My Life Living in the Kill Zone

LIVING LIFE IN THE KILL ZONE

It’s been a very strange time for us all thus far. With all the hoopla re: the Covid-19 virus, the shopping “panic” resulting in  hoarding that isn’t totally necessary, the self-confinement and reduction of social interaction, the onslaught on information from the media…if you’re that unfortunate to have to rely on the media, and the worried self reflection that you may be a part of the problem, has put a different slant on our relationships. Be you with a spouse, significant other or live alone, you've been impacted like never before. I, coincidentally since I’ve arrived home after a month’s travel, developed a head cold..or could it be allergies? To me, it's your ordinary run-of-the-mill head cold that one gets periodically whether it’s flu season or not. Sneezing and a runny nose added to the mystique of “being sick” and at my age, put me in the “Kill Zone.” Result? A little panic in the lives of all. Ha! Many of us don't care to be classified as "elderly" either, by the way. So, self-imposed isolation was the result; the route to take. 

Now I happened to be well stocked with water, food, toilet paper and wine so shortages are not a concern for me…yet. Additionally, I live in an apartment complex with so many caring neighbors, a simple request for any help is a big plus. I do plan to continue to support local pizza and sushi restaurants with take out orders and if delivery isn't an option, I'll sneak out and pick it up. As time went on, my friends at Sakura, with a declaration from the mayor of Hastings that the village was under an emergency situation, chose to close for a couple of weeks and have their employees stay at home with their families. That effectively shut down their take-out only business. Good move, Tony.

But there’s a difference between living alone under normal conditions and living alone when your strongly urged to stay put and confine or “self-quarantine” yourself. The mentality changes. Prior to the hoopla, being alone was a blessing afforded those of us who have chosen to live that life style. Coming and going as you please without having to answer to another or timing your daily activities to suit your mood and preferences versus coinciding them with a spouse or significant other out of consideration has its merits.  When two people are involved there’s a different set of rules, as well there should be. Having to remain in your house/apartment because you don’t want to contract or spread germs adds a different flavor to the mix. “Cabin fever” becomes a real thing. Does ones change their daily activities now that you cannot venture outside your home/apartment? No, daily life continues but it’s different.

The thought that you’re “quarantined” puts a different mentality on everything that you do. The importance of human socialization and interaction becomes a real thing; a valuable, tangible thing. Certain other people become more appreciated and not interacting with them creates a void that longs to be filled.  You have more time to direct your attention to daily routines: the Internet becomes a life line to the outside world. One blessing (kinda) of the Covid-19 situation is it’s made politics irrelevant in a selected minimal way. The on line news just stops with total attention on the issue of the moment. Yes, I too am tired of partisan politics. I continue to occupy myself with on-line banking, on-line shopping, cleaning house, doing laundry, catching up and responding to email, listening to the many genres of music I have on Pandora and most time consuming of all, continuing my on line games with neighbors and friends: Words With Friends (currently I have on going games with six different folks), Crosswords With Friends every night after my 10 pm call from my 101 year old mother, Spider Solitaire (level 330), and the most addicting, Differences. I’m on level 3,670 eager to continue onward and upward. You must experience the game to appreciate what extra time on one’s hands can do with games.

An interesting cultural observation with this virus that is personal to me is that in Italy as of this writing there are 27,980 active cases with 2,749 recovered cases and 2,158 fatalities. That’s a 7% death rate.

In America, there are 4,108 confirmed cases with 3,965 active cases, 73 recovered cases and 70 fatalities. That’s a 1.7% death rate. I’m sure that will get worse before getting better but the cultural differences is that in Italy, the elderly more often than not live with their family/children whereas in America, the elderly are more often given to private assisted living/nursing homes. As the elderly, especially with preexisting respiratory conditions are more likely to succumb to this disease, being confined within the family home increases the likelihood of its spread. This is true within nursing homes also but currently they’re locked down. Our health care system, readiness and quick action are also factors to be considered.

There is a movement or mentality the Millennials have coined with regard to the current pandemic: “The Boomer Remover.” Yes, their thinking is that it is only right that since Baby Boomers (1946 to 1964) have screwed up this planet on which they find themselves, that Nature act to remove them via the virus. Sorry, I'm part of  the Silent Generation, so I'm here to stay.  

Which Generation are You?

