| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Geographic location where this story/experience took place (city, county, town, reservation, or if travel occurred): | Describe your personal story/experience below: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | Boise, Idaho | In November 2018 I took my longtime boyfriend on a surprise trip to New Orleans, with the secret intention of proposing marriage. We spent a total of 15 months building our wedding dream for June 2020. Almost everything was ready: the dress, the suit, the venue, the flowers, the hotel. We had just celebrated 100 days on our countdown, so excited to finally be married. On day 90 we made the difficult decision to postpone our nuptials. Both our mothers suffer from autoimmune diseases, his father is over 75, and mine at 45% lung capacity. I watched in pain as our new special city, New Orleans, fell into another catastrophic suffering caused by poor planning and political leadership. I grieved our wedding date, June 20th, having looked forward to it with such joy for over a year, and having sent out invitations only a couple weeks before the decision to postpone. As I write this I am aware of all I have to be grateful for: our vendors have been lovely in moving our date, we’re still happy and healthy together, our families are safe, my fiancé has a good job. But I am very concerned because I think some of these privileges are temporary. Soon we will see and feel the mistakes made by those far removed from us. We and our families will pay the price of decisions made or not made. I’m afraid of being too hopeful or excited about my new wedding date because I think of all the unknowns. What if someone in our families dies before then, who wouldn’t have otherwise? What if we need to shelter next summer too? What if the business I just quit a great job to start goes under? What if my fiancé is laid off? I’m trying to be strong for those around me, and so far I can because we’re so early in all this. I’m unsure how I will end up feeling in a couple weeks or months, except I do know I’ll probably still be a bit sad about our wedding and increasingly worried about our family members’ health and safety. I deeply hope that our world, our country, and our community will learn from this and take care of our most vulnerable. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 | Boise | I am Dean of Students at Riverstone International School here in Boise. We have students from China, so when news of the coronavirus in Wuhan Province hit the news, it was a big deal for me and my school. Families were affected and students planning to return home for spring break were now sensing that they'd need to change their plans. That was in February. I remember because I had my yearly girls' weekend with my pals in Seattle over President's Day weekend, and this year was special because three of the six of us are pregnant, so it was a big baby shower. One of my friends was talking about how she can't stop watching the news and she was so worried. I tried to reassure her that it'd all be okay. I had planned to go visit my family in Los Angeles for spring break, which for me was the middle weeks of March. As soon as COVID hit Seattle -- and all my friends started creating virtual learning plans and working from home if they could -- I started worrying about traveling to Los Angeles. As each day passed, I became more nervous. I truly think this was due to my pregnancy more than anything; I could take certain risks for myself, but what if it was too big of a risk for the baby? The data then (and now) about fetal outcomes with COVID are so few and far between. My brother, who lives in San Francisco, was going to fly down and join me for a weekend at our parents' house. He's always been the more nervous/cautious of the two of us when it comes to traveling. He called to tell me he was cancelling. Two days later, San Francisco went on quarantine. A few days before my trip, I decided to cancel. At that point I had asked every single person I could think for their opinion. I even considered doing a poll on my Instagram. I finally realized that I just wanted something definite that I could point to, something that would confirm and legitimize my decision. In the end, there wasn't anything like that. I just had to decide. When I called my mom to tell her, I started crying. I wasn't expecting that. My two weeks of spring break, I put myself on quarantine. The last thing I did before going into isolation was walk to the Co-op. It is 3 miles there, a distance I used to be able to easily walk back and forth, but this time when I got there, I was exhausted. This was right at the beginning of voluntary closures in Boise; the Co-op had closed off all their seating areas inside and taken away the salad bar. I did my grocery shopping, called an Uber, and went home. That Uber driver was the last person (besides my husband) I spoke to in person for over two weeks. Still is. I'm an extrovert - it's part of what makes my job so fun - so the two weeks of no work and no activity besides walks in my neighborhood was really difficult. I struggled with depression (a lifelong struggle) and had to make myself an activities options chart to keep myself from "moping" about the house all day. My big ideas about doing all sorts of house projects faded quickly. I spent time reading my pregnancy message board, filled with other pregnant folks due to give birth the same month as me. They worried over the virus, over their partners not being allowed in labor & delivery, about now planning for a home birth, about canceled baby showers. Somehow, none of that has bothered me; I'm so grateful. Now, it's the end of the first week in April. My school has been back in session for a week, all virtual. This week I kept open "office hours" where kids could come into a Google Meet video conference and just say hi or ask a question. I sat for hours in my craft room, hoping someone would take me up on it. A few did. I think more will as time goes on and we get used to this new normal. Yesterday, we told our dorm students that they should go home. Things in Idaho will get worse before they get better, and there's no point in them staying here for that when they could be home with their families. Tonight, we told our senior students and parents that their school year would end May 1 and we would have a virtual graduation. Prom is postponed. Maybe we'll do it in December when they're all home from college. Who knows? There is no way to really know how long this will go here. It has been frustrating to watch the initially sluggish pace of actions from state and national government. I struggle to hold so many conflicting emotions at one time. I try to support my students and give them space to hold their own emotions while also trying to maintain some semblance of normality. There is no telling where we'll go from here, not really. We just have to wait and see. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
4 | Kendrick, ID Latah County | The snow is flurrying around the spring time air, and I am restless for springs warmth to commit its face to the mountain tops here. The seeds in the greenhouse are sprouting, and eggs around the farm are starting to multiple. It won't be long before new life has appeared. Our neighbors are older, 60+ years and stay home most of the days much like ourselves. We are the lucky few who are farmers, military men, loggers, and retiree's. We are staying social through technology and groups have formed to help out the one's who are afraid to go out. Our children are being home-schooled now, but most families up here have been home schooling their young for years. Our little community is supporting each other any way they can. We have given meat from our freezer and eggs from the chickens to support neighbor's and provide a sense of union. Our family lives on a small homestead and this situation as influenced to expand what animals and food we want to grow/raise. I went to town today and noticed how polite and social people were. It was a blessing to see people more face to face social than ever, and not glued to their technology. We will be stronger as a community when all this settles and remember how we pulled together through difficult times so that we may enjoy the good ones. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Caldwell ID | I work for Containerandpackaging.com in Eagle ID. When there was word of the outbreak and possible shut downs they allowed all of us to start working from home. That is something they didn't know if it would be possible, but 2 by 2 we all left to go set up home offices. I am working at my in-laws house because they have a dedicated office and they can watch my 3 year old. My other 3 children are home with dad. I never realized how crazy my job would get! We have set record breaking sales all because people are making hand sanitizer due to Covid-19! When I left on Friday this last week we had sold out of almost every bottle and cap. It's been straight 20 calls holding for over 20 minutes every day all day long for 3 weeks. Distilleries have been asked to make hand sanitizer. People are making sanitizer to give out for free. When I get a call for jars or glass items I feel relief and a sense of normalcy. When I go to work tomorrow I feel like I will be placing backorders all day long. Many items won't be back into stock until June. I still love my job and what we do. I'm enjoying the peace and quite of a dedicated office all by myself. I don't have people coughing all around me. I am losing weight. I'm eating better. I don't stop at the store to get donuts. I'm not going out to eat as often. My husband drives for Uber and I had to beg him to quit for now. He has been skeptical of it all, but honored my wishes. We have family dinner more and the kids are out of school. It has been really calm at home. No hustle of getting people places. The choir I am in had to cancel our performance and that was a bummer. We sing in the prisons for Easter. I am getting a bit stir crazy and miss going to the store whenever I want. Met up with my friends a week ago and we met in a random parking lot and hung out in our own van trunks and were 6 ft apart or more. We chat on messenger all the time. We are planning a drive by our friends house for her 40th birthday. She doesn't know it yet. My 13 year old misses her friends. We usually have late overs every other week. The kids are going to attempt virtual learning soon. I'm hoping we can pull through this and remember to slow down more. I've really enjoyed that. Feeling blessed I can still work. Thankful we kept some of our tax return so my husband's job is covered. We can still pay our bills. I feel overall thankful for all we have been given including our health. Praying for all who are affected. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 | Boise, Idaho | For me this all seemed like it wouldn't get this bad until it did. Many people were in denial at first and many of us felt frightened. Me included. I was scared and I didn't know how to feel when things started shutting down. I've accepted the reality now and am adjusting to it. I've kept myself busy by reading,watching TV/movies and playing video games. I hope for this to be all over by Mid-late May | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
7 | Ada County, Boise, Idaho | My personal experience with this pandemic has been quite interesting. I never thought that I would be filing for unemployment in my 20’s. I never thought that the latter half of my year at Boise State University would consist of remote learning. I never thought it would be impossible to find toilet paper on the shelves of my local grocery stores. I never thought I wouldn’t be able to socialize with my friends in person for an extended period of time. I had never realized that I took so many small things for granted. All of my classes are online and I have utilized Zoom more than I thought I ever would. I have spent my time at home with my family trying to stay positive. I have had Zoom meetings that were not academic, just to socialize with my friends. I have had more time to see my family. I have had more time to walk my dogs to get fresh air. Gas was priced under $2. People are wearing masks and gloves when they shop. It has been a strange experience during this pandemic. It almost seems apocalyptic . I know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I know that we will fight back against this virus by staying home and by practicing social distancing (6 feet apart from another human). Our health care workers that are working the front lines are super heroes. Those that are still deemed essential are super heroes and I thank them for their service. They are brave. It’s all about staying positive, appreciating what I have, and staying home. This is not my normal routine but it is an experience. We will bounce back from this. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | Eagle, Idaho and Issaquah, Washington | My Covid-19 story starts with a visit to Issaquah, Wa, from Eagle, ID, to visit my son and daughter in law, and new grandson. At that time, as I was flying over, I was not aware that the virus was about to become a huge threat in our country. I was a month away from taking a month long cruise with my parents (from northern CA), to Hawaii, and onto south pacific area. While in Issaquah with my kids, we went to Kirkland looking at houses for the kids to by, attended a hockey game in Everett, WA. The next morning, the news began reporting case of this virus taking the lives of people in a care facility right in Kirkland. By the time I flew home from Seattle, just two days later, people were wearing masks in the airport, where as just four short days before, it had not been an issue. Back home in Idaho, the feeling at the Boise airport was not quite feeling the panic yet. No masks. Roads and businesses were the same. Just two days after coming home, I came down with what seemed similar to what was being described by the media, but maybe to a lighter case. My chest was just slightly tight, but my lungs felt a sting everytime I coughed. I had some headaches that were worse than usual, and once in awhile, my temp would go up to about 99.2. I was trying to be reasonable, didn't want to overreact, as at this time, the feeling was still that we should not panic and test for the virus if we were not with a very high fever, and a very high temp. I did give in after a week, and called our doctor's office, who directed us to call the ER. I told them it had been a week since I had been to Seattle, but that I'd been to the Epicenter, and a hockey game. Still, was told to ride it out at home at this point. I did not get any worse, and I probably did just have a cold or flu, and never did get tested, so will never know. In those first couple of weeks that Idaho became aware that this was here to stay for awhile, the stores were not too bad. I could still grab a tub of sanitizing wipes, a pack of toilet paper, a hand sanitizer. But within just a few short days, the shelves were bare. It was a very unsettling sight, and it felt very much like we were entering into an apocalypse. I soon learned the tricks, like going very early when stores first opened. Living out in the foothills, we have always stocked up somewhat, but as the news became more gloomy, we thought we'd better grab a few more essentials, just in case. What I find unsettling, is the sheer number of people hogging the essentials, for profit, hoping to see to others, or just out of sheer panic, making them not care one bit for the welfare of others. They say the hoarding is getting to be less and less, but to me, if I still have to leave at the break of dawn to get essentials for my special needs child, then someone is still hoarding. It makes me fear for what would happen to all of us, in a true end of the world scenario, with the number of people who believe it's Every Man For Himself, and You Snooze, You Lose, mentality. What I'd like to add, my husband, my daughter, and myself, had traveled to Issaquah in late December, and within two days of coming home, had come down with what we thought was either the worst cold or flu that we'd had in a very long time. Our son and his little family had been very ill that week we spent at their house, and looking back now, we can't help but wonder if the virus had entered our lives much sooner than we even realize. Maybe we all had it, and survived it? We won't know for now, at least. To date, we are now a little over a month, since Idaho began realizing that it was going to keep growing. When I first came home in early March, there were 3 cases in all of Idaho, and within the month, we are up to well over a thousand in our state. On top of all of this pandemic scare, Idaho decided to stir things up just a little more, with a 6.5 earthquake. I grew up in CA, where we knew earthquakes, but of all my 35 years in Idaho, the most I felt was a small roll, coming from distance areas. This one felt so unsettling, as it had been raining, hailing, and winds blowing, after days of almost 70 degree weather. With all of these changes coming within days of each other, I think for many of us, it made us begin to think that we might be seeing end times? I don't know, but it sure brought up a lot of discussions! My family is still trying to find our normal, while being cautious. My husband is still considered essential in his line of work, and my daughter still relies on physical therapy to keep her physically capable. We rely on personal care providers for her, to keep her goals in place. We just use common sense, restricting where they can take her. No indoor spaces for now, like stores, etc. Wide open spaces and therapy office are pretty much her world for now. I am staying home as much as I can, but take myself out for drives during the day, and only stopping in to buy a few essentials. I mostly have my husband stop in after work for the bigger shopping, since he is already out, and I have him wear a mask. Though this is hard, not seeing friends and family in person, I find that we are connecting more often, checking in on each other. I am helping others as I can. I have found joy in little things, like giving TP to a friend who couldn't find any, or papertowels to another, who had to use hers up for a pet accident. There are friends making masks, and giving them away out of the kindness of their hearts. So for all the frustrations of the selfishness in hoarding we have seen, we are also seeing such kind hearted deeds from so many as well. I'm finding that when I do go out, people are taking more time to connect, relating their own stories, and showing a genuine concern. We are able to make light hearted jokes about staying away from each other. I am loving the less crowded roads. I feel like I've stepped back into about 1995, when we first moved to this area, from north Idaho. What once took 45 minutes to get to, can some mornings, take just about 20 minutes. It gives such an easier sense of ease once again, and I don't miss the stress that our overcrowded roads brought to us. I know eventually it's going to have to go back to the way it was, and while I am anxious for the rest of our normal to return, I am not anxious for the traffic and I'm not anxious for the meanness of others that it will bring back into our lives. I am loving that the scam calls have disappeared. Just before this lockdown, I was getting up to 8 toll free/out of area/etc calls a day. Now, I might get two unknown callers in one week. I am loving the slower pace of our town, I'm loving that there is no pressure to feel we must be on the go all day long. I am loving the closeness and caring that has returned. I only wish we could take these feelings into the future with us, as this pandemic ends, just as the ones in the past have. I wish that this time we could remember, and try harder to stay kind, keep a slower and kinder pace as we go back to work and school, and resume our social lives. I look forward to no fear once again. I look forward to looking at the masks we have here at home. I know that we won't just one day wake up and all will be normal. But maybe this is good. Maybe it will do us all good to rethink how we live each day. Maybe we will do better. Maybe we will stay home and not spread our colds and flus without a care. Maybe we can remember what it felt like to be kinder and more giving, and continue to care a lot more. Maybe some jobs can continue to be conducted from home, to make our roadways less congested. Maybe a slower, kinder pace, will follow us into our futures, long after this pandemic is over! