing). 

Twining!

One of these brothers did not have the week headstart on beach tanning.

Just a picture to prove we practiced "social distancing" on the beach.  Not from each other, obviously.

On Friday Caleb, Nicolas, Seth, and Greg's girls drive to Venice Beach on the Gulf Coast while the rest of us enjoy a boat tour in Winter Haven, FL.  

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We drove through several of the lakes that form a chain, linked by these canals.

Where Cyprus Gardens had their ski shows

Largest houses on the lakes

We ended our boat cruise with a yummy meal at a seafood restaurant on the lake.

Saturday we hike at Circle B Bar Reserve and see awesome wildlife.  

By Sunday, most churches in the nation have gone to live-streamed or taped services.  We tune in to Dr. Burk Parsons at St. Andrews Chapel in Sanford, FL.  I also catch Russ' taped teaching lessons later in the day.  We all fly (or drive) home on Tuesday and quarantine ourselves for at least two weeks.  In fact, a day or two after we return home the Idaho governor issues a stay at home order.  

The question kind of hangs out there--should we have gone, or should we have stayed home?  Hard to say. I do know, however, that the time spent with my parents, my little brother, my older nieces, and my big boys was pretty sweet.