the more they stay the same
It has been very quiet in my town the past couple of weeks. There is much less traffic on the highway behind my house. Much of that is due to people hunkering down and staying home. Ahhh Covid-19. Many people have lost their jobs.
I am more fortunate in my workplace. I was sent home, but I am drawing administrative leave pay for the hours I am not actively involved in work. I am not sure how long the agency can afford to do that, however. I can do limited things at home – check email, check court records, etc. But all of my files are in my office and I cannot access them. We have not gotten rid of paper files.
But what adds to the quiet in the ‘hood is the lack of airplanes flying over my house. We are on the flight path and generally have flyovers every hour. No longer. The major airline – the one that serves the entire state – recently has filed bankruptcy. They first reduced their flights by 90%, parking most of their fleet. A week or so later they parked all of them.
the same . . . I am reminded of 9-11. The week following I would sit in my home office and blog about how quiet the world outside my window was. As now, there were no planes flying overhead. We were all hunkered down in front of our televisions wondering what was next. Would Alaska, with its major military bases, be on the list for an attack? We were quietly waiting.
Then, as now, people were reaching out to do whatever they could to help. Many of us lined up at the blood bank willing to donate a life source. I spent several days there registering the many people who came through.
Today, we are again looking for ways to help. The blood bank is in Anchorage and we cannot drive out of the community, so that is out until the blood mobile comes back into our area.
But my neighbors!!!! They are rock stars. Neighbors reaching out to others and doing a weekly shop, going to the pharmacy, writing encouraging notes, checking in. Sewers and non-sewers are making masks for everyone to use if they need to go out on those runs – or go to work. We are crocheting bands with buttons to relieve the ears of those who are masked. We are making contributions to the food bank and other agencies in need. We are ordering take out to help our neighbors who own restaurants. We are attending worship virtually.
We are in this for the long haul. This is our new normal. This type of thing will bring out the best in people . . . or the worst in people. (It’s what inside us that comes out)
To those who might be reading this, I say thank you for being who you are. Thank you for the efforts you are making. Thanks for befriending me. Thanks for keeping me smiling even when I don’t feel like it. Thanks for not unfriending me when I send you the latest pun that has tickled my funny bone. 
Stay safe, y’all. Stay home. And, when you must go out, stay covered. We’re all in this together.
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