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | Boise, Idaho & Meridian, Idaho | When first hearing about COVID19 in China, it was November 2019 and I didn't really think it was going to affect us. In mid January 2020, I remember hearing about the first US case in Washington state, but WHO and the CDC believed it could have been around for longer. I still didn't think much of it, just knew that Washington was close to home. It wasn't until the beginning of March that I started to take it "seriously" and some fear entered my mind. I ended up having a lot of the symptoms, but didn't think I had it. I had never been so happy to test positive for influenza. Although, all of my family, friends, and colleagues continually asked "are you sure it's the flu"? Idaho's first case was on Friday the 13th (easy to remember). I was so scared to go to work the following Monday and emailed my administrator of my discomfort. If I got sick, I couldn't help take care of my at risk father. I still had to go in and teach on Monday but only 1/3 of my students showed up to school. We ended up closing school for the rest of the week until the end of Spring Break. COVID escalate so quickly in the US. I took a screenshot of the CDC website's total count on Friday the 13th (1,629) compared to yesterday, less than a month later, (459,165). The crazy thing is that I think the CDC numbers are always lower than the actual count because of when they update the website. My personal life has changed dramatically. Even though no one has been to my house, I disinfect my house every other day. I was hand towels daily. Wash my hands constantly. Take more vitamins than usual. I wear gloves to get my mail and open Amazon packages outside. I've had to shop for my at risk family members and leave their orders on their doorsteps. The grocery stores are getting back to normal now, but it was shocking to see the shelves cleared out. My goal was to buy enough food to last a month, but that was impossible. I wear gloves and a homemade mask. I dispose of the mask as I exit the store and throw my face mask in the washer when I get home. I now do online grocery shopping and delivery to my doorstep (also for my family members). I spray my grocery items with Lysol even if it's not necessary. it just gives me comfort. I really never go out unless it is to walk my dogs. I have my own dog and have been fostering dogs for almost two years and currently have a foster dog. It has made quarantine less lonely. Since Friday the 13th, the only person I have seen is my father. He is a senior and at risk. As much as I don't want to see him in fear on passing something on, he needs someone to take care of him due to a back injury. He just got back surgery yesterday and I am taking care of him through the weekend. Walking his dogs and mowing his lawn. I am a teacher and they announced that schools are closed for the rest of the year. I am lucky enough to be at a school where all of our students can check out devices. We just finished our first week of online school and I had 100% attendance almost everyday. Interesting enough, teaching online seems to take way more time than in person. Everyday is a new learning experience and it will be interesting to see when this all calms down. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | Boise, ID | Day 26 of Social Distancing (4/10/2020) 3-year-olds are sweet and sour and entirely perplexing. Warren spent the better part of the day being a raging butthole for no reason. My only explanation is came out of bed first thing this morning stark ass naked. So maybe he slept on crumbs and was cranky. Dang kid. I learned work has extended remote work for staff until May 1st today. 3+ weeks down, at a minimum 3 more to go… TGIF 'In the end, it will be impossible to know if we overreacted or did too much, but it will be quite apparent if we under reacted or did too little.' Stay healthy, family and friends. 💕 Day 22 of Social Distancing The highlight of the day was my folks swung by and social distanced with us in the yard. It was good to see them and yet I’m reminded how close, yet far away we must be. They brought us basketball hoop; I’m extremely grateful as our distancing doesn’t look to change any time soon. Today the State Board of Education announced that on April 6, 2020, they have extended the soft closures of all schools in the state for this year. Rylan is in 7th grade. In my 7th grade class I was at Lake Hazel Middle School chasing boys and dissecting frogs and getting my tonsils removed. His 7th grade has been a year he will not likely forget. I saw this a few times and felt that it was worth sharing here: What if??? If they cancel the rest of the school year, students would miss 2.5 months of education. Many people are concerned about students falling behind because of this. Yes, they may fall behind when it comes to classroom education... But what if... What if instead of falling “behind", this group of kids is ADVANCED because of this? Hear me out... What if they have more empathy, they enjoy family connection, they can be more creative and entertain themselves, they love to read, they love to express themselves in writing. 📝 What if they enjoy the simple things, like their own backyard and sitting near a window in the quiet. What if they notice the birds and the dates the different flowers emerge, and the calming renewal of a gentle rain shower? 🌸🌦️ What if this generation are the ones to learn to cook, organize their space, do their laundry, and keep a well-run home? 🏠 What if they learn to stretch a dollar and to live with less? 💵 What if they learn to plan shopping trips and meals at home. 🍔 What if they learn the value of eating together as a family and finding the good to share in the small delights of the everyday? What if they are the ones to place great value on our teachers and educational professionals, librarians, public servants and the previously invisible essential support workers like truck drivers, grocers, cashiers, custodians, logistics, and health care workers and their supporting staff, just to name a few of the millions taking care of us right now while we are sheltered in place? 👩🏫🚚👨⚕️ What if among these children, a great leader emerges who had the benefit of a slower pace and a simpler life to truly learn what really matters in this life? 👪💖 What if they are AHEAD? ➡️ (Copied and pasted from a friend but too good not to share! ) 'In the end, it will be impossible to know if we overreacted or did too much, but it will be quite apparent if we under reacted or did too little.' Stay healthy, family and friends. 💕 Day 15 of Social Distancing I feel validated. When watching the national news (yes, I know I shouldn’t) they were talking about how there is evidence to suggest wearing masks may help stop the spread of the virus. I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR WEEKS. First – I have always posited that N95 masks and other PPE need to go first to our first reponders and health care workers. I do believe that had we said ‘wear masks everyone’ our healthcare workers wouldn’t have had any from early on (not like today is looking much better). That being stated, bandanas, balaklavas, and fabric masks are all appropriate alternatives that don’t take away from healthcare workers that we ALL could be wearing when grocery shopping, going to the pharmacy, etc. Anything that helps prevents my spit and your spit from being airborn and/or landing on surfaces that then live on hours-to-days is a win. When wearing a mask, make sure you don’t grab at the mouth, rather remove from the ears because you don’t want to be touching right wear your mouth is (reminder/tip from my ER visit). On that note, shortly after our social distancing efforts I learned about the Threasure Valley Masks. I’m happy to report that although I don’t have the skills and bandwith to help with the sewing, I was able to donate my baby flannel stockpile and even gave away my sewing machine for the cause. Warm fuzzies when one of the gals that took some of the fabric sent me a pic today. It’s an Army of women and men sewing away for our local clinics, hospitals and vulnerable. <3 From my understanding the front line is wearing the fabric over the N95 ones to help them last longer. If you have the skills and time, this is a worthy effort! Other than being Monday and dealing with a moody 13 year old, one more successful day of making through another day semi-intact. 'In the end, it will be impossible to know if we overreacted or did too much, but it will be quite apparent if we under reacted or did too little.' Stay healthy, family and friends. 💕 Day 11 of Social Distancing Today was a great day at work. Had great meetings, appointments, etc. and was able to start onboarding the new employee. I even caught the tail end of happy hour with colleagues via Zoom. Alas though personally, I was on the struggle bus. I woke up about 4:45 this morning in pain from what I’d imagine is residual procedure healing and couldn’t go back to bed. So I figured hell, I was up that early I’d buy some groceries. First looked online for delivery, out several days and my faith in humanity and not hoarding is not high. Well fudge. Decided I’d try my luck in-person. Google’d senior days for Fred Meyer. Website says Monday, Wednesday, Friday. It’s Thursday. Awesome, I can go today. Wake up Rylan to help me, don our antibacterial hand sanitizer and masks, and we make a plan for him to hightail to TP first. Within getting to Freddie’s at 6:55 am, we weren’t the only people to make shopping plans. I noted while shopping I was one of the younger people. I didn’t think much of it. Old people like to get up early. Went in store with some distancing, but it was crowded. People were pleasant and nice. Still a lot of old people with an occasional person my age. The TP/Paper towel isle was like black Friday. There was no social distancing going on in that aisle. Got what I needed and continued shopping. Got items to go through 2 weeks+ hopefully. Meat, fruit, etc. When walking by the bakery, the employee yelled at me that this was elderly shopping only. I replied I Googled it, and it said M, W, F. And she proceeded to berate me. I walked away. She can piss off. But then I got to looking…. I really was there with all the elderly. Was I the asshole that broke decorum? Got home. Dealt with sanitizing cold stuff and put it away and looked at my Google search. Huh. Apparently, KIRO7.com has M, W, F listed with a map of Boise right below. I feel slightly better, but still like an ass. Sorry elderly shoppers of Fred Meyer this morning. I meant well. Good news: saw more people wearing masks today. Bad news: still a lot of people not wearing masks and being within several feet of one another. If I end up getting COVID-19, it was most certainly from this shopping trip. 'In the end, it will be impossible to know if we overreacted or did too much, but it will be quite apparent if we under reacted or did too little.' Stay healthy, family and friends. 💕 Day 9 of Social Distancing Today was a pretty good day. I woke up early and started work before the rest of the house was up. I was able to manage the littles without Rylan’s help much today (he needed a day off from them). Took a morning and evening break for a walk around the block and even reached out to video chat my folks. Feeling blessed to be able to work from home for the very near future, and even luckier the college has been proactive in their action of stopping the spreading of the virus. Tonight we were notified that a student did test positive for COVID-19 with having last been on campus (my building) 3/10. The following week was when the college implemented an early spring break and have since moved the rest of the semester online. We all have a part of the problem or the solution and I’m glad to see them taking this seriously for students, faculty, and staff. 'In the end, it will be impossible to know if we overreacted or did too much, but it will be quite apparent if we under reacted or did too little.' Stay healthy, family and friends. 💕 Day 4 of Social Distancing 7:30 AM morning drive to St. Al’s on a non-COVID-19 related topic and I got to see the foothills before the sun rose. <3 St. Al’s didn’t allow visitors so I had to be dropped off and picked up. Not a bad rule right now. I was screened with questions in the entrance (surprised my temp wasn’t taken there). When I was up talking with the surgery floor nurses, doctors, etc., they told me they had cancelled all elective surgeries and only were doing urgent or emergency surgeries. They had closed the day-surgery center and only doing surgeries on 2nd floor at this time. Some of the RN’s were from the day-surgery center working for the first time on the floor and didn’t know where things were. It is apparent the hospital is preparing and the people that will be working the front lines did allude to being concerned of the next chapter of COVID-19. They appreciated our social distancing efforts at home. My procedure went well and got home about 2 and there was relative orderliness. I’m happy to say Rylan and Josh did a great job with the kids. Rylan said he tried to keep them on track with a schedule. Ordered myself comfort food byways of Crumbl cookies before a 4 hour nap. I even got two letters from my nephew-cousin-son (I think technically my 1st cousin once removed) that is at basic training in South Carolina. The only news they get are from the commanders/drill sergeants, they aren’t allowed newspapers, etc. But they know enough that his graduation and family day has been cancelled and he can’t report to his AIT in Virginia afterwards like normal. He has to stay on base in South Carolina until at least May. The military is not joking with their safety of their troops. I feel bad for him and hope he can keep his morale up. <3 Here we go to do it again tomorrow. We got this. We can do hard things. <3 'In the end, it will be impossible to know if we overreacted or did too much, but it will be quite apparent if we under reacted or did too little.' Stay healthy, family and friends. 💕 Day 2 of Social Distancing Started off the day with attempt 2 of getting Warren in to get his teeth worked on. Having gotten over a cold recently, he was congested in the chest. Anesthesiologist postponed for a third time until May. Better safe than sorry. Came home to disorder. Well, kind of. Ry & W#1 were happily plopped on the couch watching TV and definitely weren’t on schedule. To get them on board to some sort of structure took a bit more work today. After some morning fresh air, we were back on track. Figured this pandemic warrented a new folder in my email; we’re going day-to-day at the college. I made it through several zoom meetings, including several where my W’s made appearances. More importantly, my boss’ kid made an appearance and made my day. Academic time constructed of tracing letters/words and math problems from a late evening run yesterday to Lakeshore. Disney radio (Spotify or Pandora) is key for academic/creative time. Warren FEELS the music. Lots of outdoor time headed by Rylan, including important lessons in home defense (aka air soft). Daycare announced that they are closing the day after next for a week+. What can I say? We were trendsetters. 😉 All in all, a good day. Everyone seems to be relatively healthy, and our sanity is still intact. 'In the end, it will be impossible to know if we overreacted or did too much, but it will be quite apparent if we under reacted or did too little.' Stay healthy, family and friends. 💕 Day 1 of Social Distancing Both Josh and I have been blessed with employers and jobs that allow telecommuting in times such as these. Rylan's school closed. Pulled W's from daycare cause it didn't make much sense to leave some out there among the crowds. Kept to schedule mostly to keep things structured. Rylan helped throughout the day with outside play, academic time, and creative time. It allowed me to work for a good chunk of my normal day with the occasional interruption during a Zoom meeting. The electronic babysitter didn't even appear until this evening, which I was a bit surprised about. It's going to be hard as the days continue, but something I keep seeing makes it seem less daunting: 'In the end, it will be impossible to know if we overreacted or did too much, but it will quite apparent if we under reacted or did too little.' Stay healthy family and friends. 💕 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | Boise ID | My son and I have been building a photo-time capsule about our COVID-19 time, We've been posting it on FB and my friend told me about this, I'l love to send it in for you all to review/decide it if's appropriate for your site. Admittedly, humor is a significant coping skill here in our family. We've had lots of laughter, we've had tears and fear and mostly, we've used our photo-capsule to capture/tell a story and learn about how history is recorded (a home-school topic in and of itself, I suppose). I suppose it has helped us give meaning to a time that is difficult to fine one in. If there's a way to upload, I can send you a file? (it's small for now...probably 20-30 pics or so and a couple videos. But it's BUILDING! