(All Photos taken by @paradigm42)
I took these a week or two ago of some store bought flowers my boyfriend was sweet enough to surprise me with. This was around the same time when all the Steemit Inc drama hit and before the shit seemingly had started to hit the fan in the area where I am with the Covid 19 virus.
Things have gotten weird around here to say the least. I live around 200 miles north of the New Rochelle, NY epicenter of the main community outbreak. Though my area only has a small amount of confirmed cases, social distancing procedures are being encouraged and put into place.
All gatherings over 500 people have been canceled. All bars and restaurants must run at 50% of their legal capacity. Most local collages have sent students home for the rest of the semester to do all studies online, and many local school districts have closed including our district for anywhere from two weeks to over a month.
Most supermarkets and big box stores are filled with empty shelves due to self serving panic shopping and hording due to fear of possible mandatory quarantine and supply shortages. Now ironically enough because of this type of panic shopping we do indeed have supply chain issue here..
It's kind of funny in a sad sort of way.. You see all of these memes about people walking out with huge amounts of toilet paper and several carts of food and cleaning supplies and you laugh at the stupidity of it all.. Then you see it in action happening right in front of you and it just becomes ridiculously surreal and unreal.
Though my boyfriend and I have savings and both of us still have jobs to go to (for now anyway), many around us aren't so lucky and are really being hurt financially by schools and events being canceled. Local businesses and their employees are also starting to get hit hard by the lack of people out and about.
Though things are not really bad around here now, once testing becomes more common I'm sure we will see a lot more cases brought to light. I personally know people (That I have not been in direct contact with.) whom their physician wanted to get tested but got denied by the state for not meeting the current outdated criteria.
It is hard to believe that just two weeks ago I was completely focused on the Steemit / Sun drama, reading posts and following along on discord even at work when I could. A week ago covid 19 was something I followed and read about with some concern but without ever really thinking it would directly effect me.
This week is a whole new world that is only going to get more surreal and strange.. While I am concerned and preparing for things to get worse around here, I know it is pointless to panic. It is best to stay rational and remember to have compassion for those whom we are trying to protect by making these sacrifices to our normal routines.
To everyone around the world affected by covid 19, may you be safe and comfortable where you are. You have my sympathy and empathy as I and those around me only just begin to understand what you have been experiencing for months in some places.
Thank you for reading this. I'm sorry this is not my usual descriptive post of my photography, but this week is like nothing I have ever experienced in my 41 years and it has made me feel better to write about it.
Now more than ever please remember that it is all about the little things in life, and thanks for looking in! :)