"Essential" but not wanted

[lovelife65]

Interesting piece in the Seattle Times today about this very issue.
We did a little drive yesterday to see where the tulips were this year (late because of cold wet weather).
There were workers in many fields though.

Essential but not wanted by sharonkay finley, on Flickr

[Antonio Correia]

Sharon, nice colours here !
They are working in spite of the virus... in fact, work must be done.
Cheers !

[Donald]

We did a little drive yesterday to see where the tulips were this year (late because of cold wet weather).

I take it that you're still allowed to do that. It would be great to get out and go for a drive.

[lovelife65]

I take it that you're still allowed to do that. It would be great to get out and go for a drive.

I believe people are still going for drives. Walking the dog, riding bikes... still allowed as long as "social distancing" is practiced. We did not leave the vehicle. Is what we did considered essential travel? Nope. So, technically not ideal, but .. we did notice one of the nurseries close by crawling with people. And one of the popular farm stands. That I would chose to not participate in. If we do leave the vehicle, masks and gloves are on. And we have our own hand sanitizer.

[lovelife65]

Sharon, nice colours here !
They are working in spite of the virus... in fact, work must be done.
Cheers !

Thank you Antonio, although they are not being protected and many are scared of getting the virus, yes farm work is considered essential.

[DanK]

I take it that you're still allowed to do that. It would be great to get out and go for a drive.

It varies by state and even county here. Some have shelter-in-place orders that in theory forbid this (although it isn't always enforced). Our state's official policy is what Sharon describes: we can go outside as long as we don't go near other people. I don't know if this will be modified now that it is becoming clear that a 6 ft/ 2 m distance isn't always enough (if someone is sneezing hard, for example), but for now, we can still go for walks and drives. It's a huge psychological help. We go for a walk on back streets almost every day, and once in a great while, we drive somewhere. Today I drove about 20 miles/30 km to my daughter's house to drop some things off. Even though I couldn't get anywhere near them--they have an immunocompromised daughter, so they have to be especially careful--I could talk with them from about 10 feet away rather then on Facetime or Zoom. And I actually enjoyed the drive on the highway, which shows how desperate I was to get out of the house.

[rpcrowe]

Many U.S. farmers are experiencing hard times. Dairy farmers are dumping milk because shutdown of schools and restaurants have reduced the demand. There is also a clog in the supply chain from farmer to consumer caused by the COVID-19 shutdown

And in answer to Donald's comment. IMO, our COVID-19 shutdown is pretty sporadic and porous in comparison to other countries. The main reason for the sporadic and porous conditions is that Drump has a hole in his head

[lovelife65]

Many U.S. farmers are experiencing hard times. Dairy farmers are dumping milk because shutdown of schools and restaurants have reduced the demand. There is also a clog in the supply chain from farmer to consumer caused by the COVID-19 shutdown

And in answer to Donald's comment. IMO, our COVID-19 shutdown is pretty sporadic and porous in comparison to other countries. The main reason for the sporadic and porous conditions is that Drump has a hole in his head

YES! Thank you for saying this. I watch the man and still think "he really just doesn't get that this is not a hoax". To understand the magnitude of his understanding and failure to listen to his experts, he is saying he doesn't see a problem with allowing people to gather in large groups for easter.
He sneered at the idea of wearing masks, saying well it's not something I'm going to do.
*sigh*. There are still a lot of people out there that think this is just some kind of vacation. It's very sad.
In my defense, I AM being exceptionally careful. And yesterday was the first drive we've done in a month. We do not have a shelter in place, but hubby and I do not go around other people often, and if meeting someone on a walk, we both ensure much more distance than 6 feet even while wearing a mask.
If shopping, we go very late, wash our hands like made before and after and wear a mask. I have a mom in memory care and stopped visiting way before we were not allowed to (So hard). I also stopped, (despite pressure to keep going) visiting my assigned LTC communities as an ombudsman way before our activities were suspended... In one of mine, most of the residents and employees are infected. Two passed yesterday. I cannot even imagine what it would feel like, to infect other people by not taking this seriously. I would hope a shelter in place, or a national quarantine would wake people up, but I doubt it, and it's difficult to enforce unless you bring out the military.