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | BOISE IDAHO | It took many days to fully understand what was happening. I thought it was another virus like SARS, MERS, and EBOLA. But this one is different. It is hard to detect it. When it first made home soil in the US, I knew it was serious as we all now know. We are the 49th state recorded to be infected. Personally, I think that before the official recording, it was all ready in the state and in Boise. because people fly in and out of boise every day it was only a matter of time it would happen. After it was announced, the hoarding began, while tempting, my family made sure not to join. We were then restricted to go outside, and asked to stay home to protect others and ourselves. There is a lot of doom and gloom on the news, so I try not to pay much attention to it, but then something that I thought would not happen shocked me a bit. A guy of Chinese race was beaten up. This made me sad and scared for everyone. What have we come to? BUT at the end of all this madness we will all emerge of this virus just like we have done for millions of years we will make it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | Boise Idaho USA | Quarantine is so boring. There is nothing to do but watch TV, play a game ,go to the store and do school work. When you have a little brother that hits, screams and pinches it makes life really hard. Also when you have 3 older sisters it they make life even harder. Especial when one of them is named Brinley who is 14 and twins that are named Aaliyah and the other one is named Rylee and they are both 12 and there's me who is 10. So you can picture my life here. A lot of people in the house. But the nice thing is we have had a lot of birthdays like my dads birthday then the twins birthday and then in may there is my birthday. We have three dogs two Pomeranian's and one mini golden doodle the Pomeranian's are named Lucy and Hank and the doodle is named Sadie. I hope you never have to go throw this hard time. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | Boise Idaho | The beginning of the quarantine was February 5th for Boise. So as of today April 13 it has been 2 months, 1 week, and 1 day. But who is counting right? I have been quarantined with my grandma and grandpa, my aunt and uncle, my parents, and my 4 siblings. My twin Rylee (age 12) older sister Brinley (age 14), younger sister Sophia (age 10), and little brother Dominic (age 5) and 3 dogs (2 pomeranians and 1 mini golden doodle). So already that is a lot of people under one roof. We get along pretty well but someday's things are just not all happy especially when quarantined. We cant do our normal lemonade stands and cant go to any parks, favorite snow cone shack closed. having to see and sleep with your sibling every day is exhausting. Rylee and me share a room, and everyone else gets their own! Okay so just unfair. Rylee and I celebrated our birthday in quarantine and we got a air track and a archery target we love to shoot our bow and arrow. That has helped pass some time. We also have a trampoline to work on tricks and things. We also do an app on the ipad called video star. On video star you make clips to put in a video to real music it is really fun. Some of the feelings I am feeling is Sad school is canceled, Angry online classes glitch, and disappointed this is lasting longer than hoped. I hope in the future no one will have to experience something like this ever again. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | Boise Area | An ordinary story about an ordinary person just trying to make it through this. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | Boise | The COVID-19 pandemic is detrimental to our children. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | Blackfoot | My son is 12 years old and is an only child. This experience has been very upsetting due to the only time he gets to hang out with other kids his own age is at school or a cousin in snake river. He has been very bored a lot of the time while other kids have siblings at home with them. He has recently started FaceTiming with a couple friends while they play video games or just to talk and “hangout”. That started helping him a bit. I have now definitely regret not having another child for my son to hang out with. I will say though this has made me put my phone down more and do a puzzle with my son or jump on the trampoline when I’m not at work. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | My house | I was so bored from the quarantine that I stuck my little brother's suction cup toothbrushes on my glasses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | Kuna, ID | The COVID-19 Virus hasn't really changed my life besides doing school work at home online. I feel normal as always, I've been doing my normal routine everyday. My younger brothers have been asking me and my parents when we think the Virus might end. They have also been asking when we will be able to go to school again. I honestly, think we will be able to go to school in August again. This Virus hasn't changed how often I communicate with my family and friends. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | Idaho Falls, Idaho | Like many educators across the state my students and I at Hillcrest H.S. had our academic and extra-curricular schedules turned upside down. The governor's stay at home orders forced students and teachers to teach/learn on line or remotely. Our athletics, concerts and plays had to be done virtually, and virtually little or no fanfare. This pandemic changed and impacted our lives like no could imagined. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | Boise, Ada County, Idaho | I am a federal government contractor and the office talked about teleworking, I was told just the day before that I had to telework. So I had one day to make sure I had enough work for the weeks as I did not and still do not know when this will end. I have to make sure I extend my work long enough. Another negative, is missing the social aspect of my life. In my mid-20s and starting dating a guy more seriously, it is hard but creative too to keep a social life. The hardest thing was missing out my father's birthday and Easter. My father, mother, and brother live in Idaho Falls. I have skipped out on these days in the past but not having a choice makes it harder. Once this Covid-19 is over & social distancing is no more, I want to celebrate with my friends and go back to Idaho Falls to be with my family. As being in this house like 24/7, it seems like my mental health is lacking. I miss being around love ones and it does not help my sister and I are in the same house. She and I depend on each other for socializing & entertainment therefore there can be conflict between us too. Some positives, so far none of my friends and friends have been sick. My roommates and I are still being employed. The only downfall is my roommate is an essential worker so my household could still be exposed. Also, I have been religious all my life, but having more time to evaluate and think. My strength in Christianity has grown and I started to write in a journal. I believe writing in a journal will help me figure out what I want to do in life and how to live it. As I am in my mid-twenties, self discovery is important. I definitely believe, once things are taken away, you realize how much you miss them. This could be the best case scenario for me; my friends and family are healthy & home. Most people I know have their job still, mostly from home. I just have to follow rules that everybody does like social distancing, masks, not gathering. So really my case is the best case. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | United states kuna idaho | It was the year 2020 everyone said this is the year for everybody to have 2020 vision as a joke. Everyone said this would be a fantastic year. I thought so too and still do. The virus first struck china rapidly spreading, nobody knew at first but it had infected many countries outside of china. Rapidly spreading by air and by the touch of humans. I was 14 years old when it struck the united states in March 2020. I didn't think about it right then so I was busy turning in some assignments for classes. But mainly just work on my memorial project and essay. When it first landed in Idaho it shut down many schools including mine. My daily life had changed not for the better as some would say in the battle of yorktown it was like the world was turned upside down. Idaho was on stay at home orders other than recreating in the outdoors. My life was diff rent slept in a little later than usual have a late breakfast do my school work some chores than do a physically activity to maintain healthy. It isn't all that bad but wish my life could go back to normal and they could find a cure but most likely this will be the new norm at least for a while. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | Melba | I've just been really trying to improve my work mindset while working on school assignments. I'm really trying to stop procrastinating and to just be content with every day. I'm an ambivert, leaning more toward introvert, but I never realized just how much I rely on social interaction. It's insane! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
24 | Kuna Idaho | I am at home and am bored. this can be good for me so i can lose more weght. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
25 | Nampa, Idaho, Canyon County | My son, Eric, his family & I live together in Nampa, ID. We planned to visit two sons in California in June. Lenny called in March to tell me not to come because San Jose is in the third worst place in the U.S. with the Corona Virus. Eric didn't think it would effect us because we had until June. As the news got worse, Eric admitted we should stay home. Things progressed from bad to worse. They passed a shelter in place order, you couldn't gather in groups of more than 10, you had to stay 6 ft. apart, and finally you had to wear a mask if you went out. Businesses closed, most people couldn't go to work anymore but three of my sons still had to work. Eric and John were health care workers, Lenny was a necessary worker because he drove a truck to deliver food to stores. My fourth son was retired. The news kept getting worse and the T.V. was inundated with how the Covid 19 progressed. I watched all the news, then I realized so much of a bad thing was making me depressed and I was losing sleep. I curtailed how much I watched and that helped. People panicked and hoarded everything. All my sons called me and told me to stay in so I wouldn't get sick and I listened to them. We didn't panic and Eric decided he would shop for our family since he had to go out anyway. He did a good job and we had plenty of everything unlike the masses of people who got no paycheck, couldn't pay their bills and ran out of food. Because schools closed our children, Adam, 13 and Brianna 9 were isolated so Eric decided to buy a puppy so they could have something to do. He bought a 7 week old male Labrador. That kept us busy and the kids were happy with him. As if things weren't bad enough, on March 31 at 6 p.m. we had a big earthquake. Eric had his T.V. on and they said it was a 6.5 quake centered in the Challis National Forest 63 miles from Boise. I was watching T.V. engrossed in a program when I heard thumps coming from the next room. I thought it was one of the kids thumping the computer console but the thumps got louder and louder. Then my easy chair began to shake and at first I thought the kids might be slapping the floor in their front room playing with the puppy. I got up to look and then my brain got into gear and I realized they couldn't thump that loud and make my chair move. I asked if we were having an earthquake, Eric said we were. The strange thing about this earthquake was that when we lived in California and there was a smaller earthquake, most things fell off of grocery store shelves. They said there was very little damage. I think we are being tested at this trying time. President Trump said it would all be over by Easter but that didn't happen. I haven't been anywhere outside of our house since the beginning of March and no one in our family have seen each other since then but we do phone each other. I don't mind losing my liberty for as long as it takes to avoid catching this killer disease. Since all the schools are closed, students do virtual school. That's not as good as going to school but it's better than nothing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
26 | kuna idAHO | ive been stuck at home for the past 3 weeks and its freaking boring | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
27 | Idaho,Boise,downtown and yes | how silent downtown is | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
28 | Kuna, Idaho | This has definitely been a crazy but remarkable time in my life. Since April 1st of 2020, I have been keeping a COVID-19 journal to record my experiences in this time of the world right now. Overall this has definitely been a time for me to get closer with my family and just give us more bonding time. I am lucky to have all my family by my side during this time as well because they are definitely huge support and helping my siblings and I out lots. The whole school situation has been a little off for me. I feel like being at school physically gives me more motivation by being there. Some days I don't feel as ready to get some school work done at home. I do still keep in contact with my friends by mostly text. I am not really the type of person who necessarily likes FaceTime. I do enjoy the concept of it for everyone else but to me, it's not my favorite way of communication. I myself am an immune-compromised person so we definitely try our best to take precautions. A few days ago I went into the Dollar Store but other than that I have not really been in any other stores. When my mom heads out to the store I usually just go with her but I don't ever really leave the car. The last time I was in a store though it was crazy to see how many things people had taken away. Lots of the shelves had been bare which I couldn't believe. Throughout everything right now I really appreciate all our health care workers, doctors and nurses, our teachers, the wonderful lunch ladies that give out lunches to us kids all week, delivery workers, and so many more people. With any sadness in the world, I am still so happy and thankful to have those people here helping out our world. I myself have seen sadness and happiness throughout this and I do see how it is bringing our world together and making it stronger so I hope that people in this world are taking this seriously and follow safety precautions not just for themselves but our planet. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
29 | Nampa,Canyon County | Since the covid-19 virus came to Idaho I started staying at home, more the I used to. I used to do my errands shopping through out the week. Now I stay home and only go out when I have to. Instead of going into the stores now, I use their online ordering and use the stores pickup service and pay for it online, so that I don't have to have any contact or close contact with them.When I do go out I stay as far away from people as I can be.Have been reading books more then I used to.I learned how to knit and crochet. I email my grandchildren about every 3-4 days now. I used to talk to them about once a month as they all live in Washington state. A brother that lives in California calls me on the phone every other day now.Other brothers call me at least once a week now instead of monthly. Thankfully as of this date no one in my family has gotten the virus. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
30 | Idaho, and Utah | My dad first found out that he had cancer in October. When he had his first head surgrey. Then in November we had to go to Utah and my dad had kidney surgrey. And this has been really hard for me, because I have a whole new life style now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
31 | boise, ID 83706 | keeping busy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
32 | Nampa Idaho, Boise Idaho | GoGo SqueeZ has a plant here in Nampa Idaho and we have donated over 300,000 pouches in our state alone and the number keeps rising. We have able to touch almost every school in the Treasure Valley, Boys and Girls Club, St Luke’s Hospital, Salzter Health Care Facility’s, Salvation Army and more. Donating our fun healthy on the go snack gives these amazing front line workers the fuel they need to keep going and the kids faces when they receive their favorite snack has been amazing. Overall as a company GoGo SqueeZ donated 2 million pouches all over the world during this pandemic. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
33 | Kuna Idaho | I myself haven’t been diagnosed with COVID-19 at the time I am writing this. I remember hearing about the Coronavirus from CNN-10 in December. No one was really concerned because it wasn’t in the U.S. But little did we know it soon would be. When it started to spread to the U.S., I wasn’t really worried either because it wasn’t in Idaho. Then it did spread to Idaho. I still wasn’t scared because I had faith that we would keep it contained. Soon it started spreading. My school was going to be open for 2 days the week before Spring Break. It ended up being open for only Monday. During Spring Break we were informed that Idaho was in a Stay Home Order. I had to stop working as a stable hand at my barn. All my Girl Scout meetings are online. We use Zoom meetings for school. The teachers post menu boards every week with optional activities. I can’t wait for this to be over, and I hope our district opens our school up again soon. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
34 | Nampa, ID | I have not been able to go to school for about a month now. I have had to be home the whole time. My mom thought I spent a lot of time playing video games before this. Little did she know it was going to be a full time activity. She tries to have me do school work but its hard for me to get motivated. One thing I can say is my family is lucky to have not gotten sick by the virus, so I am thankful for that. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
35 | Kuna, ID | I have been stuck at home for way too long! I thought staying home wouldn't be hard and that it would be relaxing. But no not the case at all. We have to stay at home, no friends houses, no going to the mall, no nothing. You can really only go out for essentials. So many people are not working, but the essential workers are the ones working really hard. Like the people who work in medical fields, grocery stores, restaurants, food workers, and so much more. Students cant go to school and your probably thinking its nice not going to school but it sucks being away from it. This was my 8th grade year and my last year of middle school and I was looking forward to a lot to this year but it got taken away early which is sad. My track season also was ended early which was also really sad for me. But we are hoping that things can go back to somewhat normal sometime in may or June! It sucks being away from friends and family. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
36 | i love it to | some time it is boring | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
