People are desperately clinging to their old life unwilling to see that it is already dead.
Cling
I Laugh At The Face Of Death
So, in my effort to reduce stress in this Unique Time I tempted fate and went for a run. 6.27 miles in 1 hour 16 minutes and 53 seconds. Oh, and I also ran yesterday morning. Below are screenshots of the stats, etc.
And yes, I did come across the occasional human besides myself laughing at death. We engaged in proper social distancing protocols. Except for yesterday. I came across 4 deer as I crossed the tracks behind the Minit Mark gas station on Grand Ave. They just stood there looking at me. They didn’t raise their tails in alarm or move out of the way. I had to run around them! They made no effort at proper social distancing protocols. None-the-less, I was blown away by passing within 3 feet of wild deer. Way cool.
Virus Updates
The first reported case has been confirmed for St. Louis County.
Health officials say the woman in her late 60s and is currently recovering at home. Her infection is linked to domestic travel, and not the result of community transmission, according to health officials.
KBRJ 6
Meanwhile, in the Southern part of our state:
MINNEAPOLIS (KARE) — Officials have confirmed the first death in Minnesota connected to the coronavirus. The Minnesota Department of Health reported Saturday that a Ramsey County resident in their 80s died Thursday after recently testing positive for COVID-19 coronavirus. According to officials, the person contracted the virus through contact with another COVID-19 case.
KBRJ 6
Done Rabbited
I don’t have a 401k with anything worth looking at due to multiple job changes. How are all of yours looking?
Down the rabbit hole I suspect.
The World Changes
Worse Than Italy.
Keep in mind Italy took drastic measures once they understood the full measure of what they were facing. We haven’t. I suspect our numbers will be substantially worse than theirs.
Today’s Run
Real Quick
I’m writing this post to past the time while I finish my second cup of coffee. Then it’s off to run. I’m still debating internally whether I should run on the treadmill in the basement or bundle up in my winter running gear and hit the pavement. It’s an ongoing debate that will not be decided until after I’ve finished my coffee.
I hope the rest of you are all playing it safe and avoiding social contact.
Cognitive Dissidence
While everyone is buying up toilet paper because everyone else is, and they don’t want to be without, it’s becoming apparent to me that denial is strong in all of this behavior.
Look. I’m not faulting those of you cracking light. I’m not chastising those of you hoarding. We are in uncharted territory for this day and age.
So, if your only way of dealing with the approaching pandemic is to make jokes, I understand. If you are caught up in the fear that you won’t have enough toilet paper or food, I understand.
See, it hasn’t sunk in yet.
It’s not going to be about not having toilet paper. It’s not going to be about shortages. It is not going to be about the inconvenience of being stuck in the house for weeks because you or someone you live with have the virus.
And really, all I hear are people focused on the inconvenience of isolation. The inconvenience of preventing the spread of the virus. The United States has been so long removed from epidemics and pandemics they’ve forgotten their number one outcome – death.
People are going to die.
Let me repeat that.
People are going to die.
A large number of people are going to die.
Some of them will be people you know.
People you are acquainted with, work with or see regularly at the checkout line. They might even be someone you are close to, care about, and love.
Humans as a general rule fear the unknown because – well, the unknown might kill us. We’ve developed coping mechanisms to ease the anxiety and fear of the unknown. We develop avoidance strategies because anxiety and fear are uncomfortable.
But now? Oh, now we are facing something entirely more uncomfortable. We are not facing the unknown. We are facing the known. We are facing death.
Illness has been the bane of humans since we first walked upright. We have an instinctive knowledge that illness can mean death.
The rest of the world is six weeks ahead of us in instituting measures to reduce the spread of the virus. Six weeks ahead in testing, tracking, and allocating resources effectively and efficiently. Yet, look at those numbers in China, Italy, and Germany. And since the virus originated in the wet markets of China in 2019, we need to be very concerned. In 2018 2.9 million Chinese traveled to the United States. The numbers for 2019 are not yet in, but I suspect it is not much lower than for 2018.
And we are 6 weeks behind in testing. Six weeks behind in testing, tracking, and allocating resources effectively and efficiently. We don’t have the facts. We don’t know how many people are truly infected. So we may be facing the known instead of the unknown, we are unaware as to the full aspect of what we are facing.
Talk about living in interesting times.
Ironic, isn’t it.
Lazy Sunday
Oaky, I did start a load of laundry. So what? The machine does all the work.