Minor Adjustments

Since the shelter-in-place order in my area was given, I have been:

• To work at my essential job (daily M-F)
• To the DMV (once, for an appointment I booked last December and couldn’t get changed)
• To the grocery store (once)
• To the emergency vet (once)
• To the feed store (drive-thru)

Before you start shouting about me going places (other than my essential job and the grocery store, you’ve got no grounds to yell about those), let’s get a few things straight. I do my best to be socially distant, I wash my hands A TON, and all of these errands were necessary. The DMV (which I tried to change and couldn’t) was to renew my license, which I wasn’t allowed to do by mail this year AND I had to get that newfangled RealID thingy and they make you go in for that. The feed store was necessary because if I didn’t get some more pine pellets I wouldn’t be able to clean the rat cage, and an icky rat cage makes for a smelly house, which is not hygenic.

The emergency vet visit I wish could have been avoided, but my runty little Bubbles had reached a point of infirmity from which there was no return, and I couldn’t stand it any more. She couldn’t, either, bless her. So off we went, and she got that last little nudge to help her cross the Rainbow Bridge, and she’s in Rat Heaven with Blossom and Big Dutch and Penny and Gabby Rat and Tiny Tina AND I AM A VERY SAD RAT MOM.

Any old way, what I’m getting at is the fact that I’ve made...no discernible changes at all, really, since this virus grabbed the world by its scruff. Well, apart from no more dance classes, which were really my only regular outings anyway. I don’t get out much. I’m perfectly happy to stay home and do staying-home things. I’ve never understood people who have to go out all the time, though I do understand how upset they must be at the moment not being able to be out and about and do out-and-about things.

The only way we’re going to get out of this in a reasonable number of pieces, however, is if we all keep our heads down for a while. It looks as though we’re in for another month of this, the way things are going. Lots of people have been using their various platforms to encourage everyone to take this seriously and stay at home, so here, let me add mine:

Stay home. Don’t go out unless you have to. Please. The sooner we get it over with, the sooner we can return to our regularly scheduled activities.

Now go wash your hands.

***UPDATE: The shelter-in-place order in my area has just been extended until May 3rd. I'm taking dance classes via ZOOM in my living room. Everything is really, really bizarre right now. I love you, take care, stay home, and WASH YOUR HANDS.***