37 | Idaho falls | The pamdemic has impacted me by i cant go to the store or my family and i dont get to do stuff because we should stay home. Also it has impacted me by we dont get to go to school we just do online and we dont get to do are fun activtys like horse back riding and other stuff. I dont get to see my grandma and grandpa in person because we should stay home. It has changed my life by We just need to stat home and that is hard for me . I feel like that we are only aloud to go out just to the store so we dont get the virus. I just want to go hang out with my grandma and grandpa and my cousins. But how I get to communcate with them is facetime and text . My questions are when is the pamdemic going to end. Also when is the virus going to end .I am still greatful for technology because if we did not have the technology we have now it would be alot hard for me and probably other people | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
38 | kuna,idaho | Im stuck in my house and i am starting to hate it | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
39 | Between Challis and Salmon | I live in a very small community. Our church still gathering yet I have not gone since the President said no gathering in groups more than 10. I am not telling you why. I am sick regardless and for the several days barely able to get out of bed. Some say I am faking, others say there is no way as there are no cases in the area. I have been tested I am not telling you why or what I think. I live between counties with akin to zero cases. My neighbors are still like the entire county was the first week of March. A surreal bubble of confusion and disbelief. No one seems to realize that someone will be first. The opinions of others and constant pressure to agree with everyone else’s opinion is difficult. I can’t even figure out what I think because whatever I decide will have social consequences during a time of social disturbance for lack of a better word. I never want my name attached to this, nor my gender. I am not strong enough to stand up to the backlash of a small community. Everyone who lives in this area would interpret my writings to be that I don’t agree with them and said so publicly. I wrote simply to express an insecure culture with many over compensating feigning to be confident. I don’t think anyone dares admit that they are insure. Essentially that would make them a trophy mule deer on opening day. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
40 | West Magic and Swan Valley area | I live in West Magic and was working as a 2020 Census Field Supervisor in Blaine County. Our door-to-door operation had already changed so that we were no longer allowed to make contact, but instead were just hanging packets on doors so people could be counted in the Census. One day we were told they wanted us to start working overtime, and literally the next day the office in Boise told us we were to finish up what we could and Census operations would be suspended for a couple of weeks. That turned into a month, and then more. The first cases had been announced in Blaine County, but at that point there were just a few. Later we would lead the nation in cases per capita. That was a couple of weeks out though. Since my job was on hold, I decided to check in on my mom, high risk for multiple reasons, and see if she needed help. I packed for a few days and drove from West Magic to Swan Valley. Then all hell broke loose. The cases in Blaine County skyrocketed, stay-at-home orders were issued and everything came to a standstill nationwide. I had planned on staying with my mom for a few days, but I was concerned that if I went home I wouldn't be able to leave again, and I live 10 miles off the highway and 30 miles from town, going through 3 counties to get anywhere, so logistics of simply shopping would be complicated. That was more than a month ago. I celebrated my birthday with my mom and her 2 dogs, and for Easter we did a drive-around Easter egg hunt organized by members of the community because the huge egg hunt in the city park had to be cancelled. It was certainly a time to remember, and still it goes on. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
41 | She is afraid to say. They have been warned not to talk outside of the hospital | These are 2 days of posts from a nurse PLEASE PLEASE read to the end. I have a Family friend that was a military nurse I believe she is now a burn unit nurse she left her five-year-old son with family to go help at a hospital in the south. I thought people should see this perspective. It just broke my heart Thank you for reading I know so many of you have been wanting an update, and I wish I could respond individually and give you my time, but I don’t think that’s going to be possible while on this assignment. I don’t know where to begin. My name wasn't on the schedule this morning so they paired me with a "runner". Each section of 6 rooms has one because not even the patients on nasal cannula can be left without someone watching over them. About 3 hours in, I went to help an RN who was on her first day by herself, after having her "buddy shift" the day prior. Which means, I will be on my own tomorrow - with 2 patients, a brand new charting system I've never used, a facility I've never worked in, after having 2 hours of classroom based orientation on Monday. At least half the nurses on the floor are agency/contractors and in my whole section, it was all agency nurses with the most senior having gotten there LAST Thursday - not even a week! We are literally doing the best we can with what we know/don't know. I decided to stay with Day 1 nurse after realizing her patient assignment was extremely heavy. I took over 1 patient while she cared for the other and we just kinda worked it out. Covid goes against EVERYTHING you learn as a nurse. You are to make as little patient contact as possible and spend the bare minimum time needed in the room to get the job done. But once you've gowned, masked, gloved, and applied your face shield, you better cluster as much care as possible, because you're not going in for at least another 4 hours. While in the room, I realized I didn't have any supplies - not even a lancet to check a blood sugar. No wipes, no gloves, to linens or towels. Nothing. I decided to massage lotion onto my patients legs and feet while waiting for someone to bring me supplies - the patient was almost in tears. Apparently, I was the first person in almost 2 weeks, to provide some amount of "normalcy" and human touch/comfort. She quickly became someone I wished I could take home with me. As the day grew on, she became more and more fatigued, maxed out on O2 and grasping at the bedrails motioning for us to come in - but we can't go in... we're out of gowns - for the 3rd time today. The runner secures us 2 gowns and I realize, this is the last time I will be able to go in this room for the day. I tried to show her how to breathe, but she couldn't see my mouth and I use my hands to pull her cannula into her nose and she is struggling to breathe. Respiratory cannot rush in - they can't. They must put on the proper PPE. I'm doing the best I can with no supplies, no meds, and no one in there to help me. It was the most helpless feeling in the world. One of the charge nurses was doing the best he could, but he was coding a patient while mine was now in a-fib RVR with no meds on profile to give. Rapid response - doc can't come, they call. Orders given, orders received. Patient is still breathing. She is still breathing. I wrote on her whiteboard she was doing AMAZING and keep fighting! I showed her a picture of my Liam from outside the glass door. I blew her a kiss and told her I'd see her tomorrow. She blew me one back and I pray to God she's still there tomorrow. 😢 There are not enough words or adequate enough words to describe what is going on. I pray I can make it through tomorrow and there will be someone able to help me. I have never seen people go from doing seemingly well, to having almost complete respiratory failure within minutes. Something as simple as turning a patient to the side just to put a wedge under them and within seconds, they can't breathe. It's all the same...all of them. The cough, the gasping, the look of sheer terror and panic. I got to my hotel room and stood outside the door because I knew it was on me and I had nothing to protect myself once I walked through my door. No bleach, no disinfectant, nothing. I stood there trying to figure out how to take my shoes off, how I was going to wipe my bag down and not cross-contaminate. But during all that, I remembered, my N95 failed after my initial seal. I only knew because my glasses were fogging up while breathing... in the room with my covid positive patient. I've been exposed... we all have. The nurses up there who have been doing this since the onset have a philosophy, "you either get it or you don't... but everyone's been exposed." I don't know what tomorrow will bring - I doubt I'd even want to know, if I could 2 nd day Day 2 from my nurse friend: We ran out of body bags today... it didn't really hit me until I was looking for the second one of the day after having a hard enough time finding the first one. How many in healthcare can say they've ever ran out of body bags before Covid 19??? They called the family of a patient overhead this afternoon. I didn't think anything of it, until I remembered, there is a zero visitor policy at this hospital. Then it clicked... the only time family is allowed is when their loved one has died. If they are sick, they aren't allowed to enter the hospital and say their final goodbyes. Overhead pages for family have an entirely different meaning now. My sweet lady from yesterday is still alive. I went straight to her room this morning to check on her and she was extremely agitated and fighting the BiPap she had to be put back on. By this afternoon, I tried to visit again and she was resting peacefully on nasal cannula. She opened her eyes and I stood there waiting for her to see me. We locked eyes, I pulled my mask down, and gave her the best smile I could from behind the glass. She grinned from ear to ear. I blew her a kiss and went back to my section. I held the hand of another woman as she drew her last breath and watched as her heart slowly lost its' beat until she was no longer in this world. I prayed over her body asking Our Father to welcome her home with outstretched arms as her family was also sick and unable to say their goodbyes. Time of death: 1216. I washed her body and did the best I could to make her presentable. I pray she is rejoicing and no longer suffering. Less than 5 hours later, another code, another patient gone, with a code and rapid intubation on a new admission in between. Her nurse was desperately trying to find a body bag - some PPE stations have them in the bottom drawer as well as the supply room, but there were none. She looked absolutely defeated and with a heavy heart said both her patients died back-to-back days. She was not okay. I gave her the best air hug I could give and told her I'd help find a bag. ...we ran out of body bags today. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
42 | Boise, Idaho | On the first week of school being shut down, I was honestly relieved. This meant I didn't have to suffer through long treacherous mornings and early nights. As time passed and the “corona” break extended progressively and eventually to the end of the year. I was not only able to see less and less of my friends, but to leave the house only when it was necessary. I had to start denying requests of friends to come over and they had to deny mine. When I got the notification that school closure was prolonged till next year and online school would ensue. The first thing I thought was “Wow how am I going to get my stuff out of my locker” than my mind continued, “I can't see my friends till next year,” and “I will be bored to death”. The worst part of all of this is that my birthday is in between all of this chaos. I keep repeating that “this will be the best birthday ever”(sarcastically obviously). that the only real gift I want would be to say a simple hello to the friends I can’t talk to during this event. When I think it can't get any worse, Idaho (of all places) gets an earthquake. Of all the powers Corona-virus could have had, EARTHQUAKES!? After this surreal event (in the new house we bought a week ago) there is a leak from the upstairs master bedroom into the downstairs bathroom, I mean no, not a simple leak, when you were in the bathroom under the broken pipe it was as if you were in a minor rainstorm. So for the next 3 or 4 weeks, we have to live with only 2 bathrooms. Not to mention that I have a screen limit of only 2 -3 hours each day (which is reasonable, but very annoying). I never thought I would have to wear a face mask every time I even go near the outside world. Whatever happened to fresh air? I know there are only downsides (so far) but it has been nice to seep in an extra hour and a half. At Least I can text my friends and family that I can't see. I am so thankful that I can at least leave the house, and even though I am not in the best position on the spectrum I know there are people that are in a substantially worse spot than I am. I am glad I am not in New York right now (not like I would be there anyways). Don’t forget, we are all in this together. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
43 | Bannock County (Pocatello) | I have been hesitant in writing about my experience this far because I have a lot of mixed feelings about the past semester and what is currently going on in the world. I am sure that you would prefer to read something happy, bubbly, and positive but realistically that's not where I'm at right now. I am a single parent attending ISU. The past 2 years have been enjoyable. I have met so many amazing people, I had great instructors, and I have learned numerous new skills that I hope to take with me after I graduate. This Spring semester is my last semester before a graduate for my associate degree. It is also the semester that I signed up for the greatest number of classes I have taken in the past 2 years. The classes were easy to manage when I had a steady schedule at the 1st half of the semester. But since the Covid shut down it has been extremely difficult to cope and focus on my studies. Even though I had signed up for more classes it was actually nice because I had more flexibility in my school schedule so I was able to spend more time with my son in the mornings and most afternoons which meant less time for him sitting at daycare. We were able to sleep in, make nice breakfasts, take our time getting ready and play for a bit before I had to go to most of my classes throughout the week. However, since the shutdown I feel like I have spent less time with him because of how much more effort and time I need to put into my schoolwork in order to finish assignments. I am a hands-on learner which is why I originally decided to go through the college of Tech. This online learning has been extremely difficult for me to stay motivated and positive. I honestly feel like I have been robbed. I know that may sound selfish because people are dying from this virus. I fully understand why everything has been shut down and canceled. I also know that I am not alone when it comes to feeling down about the current situation.I mean, just yesterday (04/17/2020) I believe they said about 3,600 people died from this virus. That's more then we lost on 9/11 to the terrorist attacks. The numbers of deaths are still rising everyday and this isn't close to being over. People are bringing guns to state capitals to protest the lock-down. Times are crazy. You have to try your hardest to stay positive and honestly, it just sucks. Its sucks that I have not received a paycheck in almost 2 months because my work is shut down. Its sucks that I do not get to walk for graduation after all of my hard work. Its sucks that I must work twice as hard and twice as long to get my assignments done on time. That being said, I am thankful. I am thankful that my family and friends still have their health. I am thankful for the local support in the community who have made it easy for children to get free lunch 6 days of the week. I am thankful that many business have adjusted to do curbside pickup or delivery to make the social distancing an easier adjustment. Most importantly I'm thankful for the 'essential' men and women risking their health to keep things running as smoothly as possible during these rough times. It's amazing to see so many people helping others by donating their time and supplies to those in need. It truly proves that there is still good in the world. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Best wishes, stay healthy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
44 | Meridian Idaho | When I first heard about the virus, it was when the concerns started popping up. I frequently read from the New York Times, and when the reports started coming from Wuhan of the virus, I was stressed. Although people around me assured me that if it came to America we would be prepared, and we would be fine. As time moved on, like most people, I started to think of COVID-19 as a joke. When I found out that a case had been diagnosed in Idaho, I was in the car with my dad listening to NPR. At that point though, I had mentally prepared myself to go into lockdown. In my family, my parents both have jobs that seem to be important, pandemic or not. However, this proved to be not true when my mum, a nurse, was given an ultimatum: Go work on the floor with patients or be laid off. As of right now, my mum will be officially laid off this Friday. For me, though, nothing much has changed, other than the obvious: school closures. I always expected the closures to come with the virus, for our safety and to flatten the curve. Right now, we are in the second week of remote learning. I genuinely enjoy online learning. I get to take all the time to do the assignments that I could ever want (with-in due dates). Other than that, I do miss hanging out with my friends. It makes me regret all the times I said I couldn’t hang out when I actually could. I miss going to the grocery store, and people watching. I do try to keep positive, though. I know that staying home now, flattens the curve and in turn, will make so fewer people die due to the virus. It does suck though, I will admit that. Despite the negatives, I do enjoy being home. I’m severely introverted and like to be alone. I’ve been taking advantage of this extra time and focusing more on things I’m passionate about. Almost every day I watch videos that will help me learn about things I love. Without this time, I don’t think I would be able to spend so much time devoted to these things. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
