Read chapter 5 here
The toilet paper aisle at Target Hilldale yesterday.
Photo by Retiring Guy
How drastically life has changed in just a little more than a week.
On Friday, March 6, JoAnna and I met Ron and Margaret for dinner at the Laurel Tavern, which serves one of our favorite fish frys. The restaurant was packed, with customers filling every booth, chair, and barstool and nearly as many standing in clusters waiting for their names to be called. Social distancing was not an option in any area of the restaurant. We occupied a booth for nearly three hours, knowing this was our last time to hang out together, under such circumstances, for couple of months.
The following day, JoAnna and I attended a funeral for Chuck Welda, a retired Middleton elementary school principal, whose daughter Kathy is a good friends of ours, going back to grade school sports activities. His grandson Drew and our son Andy have been friends for years. The reception area of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church contained more than 100 people, and the visitation line snaked around three-quarters of the perimeter. Many long embraces and hearty handshakes were exchanged.
None of this would have occurred had the funeral taken place a week later. A visitation wouldn’t have been an option, and the funeral itself limited to immediate members of the family.
And then there’s the matter of weddings.
“I feel sorry for the couples who have planned for a big wedding this spring,” I said while JoAnna and I were on the topic last night of large social gatherings.
Public Health Madison and Dane County has just issued revised coronavirus guidelines prohibiting gatherings of 50 or more people.
JoAnna went to 5 o’clock mass on Saturday and reported that attendance was down substantially. No communion or exchanging the peace (shaking hands). But at least there was space for social distancing. There are no masses this coming Sunday, as services in all church have been suspended indefinitely. New developments in the pandemic continue to happen fast.
The ‘facial tissue’ and ‘bath tissue aisle at Target Hilldale yesterday.
Read chapter 7 here
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