September 2021 - Pandemic Challenges

September 2021 - Pandemic Challenges

Three grandchildren and one grandniece just entered pre-school. Two older grandkids moved up to Grades 1 and 3 at their private school, which they attend in person with numerous special health procedures, including mask-wearing. My husband and I cherish those first day of school photos. Our excitement about their progress and adventures is tempered, however, by worry for their health, even though the older kids successfully finished the last school year, attending in person, with no COVID cases at their school. Each week we don’t hear from their parents, we worry that perhaps someone is sick and they don’t want to tell us. A few months ago, it looked like this month would be the transition time when activities began to return to something resembling the old normal. Then everything began to change with the rapid spread of the deadly Delta variant.

We were so confident of improvements that we registered for a 5-day in-person church summer camp, which we attended last month. We have now successfully completed the 2 week countdown to learn if anyone became sick after returning home. If anyone had developed COVID symptoms, all 80 of our campmates were expected to quarantine. We were careful (and lucky) at camp – no quarantine was required.

Seabeck Creativity - colorful clothing hanging to dry at Creative Arts Camp

I drove a friend to the mountains a couple weeks ago to spend time in a cabin with two others. The car was purchased a year ago but this was my first time driving out of town and with a passenger. I almost bailed out given the discouraging recent increase of new COVID cases, but was persuaded to take the risk of going. I had a good time, but there was the continuous anxiety that this might not have been a good idea. What once seemed like a fun way to celebrate that we are all vaccinated and able to socialize, now became fear that it might be a foolish adventure. Once again, I monitored my health for the following two weeks to see if any signs of illness occurred.

Plans were in place to have a first “post-pandemic” visit with the Chicago grandchildren in October, after a successful visit to family in San Francisco in July. However, the group tour which was to occur following the Chicago visit, a tour first planned two years ago, was postponed by the tour company, for the second time, to May, 2022. With what I’ve learned about COVID variants, I have no confidence that even the twice postponed trip will actually occur. Meanwhile, what do I do about the already purchased plane tickets to Chicago? Despite all the traveling I’ve done over the years, I’ve never had to cancel already purchased plane tickets. My husband and I have tentatively agreed to stick with those travel plans, comforted somewhat by knowing the airlines have waived rescheduling fees, if that should become necessary. We plan to keep our plane reservations, quarantine ourselves for two weeks before our departure date, and also accept the possible need to make last-minute changes if the circumstances require it. We are prepared to comply by all conditions set by the parents of the unvaccinated grandchildren. The recent news that we will soon be eligible to get the booster vaccine adds to our hope that this scheduled trip will successfully occur.

A few San Francisco pictures from July:

This pandemic experience is a roller coaster with no clear end-point. Just when we think the ride is close to the end, another challenge arises. As a person accustomed to planning activities months and sometimes years in advance, it’s a major shift to constantly be reevaluating and adjusting my activities. No point in getting too enthusiastic about a coming event, because it could easily be cancelled or have harmful consequences. Even if the event happens, it will be accompanied by concern about what might go wrong and two weeks of watching for new symptoms of illness.

Just a couple months ago, it looked like my church and various social groups could begin meeting in person, starting this month. One of my first in-person gatherings was a recent book discussion. It went well but I had to constantly push away worry about whether it was really a good idea. There have been several other recent meetings that I didn’t feel bad about missing, since they were challenging my comfort level about in-person gatherings. I was scheduled to host one of the groups at my home this month, but decided I was unwilling to do so and the gathering was switched back to Zoom. Admittedly, part of my hesitation was the level of household clutter that has accumulated during the pandemic times, adding one more incentive to stick with Zoom. It’s been so long since I’ve hosted guests at home, I didn’t feel ready to be a hostess again, especially considering that I live in a condominium and guests would be using common areas of the building and its elevator, to reach my home.

Pictures from a brief excursion to the Olympic Peninsula: Gig Harbor, Port Townsend and Port Angeles:

Last month, I learned that a relative, a fully-vaccinated senior citizen, had tested positive for COVID, the first case of someone in my family getting the virus that I am aware of. He apparently got infected by someone he shared a car ride with. His symptoms were mild, a cough and sore throat, but no one can say what effects there might be in the future, since so much of this illness remains a mystery. I’ve recently begun offering rides to a few friends, but not without worry that the rides add to my risk of getting or transmitting the Delta variant.

The transition back to “near-normal” has taken a painful detour. The newspaper reports each day on the spike in cases, the increasing number of deaths and the dire situation in hospitals which do not have either the building capacity or the personnel needed to treat all the new cases. The news today reports an average of 1900 deaths per day, nationally, due to COVID. Adding to my frustration is the fact that most of the new cases are people who refused to be vaccinated and children under 12 who have not yet had the chance to be vaccinated. Where has the common sense gone from so many Americans? Nationally, our vaccination level is well below that of many other countries, due to so many Americans foolishly believing that vaccines cannot be trusted.

View of Olympic Mountains from Hurricane Ridge

While my friends and I focus on worry for ourselves and each other, it’s hard to process the reality that we are better off than people in many other countries, where there has been limited access to the vaccine, and those whose countries have been torn apart by war, in addition to this deadly virus. Fires, drought, floods and hurricanes remind us that things can, and possibly will, get worse, especially as the effects of climate change are accelerating. Mental health issues have spiked across the country as we try to cope with these challenges.

Flowers back home in my Kirkland neighborhood.

Living with uncertainty and worry is the new normal. The hardships that many have experienced instill a new sense of gratitude for every small pleasure of life – flowers, a beautiful sunset, Zoom happy hours, and taking walks with masked up friends retaining social distance. COVID, after 18 months of uncertainty, we are so ready for you to be gone, but reality tells us it won’t be anytime soon. We are learning to live with uncertainty and enhanced risks, cherishing each small moment of beauty and joy that we can. We continue to plan for an uncertain future, while learning to accept disruption and change as constant challenges, grateful for friends and family who are with us on this new journey.

Carolyn Hayek