45 | Meridian, Idaho | My family and I were affected by the coronavirus in many different ways. Both of my parents work in healthcare. My mom works as a medical laboratory scientist for Saint Luke’s. She is considered an “essential worker” as she takes part in actually running the tests for the virus. My dad works incorporate for Saint Al’s. Recently he was told that he was “furloughed” from his job until June sixth. This situation has scared me a little bit. Many people in the world have lost their jobs and haven’t been able to pay for certain things. I’m very thankful my dad can get unemployment for the time he’s off and mom still has her job to support our family. Although I do worry about my mom’s health as she does work in a hospital surrounded by sick patients, she tells me she takes all the necessary precautions. As most are going into lockdown, the feeling of regret for not spending more time with family and friends when I could hit hard. I never thought the coronavirus would spread as fast as it has. If I knew it would get as bad as it is right now, I would have spent more time with friends and extended family, especially my grandparents. It’s very frightening to think that they have a higher chance of dying compared to younger people. So I understand they need to isolate themselves. Not spending time with friends has been quite disappointing. Nowadays the closest we can get to see each other is through facetime. A lot of people treated the coronavirus as a joke and would post memes. Now that the virus is all around the world, people seem to be treating it more seriously. I wish all of this could end and we can get back to talking face to face with one another. In times like this, things seem unreal. I never imagined going through something where thousands of people are acting like the worlds about to end. Although there are many negative things, I try to find the bright side of it all. Online school is very new to me. So far I’ve been enjoying it a lot. Most of my teachers assign upcoming work which makes it so we can work ahead or at least know what we’re doing next. Being quarantined has been making me find other productive activities to do during the day, besides school work. During this time I have enjoyed the outside the most I can without being close to others. With all of this extra time on my hands, I have been focusing on myself more. Working out and watching what I eat are two examples. It is very important to make sure your family and friends are okay as well. I have also made time for them and have been texting them checking up on how they’re doing. I’ve noticed that there have been many more kids and adults outside walking their dogs, going on jogs, and bike rides. The earth and the air around us have become more healthy now that not as many factories and cars are creating pollution. Regardless of the negatives coming from the coronavirus, it has provided me more opportunities to focus on what matters in life. All of this has made me think a lot. We have so much more to appreciate in life that many might not take the time to notice. There are a bunch of people doing as much as they can to support everyone around us. As of right now we sure need positive changes in the world. We all need to remember that all of us are going through the same thing and together, with everyone’s help, we can make those changes in the world and we can get through this. Who knows? Maybe this awful virus will teach us some life lessons. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
46 | Kuna ID. | As a 13 year old girl being with people socially is vital to life. For the last 4 weeks Idaho has been put on a stay at home order until the 30th, but will that really end there. No one knows when the virus will slow or die down and it's frightful. I have multiple friends that are targets because of asma and one that is diabetic. I miss seeing my family and friends outside of a computer screen, at this point in time it almost feels like being grounded for weeks on end. I think we are all over it. It's hard not being able to talk to people in person. Here in Kuna, just going on a bike ride it's ridiculous, seeing how many people are not social distancing. I know this is a huge historical event, but deep down inside I know I won't be able to be a true 8th grader; I won't be able to go to 8th grade get away or present my portfolio. Although teachers are giving the students work, right now it's only optional in Kuna. COVID19 is causing so much delay in so many things for example gas prices are lower than in 1998 when gas prices were at $1.61 and 8th graders becoming freshman don't know what high school is like until we get there, if we do get there. At this point no one knows. For the last 4 weeks Iv'e heard sadness, hope and fear. I don't want to be in fear but deep down there is fear of the virus. So many deaths and so many doctors theories proven wrong, it's devastating. People can be asymptomatic and some can recover from it and get it again. COVID19 is targeting every age, no matter what anyone says, every age is at risk. I hope this ends soon and I hope we can recover form this. I don't want to live in a world were I have no control any more. Right now I can only hope for the best. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
47 | country | I let my sister drive my dirtbike and she almost ran my head into the electric fence. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
48 | Boise Idaho | I thought it was a nightmare, just another dream Went into the kitchen to get me some caffeine A cup or 2 of coffee, maybe 3 or 4 And before I knew it I stopped staring at the floor Then it really hit me and I knew it was no dream And suddenly I remembered I was in Quarantine It started many weeks ago how long I don't remember But I do recall that things were good as far back as December January moved along as normal except on the 26th I was surfing on the internet what I read just made me sick Kobe Bryant and his daughter died while flying to a game I felt a dark cloud creeping up and soon it was to rain And February I don't recall much now that I think back But I was really kind of happy to walk past the Valentines card rack I'm starting now to zero in just when this came to be Old folks dying outside Seattle I was glad it wasn't me To hear it was a virus with a name sounding like a beer It didn't really phase me it did not bring me fear Then March came in like a lion with a terrifying roar And there was not a roll of toilet paper to buy in any store And out came all the stories depends upon your news And the airwaves were full of bullshit so many different views I think the caffeine's wearing off I think I might need food And maybe I can finish this if I am in the mood Well I guess I'll get back to my story it's really such a task It's got to be much easier than to make a fucking mask It not that hard to stay inside it's for your own sake Until Mother Nature decides to shake you up with a big Earthquake Two weeks into April that's two weeks past the fool And neighbor kids are happy because they are not in school That's all I'm going to write now I don't know how it ends So just sit back and watch it unfold all my Facebook Friends. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
49 | Eagle Idaho | If I had one word to describe how I feel right now about the COVID 19 Pandemic, I would use the word betrayed. Not by Idaho’s leaders because I feel that Gov. Little has done an exceptional job responding to this pandemic. Even though this is specific historical account to Idaho I feel it’s worth it to mention that I also feel that Nationally the US has done a really good job. Given the data that they were presented with from the experts I really believe that almost all the leaders in this country did a very good job responding to this pandemic. People have died and will continue to do so, but likely their actions saved lives. I’m writing at a time during the pandemic so I don’t yet know the end of this, but I feel the end of it is coming soon. I feel betrayed by the media more than I ever had in my life. I feel that they have been driven out of greed for more clicks, more air time, more people turning in. They have forsaken the truth for fantasy. They have given into political pandering. Worst of all they are spending more time trying to defend the deplorable actions of crooked politicians and China than they are reporting on the good things of this pandemic. Some apparent facts that have come out to date: China has reported false numbers as to the amount of people infected and killed. Nancy Pelosi and other leftist democrat actually stalled a bipartisan relief bill to add in items for green infrastructure and liberal leaning policies. They held the relief bill hostage for the sake of their agenda. Don’t every believe any history that says that they were trying to help, because it’s become clear that they care far more about their own power. The media likewise time and time again throughout the past month of this pandemic has downplayed legitimate medical advances, economic relief, and aid from the federal government. The media is no longer on the side of the vast majority of Americans. I encourage you to look back at the archives between mainstream American media and those of Australia. The differences are startling. For my family and me, our lives have been pretty normal really. We are welcoming our second child into the world in the next few days. We are confident in the medical staff and give our safety and health over to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ during this unprecedented time. We never asked to have a baby during a pandemic, but it is where we are and now is the time that we will bring our daughter into the world. With the exception of Blaine County and Ada County (where we live now) Idaho for the most part has not been hit too hard. Groceries while in short supply around the weeks of 3/11/2020 seem to be mostly fully stocked by the time I am writing this on 4/20/2020. I hope that we will do better next time stemming the panic. The responsibility for the panic, the lack of food supplies, the extreme shutdown of the economy and responses of our elected leaders falls directly on the Media. There have been a lot of good things that have happened during this pandemic that doesn’t make the mainstream news. There are beautiful stories of heroism from medical workers, folks that have recovered, innovative treatments that worked, international corporation, the beginnings of what I think are the falling apart of communist China, and everyday good deeds by Idahoans everywhere. From bands playing for quarantined citizens, to neighbors caring for neighbors. There are two things I thing we should learn from this pandemic. The first is that we need to do a better job attaining solid data earlier. The poor data and reporting of cases early on has had a very detrimental impact to the decision making thus far. The second is that the mainstream media, are made up of people who have an agenda. If they aren’t blatantly lying they are pretty close to it. We as Idahoans can no longer afford to trust them at all. This is my account, I doubt its identical from person to person but it is the way that I see it. I think this is a marvelous idea that the Idaho historical society came up with. I hope that everyone can have a voice to write down what their experience has been. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
50 | All across Idaho, the nation, and many other countries. | We Are Not AfraidThe Teddy Bear Project of COVID-19; Photography Representing the Children A bit of explanation: My name is Bren Slade and I am a photographer from Rexburg, Idaho, currently doing an MA in photography and while my project has been disrupted I have decided to turn my lens to what is happening around us- but in a unique way. My previous research was with kids and play- so I wanted a way to represent the children of COVID-19. Through social media I began to notice all the 'Bear Hunts' happening in local communities, as well as nationwide. When I saw my friend in New Zealand participating in her community I knew it was getting interesting. Basically people are putting bears (or other toys) in a window with the hopes that a child walking or driving by might see it. Based on the popular children's book and song where they are 'Going on a bear hunt' and they 'are not afraid.' MANY communities in Idaho are participating. I have dozens of images from Idaho, across the states, and almost a dozen different countries. I feel the images are the perfect representation symbolic of both isolation AND human connection during this time. Little people (and big) connecting with other people in a very human way. What I am looking for: an outlet for someone to remember! Somewhere for this awesome project to go. I saw that you are collecting historical images from COVID-19 and I would be honored to donate any images that you feel would be useful in your collection. I know you are mostly collecting for Idaho, but I would love for this united worldwide effort to be remembered. You can see a blog write-up here: https://onceuponapix.mypixieset.com/blog/the-teddy-bear-project-of-covid-19/ The collection is still growing but you can see the a gallery of images here: https://www.brenslade.com/jointhewoldwidehunt 'Bear Hunts' have been featured on many major news stations worldwide. I think these images are a unique representation of people reaching out during COVID-19 but could easily be overlooked or forgotten. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you so much for your time! Sincerely, Bren Slade bslade30@gmail.com www.OnceUponAPix.com www.TbearProject.com Rexburg Idaho 208-201-0038 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
51 | Kuna, Idaho | It was my friends birthday and I decided to come visit her. I had walked over to her house and brought her a gift. We had walked up stairs and just talked. After about an hour we decided to go downstairs and play board games. We asked her brother, his gf, and her mom to join. We were having a good time and played a few games. Then we started a new game and after a few minutes the board started to shake. My leg started to move and I thought it was only me who felt it. I wasnt to worried but then I could see the table was moving. Then suddenly it stopped, it had been a small earthquake. We were all in shock because earthquakes never happen in Idaho. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
52 | Ammon, Idaho | It was heart breaking and put my into a sad place for almost a month. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
53 | Boise, Ada, Idaho | Since March 14, I have been sheltering in place since I had been in San Mateo when everything was closing down. 41 days now. As a widow, I am used to being alone, but all the activities/programs, etc. closed In Boise meant that the grocery store and outdoor walks have been about it. However, I have daughters who live (d) away. Phone calls lecturing me to stay home, to stay away from people, occured daily. I pointed out that I am not a Boomer, but the tone of my voice (outrage maybe) has led to hilarious comments from these women. They didn't care that I am "a war baby." My parents worried about the polio epidemic as children we knew contracted the disease. As a teenager, we worried about what might happen during the Cold War. I Was and Am sheltering in place! Then an extraordinary thing happened. One daughter living and working in Massachusetts, her husband and two preschoolers decided to move to Boise. Her software project had started working remotely anyway and was almost finished. They had bought a rental in Boise and decided to move here. I actually gloved and masked up to sit at the approriate distance from eneryone and the preschoolers shared hugs by hugging themselves at six feet. Her next project is in Oregon, but will not start for a few months. Then the next week, the daughter and family who live on a cruiser in Mexico with their two teenagers called to say they were driving from near Puerto Vallarta to Idaho with the kids and the cat. They moved their boat to a safer harbor for the upcoming hurricane season, packed the car and drove. Her father owns the Grove Hotel where he put them up. Generally, they are the only five people in the whole place. Her husband flies for Alaska Airlines and was worried that if flights to Mexico were cancelled, he would either be in the states or Mexico and unable to work. My daughter works remotely for an educational consulting company, so she just contintues doing that. I read and write. We have family Zoom meetings once a week; my book club has a Zoom Room. We are also keeping a family writing journal of our experiences over time. Mostly the teenagers whine. Their mothers told them that they should think about their audiences for the future. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
54 | kuna, idaho | Covid 19 hasn't really affected me personally. I like not having to get up early and go to school, and I like staying home. I don't do sports, or leave my house very much. To me this is basically an early summer vacation except that I have to do school work. It has stressed my mom out a little because she has kids at the house all day doing homework with them. And her and my dad fought about toilet paper a few times, which I thought was pretty stupid. The biggest impact on me is that my sister is home more. She hasn't been able to work or go places, and since we pretty much fight all the time it will be nice when she can be gone from the house more. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
55 | Meridian/Kuna, Idaho | The COVID-19 virus has been impacting me ever since my weekly Volleyball tournaments were canceled on March 13, 2020, which was two weekends before Spring Break. My school (Kuna Middle School) was officially canceled the following Tuesday, March 17, 2020. Since then I have had to interact with people through Zoom or Google Hangout video calls and letters. I have even had to practice piano with my teacher on a Zoom call! Sometimes I will see neighbors or friends face to face but I haven't been able to give them a hug or come too close to them (It reminds me of the movie, 5 Feet Apart). Some of my extended family members have come in contact with the virus and had to be self-quarantined. They have recovered and are seeming to do much better. It feels very odd having most of my normal routine being canceled. I missed out on the rest of my Club Volleyball, Track, and end of school seasons. I have had to do church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), at home with my family | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
56 | none | ksnx | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
57 | kuna idaho 83634 | it was scary and we had an earthquake and there was no toilet paper | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
58 | kuna Idaho USA Ada county | Back in my day during the COVID 19 pandemic was absolutely crazy having my mom being pregnant and having her go to the hospital was so scary when we found out that she had to get an c section but everything worked out thank goodness and besides that for me having school cancelled was just one of the saddest things i could here because i loved school this year last year was not so good for me and i keep on wishing that this could of happened last year instead last year was not the best for me and my birthday was right around the time when my brother was born and i did not know how that was going to turn out but i had to postpone my birthday party till almost after may which was going to suck also this year i was super excited because i just got the schedule that i have been wanting forever and for the first time i got it and now i cant even go to it which really sucks i was really excited to go on the eighth grade getaway with my friends but maybe someday i will be able to whether they do a make up for it or something but your only in eighth grade once so that's scary and i really hate the coronavirus i feel like people need to just stop going to stores and stay home for 3 weeks as much as they can and what sucks is that i haven't seen my family and friends for a long time and i really miss them i miss restaurants and the outside world going to places with other people and i miss what could of happened during 8th grade | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
