Close Quarters

Here we are. At home. Or stuck in a hospital, hotel, motel, or car. The latter are all in shut down due to ill-time travel or illness. The ripple effect goes on and on to many layers as friends and family of these individuals are worried sick for them and miss them in their lives. Of course there are the homeless. They are outdoors or in public custodial sites.


Our suburban streets are nearly empty. We live close to city hall and its many service departments. Some traffic centers around them. We are 2 miles from hospital. Ambulances, patients being driven or driving cars shuttle them to doctors and medical services. Medical workers are out and about as well to commute from home to clinic or hospital.


The Metra train station is across the street. Very few cars present. Very few. The trains, of course, run as usual through today. By Monday, commuter schedules will be drastically altered. No reason to run empty trains forty miles between city and suburbs when few riders show up.


The small grocery across the street teems with life. The general manager lives in our condo building. He is healthy and young. We are old and not healthy. We know if push comes to shove he will help us get what we need.


We ordered from Target about $65 worth of cleaning supplies and food stuffs. Supposed to have been delivered last evening, but they rescheduled for this morning. Other texts/emails from the driver indicate more delays, and the real possibility that our order has been mixed up with others. We shall see how this plays out. [Got most of what we ordered; some items out of stock]


Thursday night we ordered out to a local Mexican restaurant, a treasured business. We drove over a few minutes later to pick up our order. We went in to complete the transaction, interacting with very few people. Food was delicious. El Coco Loco is alive and well and their food is as good as always!  Support them, please. Keep them in business.


I spend more time on the internet with email, Facebook, and SCORE communications. I gather news as usual from many sources and parse the world’s happenings. We are plugged in and know more than what’s on TV. At least we do not have to witness the bumbling president mess up his script with ad libs that mean absolutely nothing and usually offset what he did say from the script.


I also read more. Good stuff. Serious stuff. Treasured authors now long gone but still entertaining. We have shared our idle book shelves with the rest of the residents in our condo building. A free library. Take it or return it. No matter. Read and enjoy. Divert you attention from serious matters to more private, enjoyable times.


We eat simply. Much less as well. We may actually end this quarantine more healthy!


I know my mind and emotions will be healthier. Something about peace and quiet heals even a ruptured soul. There’s something to that. perhaps we need to remember this and keep it in our lives once things get back to normal. Peace and quiet. Soul searching. And mending.


Amen.


March 23, 2020