Quarantine Day 9

We just made it through the 9th day of quarantine. I was able to visit online with three of my students. After I did this, my boss let me know that there are a lot of obstacles and risks in doing this. I am in the special education field, and my students may fall under some federal mandates that they otherwise would not be under. Luckily, I didn’t violate anything, and I will move in another direction. I may look into online teaching or tutoring as a future”retirement” job.

I put our national flag out today, as our mayor requested us to do this to show that we are united. Another neat thing happened right after I put out the flag. Cars started honking and driving down our street. I realized quickly that it was a teacher parade! The teachers from our area’s elementary school were driving the bus routes and waving to everyone. I stood on the porch and waved to everyone as they passed by.

I did spend more time than usual looking at the news today. We are still waiting for our governor to order a “safer at home” order for our state. So far there have only been recommendations and suggestions, which many people are supporting. However, there are still a lot of people who don’t seem to be joining in with the efforts. When I had to go out to pick up prescriptions for my parents, there were so many cars at an intersection that I had to wait and wait to turn! Where were all those people going? We are suppose to be down to only essential businesses being open, and restaurants only offer takeout and delivery now. Our town has 13 cases now, with many more tests still being processed. There are mixed messages everywhere about whether there are tests, enough personal protection equipment, and ventilators. It would not take much to overwhelm our local hospital.

In some kind of an effort to do something, I worked today on a face mask prototype. I am not a great seamstress by any means, but I can sew a straight stitch with a sewing machine. I plan to work on it some more tomorrow, and maybe even try a couple of patterns. Here is my first attempt.

Some patterns call for elastic, and some have ties on them. These homemade masks are not recommended for hospital use, but they could be used in the home to prevent an ill person from transmitting illness with a cough or a sneeze. It also reminds me not to touch my face!