59 | In the United States specifically Kuna, Idaho. | This virus has been crazy for so many people but for me it really sucks because it took away me being able to do things I love which was playing sports and hanging out with friends. I really hope that this virus can get under control somehow soon so everyone else and I can get back to our normal lives where lie wasn't so boring for a teen like me. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
60 | Idaho | I have been at home for just about 2 months. We just moved here and hope to travel and do stuff. But now we can’t because of the lockdown. And now I am just wondering how my summer will go. Because I am going to spend my summer with my mom and it will be hard to do fun things with her if we all have to stay at home. So I really hope the stay at home order ends soon so we can go do things with together. And as long as we take the proper precautions we should be able to go places. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
61 | Kuna idaho At my house | My personal experience during the Covid pandemic, is probrably similar to a lot of other people. However if you are not facing the problem of toilet paper short-age, then our stories are different. Anyway, throughout this whole thing I am very VERY bored and could use the company of my friends. I am also scared to go around my grandparents at this time because who knows if I am a holder of the virus. This whole situation sucks I dont have any siblilngs to argue with, I only have my parents and if I argue woth the, I end up in trouble. Overall I am bored of my house and would love to go back to school!! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
62 | Idk | Idk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
63 | Kuna | My family has been pretty good throughout this quarantine so far, but other families we know haven't been doing as good as we are. My Grandpa got diagnosed with cancer and it's too far along to be taken out. We still have a few years with him, but it's sad that we won't be able to see him as much as we would have without this stupid quarantine. To add to that my mom's cousin was also diagnosed with cancer, we are hoping that the doctors will be able to take it out of her. some family friend's have been going through a rough time because their 18 year old daughter died and because of the corona virus they cannot have a funeral for her. Overall this has been a tough time for my whole family and everyone else. I'm just hoping that it will end soon. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
64 | idaho | It hasent really effected me no one on my house is that worried because we all know that this will pass, there really isnt a reason to get scared. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
65 | Kuna | It was surreal to have everything cancelled and to have so much time at home. School just ended. Church was suspended. (Although we still worshipped at home.) Our family got along quite well. I was pretty happy to have no school so I could relax and hang out, and so far, it's been great! I've started new good habits and have been working on my goals. Not much has changed for me and my family. This is a blessing to me. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
66 | Kuna Id | I was eagerly waiting for school to be cancelled on my couch as we were waiting for the Kuna news to announce if there was any news about how long school was going to be closed. then there it was the answer! we would have two days of school to gather up our thing and book it out of there. the original plan was to have our regular spring break plus the weeks before and after. they thought it would be safe to open school after those weeks bout no they were wrong. The number of people affected from COVID-19 was rapidly rising and here i am almost two months into quarantine and i have to do schoolwork again. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
67 | Kuna, Idaho | This hole epidemic has made my life suck.I play sports,and because of all of this I didn't get to finish my club volleyball season. And I have missed my whole spring softball season. And a lot of band concerts. When I go out to like a store its weird. like everyone is staying away from each other, everyone is wearing masks and sometimes gloves. No one in my family has thankfully not got it. But we are not taking any risks. But im really bored, I really have nothing to do. And i miss all of my friends and family. Thats my story. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
68 | boise | nothin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
69 | Kuna, Idaho | Its been awesome, ive been in my room playing video games, sleeping in, staying up late. there are a ton of snacks to eat and social distancing isnt too bad right now, as long as the virus doesnt get me i am fine. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
70 | Kuna Idaho | Due to the pandemic known as COVID-19 we have been asked to stay at except for necessities such as food, water, some jobs, etc. This has forced our community to find different ways of operating such as online school and electronic meetings. Most importantly this has made us more aware that in the event of a government shutdown or failure most household are utterly unprepared. this is evident by what people have deemed necessary for life, some of these absurd objects are toilet paper, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and overall things that would not matter or that someone could live without. People are scrambling to buy everything for them selves but not thinking of others and in turn making it so that other people struggle to continue their ordinary life while others stockpile food and water in unnecessary amounts. It is becoming more apparent to me that the human race are extremely greedy, in some cases this can help advance technology because people strive to be better than everyone around them and are then pushed to do better and better, this is most definitely not the case with a pandemic people are thinking that "survival of the fittest" will decide who lives and who dies instead of understanding that stores are still open and if everyone were to buy their normal amount of 1-2 weeks worth of groceries than there would still be enough to go around, they seem to think that the world is ending because of a virus what they do not realize is that there have previously been cases of diseases that travel across the globe and that society didn't collapse as it is doing now but that people continued their normal lives while exerting a bit more caution. If society stopped to think about what they are doing before acting it is obvious that we have a much better chance of the world returning to how was before than if we panic. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
71 | town | my story took place in a town it was about my day and was is happing in the world my day went preety well and a lot has changed ,sense they told us to stay inside | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
72 | It took place in China. | how i am spending my days at home and whats happening in the world. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
73 | Meridian Idaho | This corona virus(Covid-19) has changed everyone's lives making us all quarantine and social distance from other people. When I first heard about Covid-19, it was before it got to Idaho and even the United States, so I thought it wouldn't come over here and we would be safe, but I couldn't have been more wrong. When everybody heard about the kids at school would joke around whenever someone coughed saying that they had "corona", and the kids still did this even when the virus got to Idaho. Covid-19 has affected my family and I by not letting us get to go over and see my neighbors that we used to see on a regular basis, and now we can only talk to them over the phone, and only if we have their phone number. Corona virus changed not only my life, but the whole planet, although not everyone thinks about that. The corona virus has made everyone's normal routines go berserk no matter if someone works on the front line or not. This has affected what I do because now I need to stay away from people and stay inside, which is not what we usually do in my house. In my family we love to be outside and talking to people and we love to go over and visit neighbors and play with them. It has affected how I do these things because I can no longer go over to my neighbors's houses and talk with them and play with their kids. We also love to go on walks in my family, which we still do, but it is hard because now a lot of people like to go for walks where we are, so we need to social distance. Corona virus has made us lose touch with people that we regularly talk to in person and now we have learned that we have taken that for granted. Covid-19 has changed everyone's job and education, it has threatened to take them away, although we have figured out how to take care of that. My education used to be in the campus of Compass Public Charter School, the brand new campus that they just built in time for this school year. Now I still attend to that school, except I take school online through Schoology, PowerSchool, and Zoom. We have at least one Zoom meeting per day, advisory, and then check in with our other classes when the teachers think we need it. The work load has drastically declined, although it is more difficult to focus, with the distractions of my home, but we are still expected to put our best effort into our work, as we will still be graded on it. Even though corona virus tried to take away my education, I was able to still keep it going, along with many others. Although Covid-19 is a bad disease and is making people stay inside, their has been positives to come out of it, too. For example, I feel so much closer to my mother and father than I did before this quarantine, because I have had more time to spend with them, even though they work on the front line and still leave the house to do that. And now I really like to be outside, even though before I didn't really like to be outside so much, but now it's nice to do yard work and garden. Another positive is that the school work has gone done so much that I have plenty of free-time to talk with my friends through FaceTime or just calling and texting them. Although my friends and I are apart in distance I feel that we are closer now and know more about each other than before this quarantine. So people might think that nothing good has come from the virus, but they just need to look a little bit closer to see that even with this disease, good things have happened. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
74 | Idaho | Life is just really boring. You sit around all day and just keep up with school work. Some people may think that it isn't too bad and it's not but we want to go back to school not to learn, but to see our friends cause school is easy, but pretty much life is just boring. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
75 | its talking about right now and the pandemic so the 21 century. | I hate this pandemic because not only are we not aloud to go anywhere but i'm also not aloud to see my friends. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
76 | idaho | it sucks and covid-19 needs to burn in hell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
77 | Meridian Idaho | My name is Chloe Kartchner and I am fourteen year old and I am in eighth grade at Compass Public Charter School! Right now my school, piano lessons, church and choir is cancelled because of COVID-19. My choir was going to have its spring performance celebrating ten years of the choir but that is now cancelled also. I was also just quarantined for my spring break and had really nothing to do. I have started online classes, it is a little easier but I like it more at the school! I will not be going to school for the rest of eighth grade and I miss my friends a lot. When I first heard about the coronavirus it was kind of just around the school not too much and my friends just told me it was basically the flu. When it did get to Idaho everything just stopped we are all just stuck in our homes doing zoom meeting all day. My siblings and I have had some fights but we are starting to see head to head. It has affected my life by not getting to leave my neighborhood very much and missing friends. Some positives I think that have come out of it is I didn’t know how to braid my hair and so I have been working on that as one of my goals and since I am in my room a lot for school I have been keeping it clean, personally I think my family and I has gained a lot closer. Since we are doing school online it has been a little hard at the beginning but know we know what we are supposed to do. So on March 31 2020 I was just sitting on the couch and then my couch started shaking and I thought it was my dad and so I told him to stop but he was in the kitchen and then everything was shaking and my younger brother started crying but my other sister was like celebrating because she thought it was so cool. It was the first earthquake I believe I have ever experienced! They said it was a magnitude of a 6.5 and it was around 5:50pm. COVID-19 has left a huge impact in the world for everyone. It has been such an amazing and unique experience for my family and I. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
78 | Meridian, Idaho McCall, Idaho | I don´t really watch the news that often so I did not really know of anything that was going on. The first time I even heard about Covid-19 was at school and a bunch of kids my age were talking about it and how it was spreading quickly in other countries. I did not think much of it because us kids have ways of making things more dramatic, so I just thought it was a small sickness just spreading around China. Then, my parents started talking about it. I realized that it was a lot bigger than I thought and that everyone around the world was in jeopardy of getting the Coronavirus. I still wasn't very scared, my thoughts were ¨I live in little old Idaho nothing happens in Idaho¨. Then, state by state things shut down and people quarantined. We, the state of Idaho, were one of the last states to have a confirmed case of Covid-19. During class we would always pull up CDC and look at what states were remaining as if it was a game. The game continued, and teachers started to talk about what we would do for online school. All schools in Idaho closed except for about 3, my school was one of those 3. I decided to skip school because if every other school shut down I was not going to go to school. Then next day my school shut down as well. At this point I realized that Covid-19 was going to mess with all of our lives. The major downfall to quarantine was having to cancel all sports. I am a very athletic person and I do sports for each season of the year. It was very frustrating to hear that the Track Season was going to be canceled. I had many goals for this season and I had to cancel all those goals. I was the 2nd record holder for the 100 meter dash. To break the record, I needed to shave off .2 seconds. I could've made a school record but because of coronavirus I couldn't. Another sport that was affected was my tryout for my next year high school cheer team. I am having to make a virtual try-out video. This was a curve ball because I do not have a coach there to help me perfect things so that the judges will have less things to correct. I am nervous for the video try-out because it will have to be perfect. One of the best things that has come from this whole Covid-19 experience, was that I grew a whole lot closer to God. This was very important for me because I always went to church every Sunday and I went to church activities on Wednesdays, but I felt very distant from God and my faith was not the strongest. But during this quarantine I have gone through some family issues and I had to rely heavily on God. I start feel closer to God and like he was really there for me. Then, just yesterday I baked cupcakes and wrote letters to leave when I ding-dong ditched my friends. In the letter I included 10 things I love about them and some scriptures to remind them that they are worth it and they are beautiful. While writing down scriptures I realized that God is good. And he is always there for everyone and he loves every single person that is to live or has lived. This quarantine has provided me with a lot of answers I have been searching for. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
79 | Many places, I'm just talking about what I've seen people do in the world and how amazing it is. But if it matters I wrote this in Boise, Idaho | To me, the coronavirus was just another sickness like the flu. I didn’t think it was a big deal, I thought it would be all over within a few weeks and people would stop being so weird about it. My family frequently looked at the covid-19 map that showed where it was and how many cases there were in a certain spot. Soon enough, I knew it wasn’t gonna be just a few weeks, it was growing really fast and there was no stopping it unless we had a magical vaccine no one knew about. A few days pass and now I’m getting ready for online school after spring break. Of course, it was more serious as soon as break started, leaving everyone at a stop sign. Nobody could go on trips, we still can’t. Everyone was buying random things, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, latex gloves, face masks, and a large amount also. It got to the point where it was hard for the hospitals to get face masks and gloves. No one really knew what to do, but soon, we got the hang of it. Everything has been going a bit smoother now, I see so many people being careful and I’m starting to get the hang of online school, along with many other kids. Online school isn’t the best, but at least i’m still learning. Although this pandemic has been confusing and crazy, it’s not all bad, I love seeing how creative people have been and all the good things everyone has been doing for people. All over the internet I’ve heard about people playing games with their neighbors from far away or people doing some type of face time or zoom so that they can see their friends or relatives and say hi and see how they're doing. Everyone is making sure that no one is feeling alone during this time. Also, creativity is really shining through. With not much to do, many people are finding chalk and making masterpieces out of it, or just simple things to cheer others up when they walk by. All over the world people are helping those in need. Many places are handing out free lunches to anyone who shows up. I think it’s so amazing what this pandemic has turned our world into. It may be chaotic, but if you look harder, you see that this has brought out the good in millions of people everywhere. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
