The Covid Crisis: Tips for homebound kids

Posted on March 22, 2020 by brucesmith49

Special to the Mountain News

Editor’s Note: As school close and families sequester themselves at home, millions of families world-wide are wondering: what do we do with the kids? Here are some ideas from a young woman on the front lines in Seattle.

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By Gayle Deacon

In the time of Covid 19 the world is quieter. Schools, events, and even work are cancelled for an unknown amount of time for many. We are being urged to stay home as much as possible. The availability of certain essential groceries is spotty, and we need activities to occupy us through this time. Continue reading →

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A Covid Journal – Day 10 – Friday, March 20, 2020

Posted on March 20, 2020 by brucesmith49

By Bruce A. Smith

Another beautiful day in Paradise! Nights are nippy, though, dipping down to the low 30s. But daytime temps here in Eatonville are hitting 60. If it wasn’t for Covid, I’d be worried about climate change and our unusually dry spring weather.

This is Day 10 of my self-quarantine, Wednesday March 18, 2020. It’s also Day 7 of the National Emergency that President Trump declared last week concerning the Covid outbreak. As such, I think it’s time to take stock of our situation, globally, personally, and materially. Continue reading →

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A Covid Journal, Day 9 of my Self-Quarantine –  1st Day of Spring arrives, along with distinctions between Covid, a cold, allergies, and the flu

Posted on March 19, 2020 by brucesmith49

By Bruce A. Smith

Happy Spring, everyone! It comes early this year, March 19, 2020, due to the leap year and other astronomical perturbations that occur once every 400 years or so. Usually, spring arrives on March 21 but can fall somewhere between March 20-22 depending on those quadrennial leap years. Continue reading →

Posted in Covid-19, Culture, Eatonville News, Health, Politics, preparedness, Self Reliance, Weather | 3 Comments

Covid Journal, Day 7 of Self-Quarantine, March 17, 2020

Posted on March 17, 2020 by brucesmith49

By Bruce A. Smith

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone. Erin Go Bragh, as we used to say in New York – or at least that’s what the banners would say in pubs and workplaces. It translates to “Ireland Forever.” However, the full Gaelic phrase is Éire go Brách, and that means “Ireland until the End of Time.”

The latter feels prophetic in some way. After all, this is the world’s first holiday in quarantine, and without any Guinness the best I can do is hoist my cup o’ tea and wish the best to the Green Isle.

I also toast a Salut to all those in Italy and Iran who are burying hundreds of Covid victims daily. Officials here in the States – not Donald Trump, of course – but all those who really matter are saying the same could happen to us. Specifically, governors like Andrew Cuomo of New York say we’re a week or two behind Italy in the Covid onslaught. Continue reading →

Posted in Covid-19, Culture, Eatonville News, Health, Politics, preparedness, Weather | 2 Comments

A Covid Journal – Day 6 of Self-Quarantine, March 16, 2020

Posted on March 16, 2020 by brucesmith49

By Bruce A. Smith

Panic buying came to Eatonville today. The bread shelves had two loaves – both whole wheat. I took one. Then, I turned towards the nearby Deli section and asked the gal behind the counter when the next shipment of bread might arrive. Continue reading →

Posted in Covid-19, Culture, Eatonville News, Health, preparedness, Self Reliance, Weather | 3 Comments

A Covid Journal, Day 5, Sunday, March 15, 2020 – Welcome to the Great American Coronavirus Self-Quarantine

Posted on March 15, 2020 by brucesmith49

By Bruce A. Smith

Columns like this one are beginning to appear throughout our newspapers and online, detailing the saga of so many of us in the early stages of self-protection at home. Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post is calling this phenomenon the “Great American Coronavirus Self-Quarantine.” Continue reading →

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A Covid Journal – Day 3 of My Self-Quarantine

Posted on March 13, 2020 by brucesmith49

By Bruce A. Smith

Snow?

