Glendale, Arizona during COVID-19 - March 2020


It's March 26th, 2020, and the whole world seems to be waiting, holding its breath. If you're reading this right now, you understand, but if you found this post way off in the future, and this is just history, I'll try to explain.

COVID-19 means "Corona Virus Disease 2019" (the year that it was identified, last year). As of this writing, there is no vaccine yet, and in the meantime everyone all over the world is being asked to just try to not spread the contagion, with social distancing. That is, we're all staying away from each other the best we can. This is easier for some people than others. There are people who are fortunate enough to be able to stay away from the office, to work remotely, or maybe they really don't need to go anywhere. Some people have to go to work.

But I'm discovering that even people who really don't need to go anywhere need to go places. The schools are all closed, and I can hardly imagine what it would be like to be shut up in a house with a bunch of energetic kids.

There's a safe place to go right nearby where I live, the Sahuaro Ranch. I visited there yesterday with my dog and there were people, lots of people. They were walking, looking at the peacocks, enjoying the day. Normally people tend to scrunch together, in sporting events, in movie theaters, etc., but yesterday I saw them spread out. I've always been a spread out person, not a scrunch person, so all of this comes easily to me. But I am feeling some sympathy for people who love to scrunch, maybe to go to a sporting event, or restaurants, or bars. Heck, I even feel sorry for people who want to sit in a casino playing blackjack all night! Not part of my world, but I sympathize.

My internet went down for a little while yesterday afternoon and I pedaled over to the Walmart Neighborhood Market, looking for stuff that I hadn't been able to find last week. The shelves still have a lot of empty spots, but they're being restocked. I thanked the cashier for the hard work that they had been doing, and I mentioned that we will remember this. He seemed a bit surprised at my statement, but he thought for a moment, and very much agreed. We were there.


This will be a time that people will remember. Kids will remember it as probably the greatest time of their lives, when they didn't have to go to school. And hopefully the lessons learned from the grownups will stay with them - to cherish the little things, and breath fresh air.

See you at the ranch!
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