80 | Boise, ID | My experience has been rough. My dad is a paramedic for Air Saint Luke's and is transferring Covid-19 patients. When he comes home, we can't give him a hug or talk to him really because he has to shower immediately. My interpretation of how people reacted was that people are crazy. When the governor gave out a stay home order, people were basically saying, and I quote "I'm not scared of this virus" My reaction to these people is it's not about being scared, it's about protecting the older so that they won't get it and slowing the virus's spread. This is a summary of what I've been experiencing with the Covid-19 Pandemic. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
81 | Meridian Idaho | My name is Cyrus Case. I am a 13-year-old middle school student at Compass Public Charter School, and this is my experience of the Coronavirus, COVID-19. Before COVID-19 came to Idaho, I wasn’t worried at all. I first heard about COVID-19 from my mom who was telling me a story about how the Chinese students didn’t get to go back to school after their winter holiday. Next, I heard about it from teachers and students at school. When I first heard about COVID-19, I thought it wasn’t very bad. It seemed a little funny and strange that people were buying everything at the stores, so most of the stores were empty. Toilet paper was probably the first thing that was sold out in the stores. After cases of COVID-19 were found in Idaho, things changed really fast. Almost immediately, school, church, and sports were canceled, along with any other public meetings and group gatherings. Now we are all living in quarantine. We have to stay at home and can’t go anywhere. Instead of going to school, we have to do school online. We have Zoom meetings with our teachers and we complete and submit all of our school assignments online. Doing online schooling works pretty well for me. I think online schooling would be more stressful for other kids who have gone to public schools their whole life, whereas I have always done homeschool and online school until last semester, so it’s not that different for me. We also can’t go to church anymore, so now we do our own family church meeting at home. That is fine for me except I miss seeing my church and school friends. A good thing that has happened to me because of COVID-19 is that my family has been spending a lot of time together. We play a lot of board games, Spikeball, foosball, and other games. We play Roblox together during screentime from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM, we exercise together and have lots of fun just doing normal things together, like reading books, eating, and talking. There are a few other good things happening, despite the changes the COVID-19 has caused. I’m glad that the school is continuing to give out lunches because I like school food. Also, I still get to talk to my friends online, which helps me to not miss them as much. My experience with COVID-19 probably hasn’t been as bad as most people’s experiences have been. I get to do pretty much everything I was able to do before quarantine started, except that I don’t get to see my friends.. I think that I am very lucky that my life hasn’t been any worse because of COVID-19, while many other people’s lives have changed for the worse. I am still able to talk to my friends, I am still able to play and have fun, and I am still able to do many other things that other people may not be able to do. I am still able to do school, and my family has plenty of devices for all of my brothers and me to use to do school. I am grateful that I still get to do almost everything I could do before, despite the challenges of COVID-19. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
82 | Meridian/Boise | I thought that Quarantine was fun and I needed the break from everything; school, people, etc. I try to stay sanitary and away from people not because I'm worried about the pandemic, but because I want to keep others safe especially ones who are more at risk. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
83 | Boise/Meridian | When I heard about the virus, I was like "Is this serious?" "Is it as bad as people say?". Once it hit I realized, "It's not that bad. Just keep others safe." My family and I were affected a lot because of our moms and the lack of supplies. Furthermore, my brother and step-sibling's moms are very paranoid and are always saying to stay away from people, wash hands, and much more. One time, I was with two friends, staying six feet apart, and washing my hands before and after. My parents decided this should not happen and I can't see them until this is over. Corona affects my step-family at my dad's a lot because they are very social. At my mom's one of my step-sisters is sad, missing her friends, while the other doesn't care, like me. I am not that social, I have two friends and we all aren't that social either. When COVID-19 hit, it was and is just a well-needed break for me. In my normal life, I have to go to school and wake up early. Now, I have to wake up by 8:00 and do online schooling on electronics. I really couldn't care less if there was a virus or not right now because most of the effects are positive for me. The only thing that makes me worried is babies and elderly folks who have Corona and might not make it to see the next month. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
84 | Boise/Meridian | When I heard about the virus, I was like "Is this serious?" "Is it as bad as people say?". Once it hit I realized, "It's not that bad. Just keep others safe." My family and I were affected a lot because of our moms and the lack of supplies. Furthermore, my brother and step-sibling's moms are very paranoid and are always saying to stay away from people, wash hands, and much more. One time, I was with two friends, staying six feet apart, and washing my hands before and after. My parents decided this should not happen and I can't see them until this is over. Corona affects my step-family at my dad's a lot because they are very social. At my mom's one of my step-sisters is sad, missing her friends, while the other doesn't care, like me. I am not that social, I have two friends and we all aren't that social either. When COVID-19 hit, it was and is just a well-needed break for me. In my normal life, I have to go to school and wake up early. Now, I have to wake up by 8:00 and do online schooling on electronics. I really couldn't care less if there was a virus or not right now because most of the effects are positive for me. The only thing that makes me worried is babies and elderly folks who have Corona and might not make it to see the next month. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
85 | Boise, Idaho | March 22, 2020: Toilet Paper?! Naively, and now I realize amazingly, I went to Costco three weeks ago to buy toilet paper and found several pallets stacked 10 to 12 feet high. I went to renew my membership, and because I was down to a single roll of toilet paper, and expecting a house guest, I planned to pick up a “Costco-sized” package. Approaching the store, I was mystified to see almost every cart being pushed toward the parking lot was filled with multiple 30-roll packages. Little did I know the country was becoming obsessed with hoarding toilet paper – hundreds, thousands, millions, trillions (?) of rolls. I decided toilet paper should be at the top of the list of items I would be buying. I picked up a 30-roll package, tossed a year’s supply of paper towels - a 12-roll package – into my cart and continued my shopping. As I made my way through the store was surprised that I couldn’t find canned, diced tomatoes which are a stock ingredient in many of the soups I make during the winter. Maybe, I thought, they were one of the items Costco doesn’t continuously stock. I traveled home unconcerned. That same evening a friend reported to me that when she went to Costco at 6:00 PM they were sold out of toilet paper. Pallets of 30-roll packages had been stacked 12 or 15 feet higher when I was there. And, she said when she went to other several stores, she couldn’t find a single roll. She took pictures of shelves and freezer cases that were bare with the exception of an odd package of baloney or frozen corn. I learned, during the following week, that toilet paper was nowhere to be found even though some stores were limiting the number of rolls that could be purchased. It was then I realized how lucky I had been to go to Costco the morning of March 22nd. Not wanting to seem greedy I gave my neighbor a roll of toilet paper or her birthday. I adorned it with candles and sang Happy Birthday when she opened the door. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
86 | Crouch, Idaho, Boise County | I have been in isolation In a cabin with three generations—my husband, our adult daughter, her husband and their sons ages 2 and 4. For the first month, we also had our youngest daughter and her husband here. They have since gone back to Boise. They arrived mid March. The rest of us arrived March 26 after a week of social distancing in Boise. Three of the four adults on our life raft ave been working from home as best they can with intermittent internet services here. We came here because it feels very safe with young boys who do not understand the need to social distance from their neighborhood friends. It was just too much harder to keep them isolated in their own house than it was to do that up here. We made a decision to drive back and forth to Boise for all groceries, gas, and medical care such as allergy shots, so we do not interact with the local year-round residents. We will decide when to return to Boise as we watch the re-opening statistics and listen to the recommendations of Mayor McLean and Governor Little, maybe the first part of June, if things go well. This has been a struggle and a great gift. The boys grow and change so much every day that we are grateful to be immersed. It is also such a big adjustment to learn to live all together under such confining circumstances. Outings are restricted to hiking trails. We have had to get creative about personal space and time in close quarters. It has stimulated many conversations about the benefits to everyone of three generations living together in the same house. We all believe we will simplify when we return to our own homes—fewer things and more discernment about activities, commitments, and hobbies. We are learning good skills for working through differences of opinion and of style of doing things. We cannot just leave when things get tense. We have to stay present and work through conflicts. It is difficult, and so deeply rewarding. We all miss our old lives, and we can each see that we will also miss parts of this life in poignant ways. We are forever changed, what may come of all this. And we are grateful that we have avoided infection, as far as we know. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
87 | Boise | Help - we are being held hostage by our retirement complex. On March 13, we were locked down. No one can leave and no one other than staff and care givers are allowed in. As independent living residents (as opposed to assisted living residents) we are served our meals in our rooms, housekeeping still comes in once a week and we still get our once a week glass of happy hour wine. It's brought around to our apartments instead of gathered around a table with friends. We can walk the halls or around the outside of the building but our encouraged to stayin our apartments. We are suppose to follow the six foot rule as well gathering of no more than three. Life is pretty quiet here. So what are people doing to entertain themselves. We are binge watching old TV series and watching bad movies. We play a little gin rummy and read. We play on our computers - we are face timing with Clyde's sister and a couple of the grandkids. He has quite a facebook presence. Our big entertainment has been watching the building of an apartment complex across the road from us. We have a good view from our balcony. The males residents are sure that it's not being done right - gives them something to talk about. The hummingbirds are back so they will entertain us until fall. I would like to say a word or to about the staff here. They are always smiling as led by our benevolent dictator. By ruling with an iron hand for both residents and family she has kept us virus free. She has taken a lot of grief from families who don't agree with the no visitor rule and the residents who want to leave because (after all) they can drive. She has not placed any staff member on furlough - she found other things for the bus drivers to do. The executive staff, by her example, have performed acts of kindness such as taking assisted living residents out for walks pushing their wheel chairs. Just a great place to be under these circumstances. The downside for us is not being able to get our own groceries. Kids have been great to get what we have needed but would rather do it ourselves. Not being able to go to the duck ponds and see the ducklings or take a nature walk not seeing the kids and grandkids. I miss not being able to touch other residents. We have had several deaths (not from virus) and not being able to hug or even pat the hand of the survivors is difficult. I won't even mention haircuts or lack there of - everyone is in that boat. Hope we see you all on the outside soon. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
88 | Boise Foothills and other surrounding outdoor areas | I have always loved Boise's close proximity to outdoor recreation, whether it's hiking, biking, skiing, rafting, etc. But I also have been blessed with multiple opportunities to travel in other states as well as internationally. I have dear friends who have enjoyed running Boise's surrounding trails regularly prior to the pandemic. But then, right before the first COVID-19 case was reported in Idaho, they also learned that the husband's prior battles with cancer had returned. Intense cancer treatments began the same week the governor issued the stay-at-home orders, as well as social distancing protocols. There is never a good time for cancer to rear it's ugly self, but the combination of his cancer's return and the local impact COVID-19 could have on our community was so sad to me. I decided to take this time to re-introduce myself to our entire Ridge to Rivers system, as well as the Boise River Wildlife Management area in honor of this couple. To comply with the state's protocols, I set out out early in the day, when fewer people are out. After my daily hikes, I post my daily adventures on social media, to honor and inform my friends that the trails are still there, waiting for them. These daily treks are proving more rewarding than I initially thought! I always enjoy a good, long hike. But now, I realize I don't have to travel far, as I can play in Boise's "great backyard"! I'm getting fresh air everyday, while maintaining my personal exercise program. I appreciate the diverse vistas the higher up I go on our trails and more recently, the colorful riot of wildflowers. On a daily basis, I silently applaud the many groups who worked very hard, sometimes in tandem with private property owners, to provide access, map out, and maintain these areas. Every day, I marvel at how lucky we are that we have options to get outside if we choose, while still honoring the State's COVId-19 protocols. But the most significant epiphany for me is the ability to bring those trails to my friends, as a reminder that they will be waiting for them when he heals! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
89 | The state of Idaho | When Covid 19 was coming to China i wasn't really overreacted but it was coming more towards more USA it was going to New York then it was ok.Then a women from New York came to Idaho and she had the Covid 19 i like wow i wasn't really scared then days happened closed for 3 week straight and thing started opening | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
