Covid Chronicles. Chapter 26: Online Shopping and Sneaking Around

 

Read chapter 25 here

Photos by Retiring Guy    

Sunday, April 19 

After a week off, the Usual Suspects resumed their Friday afternoon virtual happy hour. About a dozen of us joined in. At one point during a sometimes disjointed conservation, JoAnna mentioned that we planned to take a walk the following day along Picnic Point, a narrow finger of land, part of the UW-Madison campus, that pokes into Lake Mendota. She welcomed any of the others to join us, although I think the suggestion was intended for Ron and Margaret. Something of a bold move to do publicly in these days of social distancing. 

From Retiring Guy's post card collection

Jody was first to discourage us from doing so. Too many people there, she advised. 

Margaret then reported that she and Ron drove out to Blue Mounds in western Dane a County last weekend and walked a portion of the Military Ridge bicycle trail. 

At this point, JoAnna and I exchanged glances, sending each other the same telepathic message. 

For nearly ten minutes, the conversation focused on grocery shopping Apparently, JoAnna and I are the only members of the group who regularly shop in person. And we do so because it’s an excuse to get out of the house and enjoy a change of scene. Everyone else uses online and delivery services for most of their purchases. Carol does so as she has underlying medical conditions, though her partner Carrie will occasionally shop at the nearby Hy-Vee. Recovering from open heart surgery, Ron needs to avoid any situation that might compromise his health, and Margaret doesn’t want to risk the possibility of unknowingly contracting the virus and infecting Ron. Even the youngest members of the group, Nicci and Jody, make most of their purchases online. Nobody in the group, however, is averse to going outside to exercise -- walking and biking, for the most part. For Ron, walking is an important part of his recovery program. He’s now up to 60 minutes at a stretch. 

We heard a number of stories about delivery mishaps. Orders received when they were still in the ‘shopping cart’ and not yet checked out. Items ordered that weren’t delivered or items not ordered that were delivered. I’m pretty sure every grocery store in the Madison area offered online ordering and home delivery well before the pandemic swept over us, but after Friday’s happy hour conversation, I understand why their systems are overwhelmed. Too many customers and not enough employees. As a result, there is currently no such thing as same-day delivery. In fact, Jody mentioned that there is a two-week waiting period just to get on the list at Woodman’s. It’s been more than a month since Governor Evers issued his initial ‘safer-at-home’, and JoAnna and I haven’t changed the way we shop. 

"Let’s see if Ron and Margaret want to get together tomorrow,” I suggested once our virtual happy hour concluded. 

JoAnna wasted no time and texted Margaret. 

“It’s all set,” she informed me a few minutes later. “We’ll meet them near the entrance to Blue Mounds State Park. 

On the drive there, I felt as though we were engaged in some sort of subterfuge. 

“It seems like we’ve sneaked away from the house to engage in an illicit activity,” I confessed to JoAnna. 

She laughed in agreement.

It wasn’t a perfect day for outdoor activity. Although the sun shone brightly in a cloudless sky and the temperature reached 60˚, wind gusts frequently pushed into the 30-mph range. Not to be deterred, I had decided to wear shorts, but compensated for having bare legs by layering a long-sleeve t-shirt and sweater, and bringing along a windbreaker in reserve. 

We walked in a westerly direction along the trail, a repurposed railroad bed, for a half hour, Margaret timing us, and made an about-face. The section we followed took us through forested area that provided some protection from the wind as well as giving us an isolated feel. During our hour-long walk, we encountered about 20 other people, pretty much an even mix of hikers and bicyclists. We also strolled past an entrance to Blue Mounds State Park, which is not open to the public, as our most other state parks. Ten days ago, Governor Evers closed most of them due to overcrowding, littering, and vandalism. In other words, bad apples ruined recreational opportunities for the rest of us. Dane County’s parks remain open, as they haven’t experienced the types of problems that took place at state parks. 

This positive situation at the local level allowed us to drove to a nearby county park and extend our afternoon together. Brigham Park, named in honor of Dane County’s first permanent settler, Ebenezer Brigham, provides spectacular vistas from its hilltop perch. We found a scenic vantage point and set up four collapsible ‘bag‘ chairs that Ron and Margaret brought along and spent an hour or so talking and drinking beer and eating snacks until the wind gusts had chilled us to our core. I’m sure the air temperature here was closer to 50˚ than 60˚. Whatever the case, it eventually felt more like 30˚. 

Before we departed — driving home separately instead of piling into one car as we would have done pre-pandemic — we agreed to get together the following weekend and visit another county park. We also talked about returning to Brigham Park for a summer cookout and sunset viewing. 

The four of us greatly enjoyed this opportunity to hang out together after more than a month’s break. That’s how much the world and our behaviors have changed in such a short time. For Ron and Margaret, though, it’s an activity that will not be talked about with their children, who would be ‘upset’ — Margaret’s word — to learn that they had been ‘sneaking around’ with friends.

Read chapter 27 here