You-gotta-be-kidding-me!

I awoke this morning to a couple inches of slushy, white stuff. Yesterday was springtime, but today I’m back in the wet slog of winter – just as the World is Coming to an End, too. Sigh.

My Covid saga has become an existential roller-coaster for me. This is the greatest natural disaster I have ever witnessed. Covid is the most profound event of my life, and promises to change the World-As-We-Know-It.

As a journalist, I feel like I am living in the heart of the biggest story of my lifetime, yet it feels so simple – somehow. It’s snowing outside and that is weird, but not unusual for March. My heat is on, and I feel cozy and healthy. But the Internet is telling me a different story, and the anguish I hear from friends and family in emails reveals that the turbulence of Covid is affecting others greatly. Continue reading →

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A Covid Journal – Day 2 of Self-Quarantine

Posted on March 12, 2020 by brucesmith49

By Bruce A. Smith

March 12, 2020, 8 pm.

Today has been peaceful. It’s been like a snow day without shoveling. Plus, the sun was shining – again (!) – and temperatures in Eatonville hovered near 60 degrees.

So, I drove into town to stock up on Vitamins C, B-6, and D-3, which I understand are immune boosters and viral blockers. I had taken so much Vitamin C during my three months of bronchitis that I was down to my last three tablets, and today’s trip was crucial. Ironically, I’m not a big fan of vitamins and health supplements, but I take them in the hope that they do something. Gawd knows that after three bouts of bronchitis I’ve got to take everything that makes sense and is affordable.

Also, I’m not sure how many more days I will be able to travel into town, or if stores will be open or have anything to sell. We seem to be on the tipping point of that scenario since Washington Governor Jay Inslee closed all public and private K-12 schools in the Puget Sound region today, and President Trump not only closed US borders to European travelers, he hinted that the feds might quarantine Washington and California because they are Covid “hot spots.”< Continue reading →

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A Covid Journal – Week 2 Update: The Pandemic is Here and I Enter Self-Quarantine

Posted on March 11, 2020 by brucesmith49

By Bruce A. Smith

Wednesday, March 11, 2020 (5 pm)

The sun is shining today and I feel light-hearted, which is surprising since the Covid epidemic is turning fierce around the world – 600 folks have died in Italy as that country goes into total lockdown, and in New York, not too far away from my 95-year old mother, 93 individuals in New Rochelle tested positive.

But I feel fine. In fact, my health is the best it’s been since early December when I began the first of three bouts of bronchitis that ran serially throughout this winter.

Perhaps the greater reason for my joy is that I’m taking decisive action to protect myself. I am in self-quarantine. Last night I informed my theatrical director, Stephanie Brooks, I would have to leave her production of Resi, The Musical, in order to protect myself from infection. Continue reading →

Posted in Covid-19, Eatonville News, Health | 5 Comments

A Covid Journal – a report from the nation’s initial epicenter of the coronavirus

Posted on March 8, 2020 by brucesmith49

By Bruce A. Smith

Friday, March 6, 2020

Since the world is freaking out about the Covid-19 virus, I thought I share a perspective on what is happening here in Washington.

To begin, the epicenter of the outbreak in Washington – and the initial site for the country –  has been the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, which is about ten miles northeast of downtown, and about sixty miles due north of my home in Eatonville. In Kirkland, the hot spot is a nursing home-type of facility for seniors. Many of those residents have Covid-19, and about a dozen have died as of this morning. Overall, fourteen deaths have been reported in WA as of this afternoon.

Oddly, there is nothing being mentioned in the media about “regular” flu, aka “Seasonal Flu,” which kills 18,000 Americans on average each year. That’s about 300 deaths in Washington every year. So, the anxiety over Covid-19 is exceptional, I think. But it’s very real. The UW closed its campus today – and that’s something like 50,000 students over four campuses. Continue reading →

Posted in Covid-19, Culture, Environment, Health, Politics | 5 Comments