Monday, January 11- Sunday, January 17, 2021
The Week in Covid Exposure – Maybe My Fault: This week everything revolved around Covid. I couldn’t escape it beginning with word on Tuesday evening that I had a one-on-one exposure. One-on-one exposure used to mean sexually transmitted, but now it just means that I ate dinner with someone who tested positive for Covid.
The social call was too much for me to resist. Before I went to dinner with her and another friend, I hadn’t eaten inside with anyone since September. Of course, it just takes one time and that’s the point of closing things down. We were only out for about 2 1/2 hours, at two places, the first busier than the second, but neither felt unsafe. We went through the evening as safe as we could, but it’s still a pandemic out there.
When I found out, I texted my boss and was thrust into Covid protocol, meaning I couldn’t come back to work until I tested negative. The walk-in urgent care was busy with people being tested, the workers say Covid tests are essentially what they do all day. I assumed Covid particles, if only just a leeetle bit, were in the air as I waited. I opted to pay out of pocket for a rapid test, $125 instead of the insurance-covered two-day wait test. And I was negative officially in 15 minutes, but I felt “negative” before, during, and after the test. For work purposes, I still had to stay home for the day, so thank you Covid for a free ($125!) day off work.
The Week in Covid Exposure – Not Really My Fault: I walked into the corner soul shop to pick up an order and walked right smack into a trap yoga class. They had moved the merchandise to the side and about 8 women were mid-exercise. It was awesome! There was so much energy in the room, I didn’t even bat an eye when I realized I had walked in as the owner was posting a Facebook Live video. I bought my item and left and about 5 feet away from the store I remembered the pandemic. And as I relived the hot, exercise class and the health warnings about exercising indoors I hoped my inadvertent error wasn’t costly. (It wasn’t…whew!)
The Week in Where Covid Has Got Us: My Mom’s 80th birthday was Friday. 80 is big. We should have had a party. Instead, me, my Brother, and a family friend had takeout at Mom’s house. We sat at the dining room table the entire time, with the window opened slightly. The food was great, the conversation was great, and the evening was short. This is the zen of Covid where I can’t dwell on what could have been, but treasure what we were able to do. The evening was fabulous. Not the evening we wanted, but the evening we got.
Nothing Ever Happens on My Street 