Generation Name	Births Start	Births End	Youngest Age Today*	Oldest Age Today*
The Lost Generation The Generation of 1914	1890	1915	105	130
The Interbellum Generation	1901	1913	107	119
The Greatest Generation	1910	1924	96	110
The Silent Generation	1925	1945	75	95
Baby Boomer Generation	1946	1964	56	74
Generation X (Baby Bust)	1965	1979	41	55
Xennials	1975	1985	35	45
Millennials Generation Y, Gen Next	1980	1994	26	40
iGen / Gen Z	1995	2012	8	25
Gen Alpha	2013	2025	1	7

3/27/2020
I'm back. Took a break for awhile. What's transpired in that time is sort of mind boggling. We've yet to reach peak infections but the global community has done an unprecedented job of coming together to attack and work on defeating a common enemy. I won't dwell on accomplishments because we are inundated with the information. In New York State our numbers as of this blog entry are: 

Total confirmed cases = 44,635

Active cases = 44,116

Recovered cases = ?

Fatal cases = 519

For Cortlandt Manor = 48

For Peekskill = 41 (with one known case in my building)

Fatal cases (for County) = 10

The creativity that has gone into jokes, memes, videos and cartoons has been amazing. I've toyed with inserting examples but I've already shared ad nauseam. I've even created one myself.

I've remained in my apartment well stocked and cannot believe how busy I've been basically doing nothing. Well, "nothing" in the tangible sense. My sleep cycle has changed as has my dining schedule. To repeat from above, my days consist of a light breakfast, a mid afternoon bite, and dinner...really just two meals a day.  Happy Hour is at Wine O'Clock each day and in between, I'm on my laptop and the time flies. Emails, banking, credit card checks, shopping (for food and non-food items) listening to music, staying abreast of current events, exercising (yes, you read that right, exercising), laundry, vacuuming and sharing information I find helpful. On line games with friends continue. For food shopping I'm having my first experience with Instacart on Tuesday, 3/31st. We'll see how that goes, fingers crossed based on some input received from others. Click on the link and see how it works.

The most pleasant, mood altering, relaxing, pandemic angst reducing activity I found was re-discovering my own balcony. This is what prompted me to get back to my love of writing; to jot down thoughts and feelings which is after all, the purpose of my writing this journal (blog).  

My soon to be obstructed view of
the Hudson River from my 6th
floor apartment.

The daytime temps have finally crept past the high 50's into the low 60's allowing me fresh air and free vitamin D. My apartment faces west and the sun these days makes its way over my building around 12:30-1:00 pm. It then becomes perfect for sunning all afternoon until sunset which is around 7:15 p.m. During the winter the sun radiates through my ceiling to floor sliders and keeps the apartment cozy warm and bright. My venturing outside once again proved to be an interesting and welcomed awakening. I've shared my observations via text to others: the sky seems to be a more vivid blue with the greatly reduced air traffic...no jet contrails to be seen. And sounds? Never has there been a more exact depiction of the oxymoron the "sound of silence" or that "silence is deafening." I live in a city. The usual traffic noise I'm accustomed to is greatly reduced and almost eliminated depending on the time of day. Emergency vehicles and their sirens are heard now and then which gives rise to the question, if there's so little traffic why are sirens necessary? My guess is protocol, procedure and the reduction of liabilities. At 6 p.m, I was soothed by the ringing (tolling?) bells of the Assumption Church. This occurs every evening. In the early Catholic Church in Jerusalem in the early 300's, this was a call to prayer and today's convents and monasteries continue the practice. So, I used it to reflect on many things in my own life. Peaceful, right? But the absolutely, most annoying sound that jars the nerves are motorbikes (for me, this means bikes other than a Harley); motorbikes and motorcycles are interchangeable these days; I'm referring to the ones that have exhaust pipes specifically designed to piss off anyone within air shot. With all other noises almost gone, I can hear them racing and shifting for too long awhile as they ride out of ear shot and I am well away from busy thoroughfares. Never knew how annoying they were until there were no other noises to distract your sense of sound.

Late afternoon the very small chorus of animals broke the silence. Birds like crows, robins, and red bellied woodpeckers pierce the quiet surroundings. The chatter of squirrels, the barking dog down the hill round out the only sounds to be heard. Another sense awakened to the outdoors was my sense of smell. Yesterday, the scent of a grilling steak reached me and conjured up all kinds of wonderful memories complete with people and places. Today, the smell of something baking tickled my olfactory nerves (opps, that's a science term)...I guessed brownies. With it came the realization that it was Wine O'clock so inside I went to decide between a chilled glass of Chardonnay or a frosted glass of gin and tonic with a squeeze of lime juice.  Today, G&T won. The fun part? Sharing via text messaging my toast with at least ten other friends and family around the country doing or about to do the same thing. Cheers. 

So as the month of March marches to a close in a few days, I'll stop the conversation for now. At no other time have the phrases "stay well," "take care," "be careful" have so much meaning. Now we add, "Do the Five."

DO THE FIVE

Help stop coronavirus

1

HANDSWash them often

2

ELBOWCough into it

3

FACEDon't touch it

4

SPACEKeep safe distance

5

HOMEStay if you can