it's hard to imagine that when I last posted, so much could change and so much could stay the same.
as of today, June 4, 2020, everything in NYC still remains shut down. basically, EVERYTHING except a grocery stores and some take out places (e.g. dunkin donuts, paris baguette, tea magic.. thank god, zucker's bagels, mcdonalds obviously, etc...) have been closed. even take out places like gray's papaya and wok city closed! bro (as bailey has been saying all the time and now i say all the time), that's serious.
schools, our physical office spaces, retail, entertainment, broadway, playgrounds, dog runs, restaurants, churches, playdates/hugs, museums and summer camps are all closed. family time, ajax time, video games (like minecraft, which is enjoyed thoroughly by everyone in the household except me), google classroom, working-from-home, zoom meetings, cooking cooking cooking and doing dishes, vacuuming dog hair, biking in central park, walking/picnicking as a family are not closed.
at the peak of the pandemic (and i sure as hell hope this is not wave 1), the hospitals were flooded, heroic healthcare workers risked their lives and other heroes came to NYC (the epicenter) to help. Javits convention center was turned into a makeshift hospital. naval ship Comfort came to handle overflow. tents were erected in Central Park to handle overflow. trailers serving as morgues were set up outside hospitals. death was everywhere. sirens were constant.
that was the peak.
at 7pm every night, we still go on our balcony to cheer, clap, scream and say thank you to our healthcare workers with the rest of the city.
other than that, our current routine is that i typically wake up at 4AM to do work. when kids wake up at 7ish, i stop working and pivot to breakfast making and managing Google Classroom remote learning work. i DJ zoom meetings for kids, make lunch then try to nap and get in a daily burn 30 minute workout (operative word being: try). matt, for-the-most-part, works in the bedroom while i manage the day-stuff. up until this week, remote instrument lessons were happening with daily instrument practice. then in the evening matt and i tag-team dinner making. i do most of the clean up while the family plays minecraft and matt handles bedtime. dividing and conquering. matt does 90% off the ajax walks!
we mask up every time we go out. we wash hands every time we come back home. now that it's a bit warmer, we try to go out for a walk once every couple of days. but compared to our previous normal, we are pretty much stuck in the apartment.
thus far, all things considered, we have been the lucky ones.
we have not gotten sick. none of our immediate family members have gotten sick. matt and i still have jobs (this is saying alot because 40 million americans are currently unemployed). imagine. businesses are closed. that means, jobs are closed. and it's a domino effect. the longer the shut down, the more people lose their jobs. and what are people to do? rent still needs to be paid and food still needs to be eaten.
i was given a pay cut but at least i still get a paycheck. and matt is the primary breadwinner. we have a dog. we have a car safely escape to more space. we went hiking as a family for the first time ever. i loved it! ajax came along and was such a trooper. it was a pretty gnarly 5-mile hike with 2 river crossing and alot of elevation. kudos to the kids for making it to the end. meltdowns ensued but we survived. the hike was made possible by our trusty minivan.
we have been able to worship with our church online and are grateful for that. in many ways, i feel more connected to our newish St Peter's church community.
every morning for the last two months, my brother would facetime me in the morning. he is awesome and kind and i am grateful for that.
as if things weren't crazy enough during this pandemic. our president has proven to be so toxic. so racist. so full of fear.
listen, at the moment we all. and when i say all, i mean, our whole world.. is like a coiled spring. a bear in hibernation. a racehorse behind the gates at the starting line. we've all been cooped up. the swell of unpent energy is boiling like a juicy, painful zit.
and in the midst of all of this, the division of our country has been made even more painfully pronounced.
on may 25, 2020, george floyd, an innocent 46-year-old african american man was killed on video by police officers in minneapolis.
what has transpired and is still transpiring is this bubbling over of anger and sadness and pain expressed in healthy and unhealthy ways. safe and unsafe ways. peaceful and violent ways. while the city has been overrun with peaceful protesters, the violent looters have caused already down and closed businesses even more hardship. and the city has now had a curfew imposed at 8PM. now, there is the sound of constant helicopters. the city that was already down has taken a greater beating.
now it feels like there's not one but TWO unhealable plagues: a novel coronavirus and racism. one is new. one is old. we await for a the hope of a vaccine for one. and we await for the hope of new non-toxic elected officials for the other. in both i pray HOLY SPIRIT COME.