Jules Hearlty | March 17^th, 2020  Day ONE and forward

I have a friend in Italy with whom I am usually in contact with and even more recently due to the Corona Virus Pandemic, her name is Cecilia.  A few days ago, we chatted about how she and her family in Milan were handling the lockdown situation, etc. She described their life changes like newspaper’s headlines:  Groceries are being delivered to our homes.  Nobody goes out at night.  We sing songs at 6 p.m.  Only one terminal is open at the Linate airport.  And so on.  And, me from my then comfort life in NY, read all that, exactly like what it sounded:  Headlines stories from a distant newspaper.  It brought me even more empathy for her, her family and Italy, a country I like very much.  Their stories of resilience were beautiful, and it gave me goosebumps at times when I listened to them.  Nevertheless, it sounded far, like it would never be something to be experienced in my life, in our lives in the U.S.

Within a day or so, measures starting to be taken place in the US and particularly in NY, but still it didn’t seem even close to what I had heard from my friend Cecilia.  Saturday Afternoon, I got a call from  Eu, a dearest friend in Spain, “ We are in quarantine in our apartments” she told me.  “Are you all OK?” I asked her.  “We are all good”, she assured me, but we need to be at home to avoid the spread.  “I am getting nervous,” she confided to me.  “Sal a caminar por la playa” I said,  recommending her to go for a walk on the beach (She lives in one of the Spanish Mediterranean towns).  “No Podemos salir!”  “We are not allowed out” she said.   I did NOT believe her!  She always jokes, and I thought that may have been one of her ways to joke about the situation and avoid a direct answer about not going for a walk.

But it was true!

I said to myself, “Wow, I am so glad none of that is happening here.” and then it came Sunday!

It seemed as if every minute on Sunday was a different day, as announcements came one after the other, schools closings, restaurants and bars closed, gyms and the list went on.

I wasn’t sure of anything anymore. People talked about supermarkets with empty shelves and I thought of my mom, who lives alone and far from me.  Would she have enough groceries for the upcoming week?

So, Sunday night, I picked her up with the promise of going grocery shopping.  On Monday morning, we went to the first supermarket, and we could not believe our eyes, some shelves were empty, others half-empty, and others were being replenished.  We bought part of what she needed and went straight to another market chain.  It was unbelievable, no chicken, no meat, no this, no that.  I bought a few more essentials for my mother and I realized This was day One!  I almost panic!  I talked again to my good friend Cecilia, and I asked her, “ Do you guys have enough food there in Italy?”  and I explained to her what I was seeing here. “No worries,” she said, calming me down.  “It was like this here, for a few days but then we all realized, it wasn’t a food shortage, but a panic reaction and we have enough food now”.  Her words helped me to put things in perspective and continue doing my best to stay calm and to take things as they came, day by day.

Later, on my way to drop my mother off, she reminded me of a promise I had made of taking a few days off to vacation together.  I said, well, what about this for vacation.  We pretend we are in a villa in Tuscany,  planting some tomatoes and other things.  And perhaps we can do some gardening too!  She welcomed the idea and just like that we started our #Covid-19 Staycation.

I had traveled a bit in the last couple of years, and anytime I started a trip, I set the intention of writing a blog of each place I visited during my journey, but I ended up not following through with it.  So this time, for this #Covid19-staycation, I decided to do so.

I pondered since a lot of us, are on the same boat, it would be great to share stories of our activities and mindsets during this period.

This is day 1 of the Blog, and every day I hope to post a few lines more.

In terms of mindset…  I believe we are pretty much living a life out of a Fiction Movie, with an open script. One we may get to adjust as we adjust ourselves, our minds, and our actions.

I have been doing my best to #staycalm, be aware, be cautious, but be serene.  But checking news updates on my phone, or listening to the news update on TV, proved to be challenging.  What should I do, I asked myself?  Focus on my job as if everything is fine and nothing has changed.  So, I did I work on my upcoming book for a little while and suddenly my mind was off from the #coronavirus hysteria and into another realm.

As the evening approached, and I got more news updates on my cell phone, now about business closing at 8 p.m.  A new sense of uneasiness starting to come afloat.  Glass of wine in hand and a light dinner, made me feel it was just another night.. but still didn’t have the upbeat. Perhaps music would help?…

Well,  it’s Monday!  And both  #TheVoice and #AmericanIdol were on!  That’s music to my ears! and good music indeed. And with that, my night was complete, and my mind was at ease. 

How did you cope with this day?

I would love to hear from you.

Thank you for reading my blog #Covid19-Staycation Day One, stay tuned for Day TWO, I promise to make it shorter 😉

Remember to follow me on twitter @JBRadiant