All in This Together

 'At Loss for words' sums up my emotions and understanding of our new society--standing six feet apart, afraid to make eye contact with one another, dis ease in our community, our nation, our world.

There is a children's book called The Judge: an Untrue Tale by Harve Zemach with pictures by Margot Zemach. I cannot seem to get the chant out of my mind. It goes like this:

The Judge an Untrue Tale 

     A horrible thing is coming this way,

    Creeping closer day by day.

          It's eyes are scary

          It's tail is hairy

          It's paws have claws

          It snaps its jaws

     I tell you, Judge, we all better pray!

Contrast in life, like in art, commands attention by the sheer force of its differences--March 1, 2020 compared to April 1, 2020. 

Manon and Letty on the Palmer Course PGA West

Playing golf in sunny, to be truthful rainy and cool, southern California the week the pandemic broke I felt isolated from the world of a future without enough toilet tissue and sanitizer wipes to go around. On March 17 the day of our departure to home, we stopped in downtown Palm Springs for breakfast. The shock on our faces and fear in my gut told the entire story. Palm Springs, unbeknownst to us, had closed it's restaurants to the public. At last we found an empty diner with sparkling clean red vinyl seats that left us feeling like we had just been transported back to the 1950's. We were quiet as we ate, each of us sorting our thoughts.

Sonny Bono, Mayor

Outside I found a statue of Sonny Bono, former Mayor of Palm Springs, with a smile on his face and open arms to greet the visitors, but there was no bustle around him. No one sitting on his lap. No one beside him.  No one honking and singing. 

A blue face mask covered my nose and mouth that day as I boarded the airplane. For the first time, I felt frightened of something and that children's rhyme began to sing in my head. 

     A horrible thing is coming this way,

    Creeping closer day by day.

          It's eyes are scary

          It's tail is hairy

          It's paws have claws

          It snaps its jaws

         It growls, it groans

         It chews up stones

     I tell you, Judge, we all better pray!

No green beer or wine was served on the plane. One family dressed their three children in Leprechaun Green making all around them smile.  Home and a day later, Wednesday, March 18 at midnight, Norman, Oklahoma shut its doors to the public. Not a fiber in my body understood.

    

Two weeks of self-quarantine found me walking 10,000 + steps nearly every day. Passing people playing outside with their children, in homes where I had never seen movement. Tricycles and bikes left outside.

A child's version of Olaf. 

Chalk art on the sidewalks and teddy bears in the windows. All seen from a distance, and the joy and love from those passing moments heals my worried soul. 

After two weeks,  I ventured out with sanitizers in hand to pick up an order of humor from International Pantry.  

Sunny days allowed Jack and me to spread our life into yard work away from the television.  Using my 20 Minute Gardening technique I feel like I have conquered the battle of the Henbit weed. Two front flower gardens are weed free, fertilized, covered with mulch and ready for Easter. Two more spacious gardens in front will reap the benefits of our weeding over the next few weeks.  Small tasks at a time.  

Coming into our home through the garage I am greeted by a monthly calendar--Scotland: The Art of Deborah Phillips. Her artwork charms me each time I pass it. The textures, colors, roof tops, and rain are true to my memory of Scotland. Each picture takes me where I have been before and for a moment in time I am transported back to a country of my ancestors. 

Scotland calendar

March's artwork captured my attention on varying levels. The distress of seasons feels personal now, as I experience spring in Oklahoma at home without company, without family, without gatherings; summer one day winter the next. There is such beauty to be found in these times and like The Judge the dark is there. 

  

     A horrible thing is coming this way,

    Creeping closer day by day.

          It's eyes are scary

          It's tail is hairy

          It's paws have claws

          It snaps its jaws

         It growls, it groans

         It chews up stones

         It spreads its wings

         It belches flame

         It has no name

     I tell you, Judge, we all better pray!

No name, no words. no prayers.  How could prayer have left me in a time like this? I hear my mother's words "This too Shall pass."  This morning on The Today Show these few true and sincere words from an Episcopal minister touched my heart.  

"A Prayer for the World"

God help us 

Love us

Walk with us.

Help us Love each other. 

And we will find our way. 

Amen. 

Yes, the beast with no name arrived, clawing his way into our lives. We named him Covid 19, now perhaps the warriors, our medical teams, will force him to retreat. 

We are ALL IN THIS TOGETHER, and a simple prayer has helped me to move forward in my heart and head.  May this prayer help each of you.  

Volcanic Panic

The HEADLINES nearly read: Woman Erupts at Sam's;

     After searching her local Sam's Club store for toilet tissue and paper towels, the gray headed lady asked a nearby employee where they kept their toiletries.  The man appeared not to understand her question. In her frustration the woman began to speak louder, "Where do you keep the TOILET TISSUE?"

     "We don't have any toilet tissue." the young man responded.

     "Seriously, you don't have toilet tissue! Where might I find paper towels?" she inquired.

     "See them empty shelves from floor to ceiling," the young man pointed to two empty rows of metal shelving. "We haven't had any toilet tissue or paper towels  in two days, and I don't know when we will get 'em in."

     When the older woman's voice sprang from alto to soprano and the cement floor began to quiver with anxiety and frustration, a smiling lady appeared in her Sam's vest, decorated with pins and charms. "Mam, can I help you?"

     The gray headed lady later explained to this reporter, that in that instant she realized that no form of sanitizes or aerosols would be available either, her mind felt like it would erupt over the panic set in from the Corona Virus, especially since she wasn't concerned about the damn virus. Instead, her panic came from the fact that she had no toilet tissue at home.
   
     "When will you have toilet tissue on your shelves?"  She replied slowly and clearly in a monotone word by word question.

     "Mam, they told us yesterday that all of our shipments were going to Nashville and we do not know when we will have tissues, paper towels, alcohol, or hand sanitizers."

     Before the volcano could erupt the disaster was averted The gray headed lady bowed her head as face turned flush. Through her tears she whispered, "I am sorry. I am so sorry." The unknown woman turned walking away from the crowded rows of people.

Lucky, for me there was no reporter. What I realized on the drive from Sam's Club to Target was the ability of the mind to scan, create scenes, multiply emotions, and tell a story in the heartbeat of a nano moment. Before I understood that the materials were diverted to Nashville I felt anger at our population of people who were collecting and hoarding items that the rest of us would not have access to. Isn't this how we felt when Russia threatened us with missiles? Before a second breath could be taken the word Nashville turned my mind to the horrific damage from the tornado last week, and the lives lost, hearts broken, community torn apart by a storm. My emotions dropped to sudden sadness and humility. Who was I to think that I was the only one who needed toilet tissue. 

By the time I walked into Target expecting the same result, my mind had gone so far back to remember when my parents told stories of living through the depression and World War II. Would we now begin standing in line for basic supplies? Could we even begin the phantom the sacrifices our parents and grandparents made? My heart and chest sunk when I realized that I was the spoiled American. Easy to look around and think "they" could not live without their cell phones, Starbucks, fancy cars......Well, I wouldn't like it either.

I braced for defeat walking into Target. Much to my surprise I found their shelves filled with toilet tissue, paper towels, and Kleenex.

However, the search for rubbing alcohol proved to be futile. The pharmacy told me that when they did receive a supply of alcohol it was gone in ten minutes, and the same held true for hand sanitizer.
They did however, have six  bottles of little girl sparkly hand sanitizer left. I fell in full blown laughter by then. I didn't even have sanitizer on the list, but now my curiosity was aroused. I had to see the bottle.

Won't I look cute with clean sparkly hands now.