[LePetomane]

Sharon, nicely photographed and documented. It sounds like the little jaunt was essential to your sanity. I have a little jaunt planned. This week I am going to take a drive to the Hole in the Wall area of central Wyoming for some photography. I'm going alone and there is plenty of space for social distancing as it is so vast. I hope you and your family are safe.

[DanK]

I also stopped, (despite pressure to keep going) visiting my assigned LTC communities as an ombudsman way before our activities were suspended... In one of mine, most of the residents and employees are infected. Two passed yesterday.

We encountered an aspect of the nursing-home problem yesterday that we hadn't thought of before. We were having dinner (via facetime) with some friends. One is dealing with a crisis with her elderly mother and stepfather, who are on the other side of the country. They are still in their own home, but the mother now has fairly advanced dementia, and the father-in-law is quite ill (congestive heart failure) and really can't take care of himself, let alone his wife. In normal times, one would have to think about institutional care (if one is lucky enough to find a bed in a good place and can afford it), but in the present situation, it's hard to imagine sending an elderly person into an institution that at any moment could become the site of rampant Covid--if one can find one that isn't already.

[rpcrowe]

Pandemic, last weekend's earthquake and now flash flooding in my county I have had 3.75 inches of rain in the last 24 hours... With more to come in the next couple of days. I live in a high elevation so my home is not in any danger - all the water runs downhill from here...

[davidedric]

There aren't many plus sides to this, but our local (i.e. in the village) community owned shop has seen business double as people stay home. We're also offering home deliveries for those who can't make it to the shop.

[rpcrowe]

We also have a small local market that has been doing a great deal of business. They offer local deliveries as well as parking lot pick up of orders. They make super pizza!

[lovelife65]

Pandemic, last weekend's earthquake and now flash flooding in my county I have had 3.75 inches of rain in the last 24 hours... With more to come in the next couple of days. I live in a high elevation so my home is not in any danger - all the water runs downhill from here...

You know what they say about So Cal sir.

[lovelife65]

We also have a small local market that has been doing a great deal of business. They offer local deliveries as well as parking lot pick up of orders. They make super pizza!

SO so important to support the local shops.

[lovelife65]

There aren't many plus sides to this, but our local (i.e. in the village) community owned shop has seen business double as people stay home. We're also offering home deliveries for those who can't make it to the shop.

Awesome Dave. Keep it local, always.

[lovelife65]

We encountered an aspect of the nursing-home problem yesterday that we hadn't thought of before. We were having dinner (via facetime) with some friends. One is dealing with a crisis with her elderly mother and stepfather, who are on the other side of the country. They are still in their own home, but the mother now has fairly advanced dementia, and the father-in-law is quite ill (congestive heart failure) and really can't take care of himself, let alone his wife. In normal times, one would have to think about institutional care (if one is lucky enough to find a bed in a good place and can afford it), but in the present situation, it's hard to imagine sending an elderly person into an institution that at any moment could become the site of rampant Covid--if one can find one that isn't already.

Personally, I do not believe any of them should be accepting residents unless tested first, and then isolated. The latter is terrible, I know even not seeing family is very difficult for many, and contributes to decline in mental and physical health.

[rpcrowe]

Instances like the above just reinforce how lucky Judy and I are, safely nestled in our own little world...



The problems we were concerned with before like slow Internet speed (since our area still depends on copper wires and is not supplied with fiber optic transmissions) seem pretty trivial now!

[lovelife65]

Instances like the above just reinforce how lucky Judy and I are, safely nestled in our own little world...



The problems we were concerned with before like slow Internet speed (since our area still depends on copper wires and is not supplied with fiber optic transmissions) seem pretty trivial now!

Absolutely. If nothing else, we should notice that most of our first world "problems" seem pretty trivial.

[William W]

Nice Shot.

I like the linear aspect.

Good that you can ‘go for a drive’ – I think that, as a possibility for you and your society, is both sensible and reasonable.

***

I believe people are still going for drives. . .

And

It varies by state and even county here. . .

The legislation is simple and easy to understand here; though the media is confusing the issue for the sake of headlines.

The Governor General enacted Bio Security Legislation a few weeks ago. The Federal Government has acted upon it. The States and Territory Governments basically followed suit: in essence and précis - car travel is only allowed for essential requirements. That is to say one can NOT just “go for a drive”.

WW