This is partly to organize my own thoughts and partly to keep friends and family informed...
I am prepared for a long stay at home. Some of it is just routine habit; some of it is in response to concerns about food and energy systems.
I am a homebody. I routinely don't leave the yard for days at a time. Granted, "day's at a time" is not weeks at a time, but I could manage. I routinely have weeks of home-cooked meals in the freezers (kitchen fridge and older basement fridge).
When I heard that CoVid19 ad escaped China months ago, I added more canned goods to my pantry. Nothing I wouldn't use up eventually, but stuff I normally wouldn't eat except in an emergency. I even bought bottled water for the first time ever.
As things have gotten worse, I have added to that. A pack of TP here, a 3-pack of kleenex there, a few more cans of soup, a few cans of fruit, cans of tomatoes. Bags of potatoes and oinions (I can't cook without them). I missed out on the antiseptic-wipes, I thought for sure I had several packs of them from when Dad was here. Maybe I sent them with him.
If the electricity doesn't fail for more than a couple hours, I actually have enough food for 3 months, and I'm not talking about frozen TV dinners. If the electricity fails for 24 hours, I'm screwed!
One never knows what will happen in the face of social disruption. I trust that we will all get through this OK with some cooperation. People in democracies tend to rise to the challenge.
The thing that might challenge me most is not having fresh fruit available. I like meat. Small amounts are fine. But 75% of what I eat is veggies and fruit. Its not a diet, just my taste preference.
I have mentioned before that I have been immune to influenza virus since childhood. This CorVid19 is not that virus. I might be as vulnerable to it as anyone. That's oddly scary. After a lifetime of seeming-immunity to viruses, I'm not sure about this one. It is entirely possible that the genetic reasons I have been free of them in the past makes me equally or more vulnerable to this one.
There is an ancient Chinese curse that say's "May you live in interesting times". This is an "interesting time". I don't want to live in "interesting times" like this!
But I also look at this in another way. Some bad things happen randomly. The dinosaurs were wiped out by a random meteoroid. There have also been other extinction events. Shit happens sometimes.
But I offer a word of hope. This Corona Virus is not going to kill us off. It is individually- threatening, but not species-threatening. There will be some unfortunate individuals who die from it (and probably fewer than from the regular seasonal flu).
Be careful, but don't panic... Always keep a towel nearby.