90 | Boise, Idaho Ada County | As an introvert and a poet, I am entirely comfortable under quarantine. But I am not for a moment comfortable with the widespread human suffering taking place--especially within the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world. What follows is a "Corona of Sonnets" I have been working on over the past few months: Diane Raptosh A Corona of Sonnets dedicated to the philosopher Mary Midgley (1919-2018) I. The self’s wholeness, then, is not that of a billiard ball, but that of an organism. —Mary Midgley Since I’ve been furloughed from social routine, this goddess kites in and squats on the raft of my tongue. She’ll maybe soothe a few spit-dolls, spin a slow tune from the sixties. Nip some red plonk. She pretty much taught me how to just sit in a room with the earthly intelligence— that old horse eye, that legged piano. The gaze of rain water, the elm’s benediction. Listen. Why did the bargain insist I must scatter whole lung-spans of days to life’s outer circumference? My fifth decade of hours makes me feel as I figure I did when I was not yet. Forgive if I fuse such fully habited silence with god—this song the one means of petting the mind of a dog. II. Freedom’s meaning is only clear when we specify just what we want to be free from and free for. –Mary Midgley I prize what praise phrases, and I could keep riffing all night on the fourteen-spotted ladybug buried in love’s hush-hush mission of dishing up flavonoids. Then there are days, out of hope, I devote to harassing capitalism— its barefaced abortions of so many creatures’ destinies. My brain says to bug. But to sing is to stash in a phonic grow house this spliff of deep sea. A stride of trombones. It is to be what one is in the most slowly debuted state of risk. To sit still on purpose is no doubt the birth of defiance’s footwork—the one great too-muchness translating her mind into yours for the ungodly price of a flick of your Zippo. III. Leaves relate not only to other leaves, but to fruit, twigs, branches and the whole tree. —Mary Midgley I have this idea that the sounds of stowed words could slipper us into some new, non-tribal unities. This syncs with a view of the mood of the line as mode of communion. Which flies in the worried face of the clank in the world. Which maybe suggests it’s our due to vacate clans. Doing so, maybe we’ll cruise on past the moving walkways of meanness. In so many verbs, the work insists we preserve reality access for all—the full while we keep letting nerd gods execute prog. This will more or less force us to slim to the singular plural pronouns we us our— to heap upon thief and monk. Kestrel, owl. Eel, elm. Urn and snack bar. IV. The beast within us gives us partial order. –Mary Midgley Number 14 rings with a keen single-mindedness: Knows to lean into life’s code of intensities, says Tru Numerology—14’s pair of sevens encrypted in music of Bach. Counting from one to 14 can take up to 15 short breaths. This intensifies sex. Simply playing cantatas means we might pause a shared numbness. Number 14 will find it sometimes struggles with too many interests: i.e., how woodlice might scissor their 14 legs in 2 rivers of 7, or how time thinks it’s ripe to flick out a line to the 5th Dimension. 14 prefers that its flights of genuity further some goal: perhaps to unshine brutality’s boot heel. To remind how money’s a thing as made up as inches. Exactly how to chip out a self from one’s own number-anguish. V Understanding a habit is seeing what company it keeps. –Mary Midgley I keep drinking up ways to make power zones fear me. I name each day Che, and my line of brindled defiance Extreme Thomas Merton. Because we trade in one another’s braveries. Because the bowed world is spun by rhythms. Because I have made of my ratty throw pillows itemized hitmen. Because I’ve been made to christen the monk in each person a peer outlaw. Because who doesn’t tithe to the nighttime’s four stentorian oarsmen? Because vowels sip blood just for the o’s in it. Because please just put your cell phone into contemplative mode. Because couplet is coup, the sonnet monastic. Please meet my new saffron dress, Malcom X. VI. To be free, you have to have an original constitution. –Mary Midgley Writing a sonnet leaves the smell of alphabet on the palms: this plane of fleck-tones, these prows of clouds hewn in a word in the hand, like, say, Hamtramck. The steadily possible song bequeaths us its mutating rooms. Its dawns. Its sizzle of micro-liberties might be the best we can ask in an age of seclusion and pen. Of open-air prison. Perhaps the most urgent maturity is the mortal as mystic, a rotating someone noting the noon of removal of difference between public and private— that rabid hat trick of autocrat-tyranny. Maybe the it we most need is one human hand scrounging his murse for his Earth certificate, scoping the moon as it swills its queued Orangina. VII. We are not usually in lifeboats. –Mary Midgley The self puts itself between I and the other: This leads each to repeat cruelties. There is no other; therefore, there’s no I. The merge of subject-object is Nirvana’s mother. There is no this|that; therefore, there’s no either. The self recreates things other than they are: There is no I, and thus I lung inside my brother. The merge of subject-object is Nirvana’s daughter. A first and last name always make for good cover. The self puts itself between I and the other. If it isn’t one thing, it’s the thing’s father. There and Not-there hem their haws with each other. I sing my signature in untraceable air— what in us is one: the single thing we are. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
91 | Boise, Seattle WA, and San Rafael CA | Because of the pandemic, I felt isolated from my children who live in others states…and in Boise. My children who live in CA and WA had been in isolation longer than Idahoans. In the need to connect, we had a Zoom gathering on a Saturday night, right before Cinco de Mayo. Consequently, all of us were drinking Margaritas. And so, began the weekly Saturday Night Cocktail Zoom Party. As the mom, I schedule the Zoom party and each week we rotate the common drink. The person who is in charge for the week selects the drink and sends the recipe. The Zoom party lasts about 3 to 4 hours and is a blast. It is like going to a party. We start with a toast and many hellos and I love you’s. We get caught up with the week’s activities and check in with the 3 grandgirls ages, 1 ½ to 3 ½. The cameras are on and we just hang. Sometimes someone is cooking dinner, chopping and asking mom how to do this or that. And we laugh a lot! The last gathering, I asked if we are still on for the next week? And the response I got was an overwhelming YES. My daughter-in-law who is in San Rafael said this is the one thing that she looks forward to and makes her week doable. While this pandemic has its difficult points, I am grateful for the time that we are together. Actually, I am seeing my children more than ever before…on a continuous basis. Truly this is my silver lining of Covid-19. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
92 | Downtown Boise, Idaho | I work as an attorney. During March of 2020, people probably were a little more afraid of Covid-19 than later on, because there was not as much known about how it could be controlled and how many people would get it. The unknown is stressful. On March 31, 2020, there was also a fairly sizeable earthquake. No one was injured, but probably to lots of people it seemed as if many things were happening at once. One of the older lawyers in my office emailed out to everyone about 15 minutes after the earthquake and said "coronavirus, earthquakes, what else you got? Bring it on. Onward tomorrow." That gave me a lot of courage because he was much wiser about it than I was, instead of getting rattled he recognized immediately the fundamental thing about living which is: you wake up tomorrow and you keep moving forward. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
93 | Boise, Idaho | A Pandemic Poem Corona has spread darkness ‘round the world, Its tentacles ‘round human life have curled. Sunny edges make of us all Icharus, Instead of warmth with Death’s darkness brush Our fragile lungs like some illiterate churl And frighten our cilia until they won’t furl To sweep away dirty dusty microbes Lest they oxygen processing cells malevolently probe, And instead of out of the lungs being flushed They gain an agar like home incredibly plush. The corona darkness is sering socializing Dividing kith and kin and minimizing The bulk of human activity Extending even to sexual proclivity: Lest moisture droplets become conveyor belts: Bringing corona virus inside us to pelt Our poor lungs with too much fluid And our breathing apparatus thereby ruin. The air we must breathe becomes our death: Wafting virus bearing droplets in every breath Like Teflon laden tap water in Flint Clean air is no longer something we can mint. Corona’s too bright, our fragile skins do burn Stay far away from suns and viruses: learn To keep your distances lest our lives be gone: Keep stiff upper lips and carry on. 3 May 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
94 | Boise, Idaho | I direct a nonprofit which prevents eviction and homelessness for people who can't pay their rent, Jesse Tree. We provide support, information, and rental assistance to people who can't pay their rent. On March 13, 2020, we learned that there was a stay-at-home order and I had to pivot my entire 9-person staff and all of our programs remote. Thankfully, I have a nimble and tech-savvy team and our programs were already designed for crisis. We only had to scale our efforts. We operate a housing crisis hotline, and within a couple of weeks of the shutdown our call volume had tripled. We heard from hundreds of people people asking for help with paying their rent. We were able to transition the phone line to operate remotely while recruiting, training, and on-boarding ten dedicated volunteers to help operate the hotline. Within two months of the initial shutdown, we had fielded over 1,100 calls. The amount of donations we received also tripled, as our work . We were able to hire two new case managers to support more tenants and pay rent for more people in need, supporting up to 100 tenants per month and paying rent for at least 50. We were incredibly heartened and encouraged by the community's rallying support around our mission. We are still working to sustain the level of support we received during COVID, as we anticipate many more families will need assistance with rent in the months to come. We will continue to invest in keeping our neighbors in their homes during the economic downturn to ensure homelessness doesn't happen to them, and to our community. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
95 | Boise, Idaho, United States | A narrative of a non-essential worker's work day during the height of Boise's stay-at-home order. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
96 | Boise, ID | 4/9/20 We are currently in week 4 of “quarantine” (out of school, teleworking) and week 3 of the stay-at-home order. Very surreal times. At home, things are fairly calm and we’re getting into a groove of routine and telework/homeschool management. But when I venture out to the store, oh my gosh. Everyone’s anxiety is palpable - the vibe is intense! I did my grocery shopping rounds Sunday morning - to Roots, Co-op and Trader Joe’s - and I was totally wiped out when I got home. I was literally done for the day. I napped twice, and had no energy for typical chores, etc. It’s amazing how fear can be felt from a socially-responsible distance. It’s also amazing, and disorienting, how every store has their own protocols. Which seem to change every week. For example, at Roots, the only difference really is that you put on a pair of gloves when you step in the store. You’re also more cautious about making sure you aren’t touching things that you don’t intend to buy, and they put on a pair of gloves before ringing you up. But otherwise, things are pretty normal in there. You can still use your own bags/containers, still no plastic in sight. They are also pretty much dead. I was the only customer in there. Now, head down the street to Trader Joe’s, and you have them giving out wipes at the door, literally spraying down carts and handing them to you, and everyone is wearing a mask. People are noticeably nervous and uncomfortable (even though many aren’t paying that much attention to staying 6 feet apart). And when you go to check out, you stand on a sticker 6 feet beyond the end of the checkout area while the cashier takes your cart, someone bags your stuff in paper bags, and then they stand back as you walk up and pay. Compare that to last week, when you stood at the counter, and could use your own bags if you bagged them yourself. I remember joking with the cashier last week about how I didn’t bring in my bags because I had gotten used to the Co-op not allowing them; and that with my luck I’d bring them next week and they would have changed their policy. I must have abilities to see into the future… And then we have the Co-op. Which stopped letting us bring in our own bags weeks ago, and has fairly rapidly phased out all bulk foods. Plastic reigns supreme in there right now. Every pastry individually wrapped. All bulk items lovingly packed in plastic bags and containers. My heart aches knowing how these changes are unraveling the progress we made in reducing use of plastic and conserving landfill space. And I worry that it may be a long time before we reclaim that progress. I hope it’s all worth it, because this sucks. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
97 | Meridian, ID | Our family is used to doing some form of “isolation” during cold and flu season as we have a medically complex family member. We are well aware of how to wash hands, stay away from crowded places, and if need be wash items coming in from the outside if there has been contamination (grocery clerks who cough and sneeze while checking our items for example). We always keep and use hand sanitizer in our vehicles and at home, and isolate any family member at the first sign of illness. It had been our way of life for over 20 years. The Covid-19 pandemic has been the same, only with increased vigilance and more isolation. We have added masks to our routine when someone must go out, and we change clothes and shower upon returning home. We have chosen to only utilize u-bake your own pizza for “fast food” as we can throw away the wrapper and bake the food, hopefully killing any potential germs. Only one person does any real grocery shopping, and we do occasional “pick up” and delivery for any other shopping, every 2-3 weeks. Before Covid-19 during non-cold and flu season we enjoyed travel, all over the country. It was a highlight we looked forward to and planned literally years in advance, normally having several trips planned ahead of time (in part due to the medical issues it takes time to get preparations planed for). Because of Covid-19 we have had to cancel or postpone these trips. It isn’t safe, based on not only our understanding, but in discussion with our medical team. Instead we will be venturing out in an RV so we can be self contained. It will be different as we won’t be going to museums, zoos, aquariums, etc, but going on walks in nature, outdoors, and social distancing, with masks whenever needed. The likelihood is this will be our experience for the next year to 2 years, at least until there is a viable and safe vaccine and treatment. Because we are viewed as somewhat unique in our community, most refuse to wear masks to help prevent the spread of Covid-19. It makes us even more vulnerable, since masks keep the droplets more confined and the community safer. People seem not to understand, accept or believe that it is up to all of us as a community to look out for each other, that is part of what communities do in order to better function as a whole. Our forefathers understood that better, as they gave of themselves to create and keep this country. These days people are more selfish and don’t look out for each other the way “we” used to. Sad. Hopefully Covid-19 won’t get worse than it is now, but I am not counting on it if people don’t change their ways. We are not even half a year in. Our grandparents better understood the meaning of sacrifice, during WW1 and WW2 they sacrificed for years. During the polio and measles epidemics they understood what isolation was, and the cost if they weren’t careful. Medicine is better now, but without care, we could see some pretty serious consequences. That is my family’s story. For now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
98 | Nampa | Throughout my life, my neighbors in Pennsylvania & North Carolina & Texas & Idaho knew I am a musician. But rare the neighbor who actually heard me play. We'd talk, maybe I'd give them a CD or album or a link to my music. They'd eventually ask, when we'd meet at our mailboxes, "When're you playing again, man? I'll have to come check it out!" I'd let them know the when and the where. Yet for most of those neighbors, the work time and the family time and the wear of time itself were often hindrances to attending my shows. This early April, I knocked on a few doors and asked my neighbors if there was a song they might want to hear, a song with relevance or meaning. Maybe just a tune they haven't heard in a while. I hoped to offer a bit of ease for them in a time of duress. And I needed something other than my own songs because, admittedly, my own songs seem to offer the opposite, duress in a time of ease. On a Friday's eight o'clock in mid-April, I set an amp on our meager front porch. People across the street opened up chairs on their front lawns. "The Wind Cries Mary" and "No Rain" peppered an hour's worth of my songs. It was a good time. It was a very good time very much needed. In the weeks since, my neighbors invited their friends. Their friends sit on curbs twenty feet or more away. Or they sit in truck beds. Cars with lights on their tops drive by and wave at me and then stop at my neighbor's friend's truck to hand off a pizza. I hope my neighbor's friends tip well. In the middle of a song, bags of corn slap wooden platforms. Kids cheer. Dogs are beckoned home. From somewhere behind, I hear my wife sing. It's the best thunder I've ever known. Requested Sinatra, Neil Diamond, and Pete Seeger find natural ways into the playlist. Other musicians sometimes show up to play, six feet away from me. Like my own worldly contact, theirs is also limited to brief trips to grocery stores and hardware stores and garden centers. They learn each song about halfway through the second verse. The gigs are strange and exhilarating. Time doesn't feel like anybody else's but our own. I think my friends and my neighbors and my neighbor's friends are appreciative. At least they say so a few days later when we see each other masked at the hardware store. They ask me if the sandpaper is for that guitar I've been been working on when I'm sitting on my stoop. I say yes it is. Still not done, huh? No, not for a while yet. They say they're looking forward to Friday and I say that I am too. I ask for a song request but they insist I just keep on doing what I'm doing. I thank them and I promise I will. Midweek, they pull their pickups into my driveway and we talk about the best ways for me to set my posts in concrete for a future covered patio out back. That talk from six feet apart is the best gratification I could ever want. You got to go down twenty four inches after all. Twenty four plus maybe six for some gravel at the bottom. Might coat those twenty four plus six with some tar. That's what they did across the street there. But I'd say twenty four is plenty for setting posts. Never had to go no deeper. That's plenty deep. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
99 | Meridian, Idaho | Covid Description It all started with the news of the virus. It came while school was in session and was the topic of a great number of conversations. Walking down the hallways I could see the good wishes for Wuhan created by Mandarin students. There where hundreds of them around every corner. They seemed to be popping up out of nowhere. I didn’t quite understand what the fuss was about, but I knew it was something important. Suddenly news came of an early spring break to keep students out of school. I was one of a few of my friends not jumping in jubilation at the prospect of school closing. My Covid journey began with Harry Potter. Every night and every morning I would read at least a half of a book, trying to keep up with my friend. Now, I had already read it but since this was his first time I decided it was time to go back. But one thing lead to another and after awhile I had finished all of the books and all of the movies. Harry Potter was all I could think about. As an adventurer and a baker, I started to use my time to try new Harry Potter inspired foods. Venturing into the dangerous world of candy making. The house was soon filled with the sweet smells of lemon candies and pumpkin. The last thing I remember before lockdown was going to the Village for my friends birthday and having frozen yogurt in the deserted courtyard. Being that there was an outbreak the only places still open were yogurt and the park across the street and thus we played hide and seek. As social distancing started to emerge and shops were closing I spent an enormous amount of my newly found time inside crafting and making new foods. My introverted side basked in the glory of not having to interact with anyone during this whole thing, but deep down in the dark depths, my extroverted side was suffering from the enormous lack of interaction. In the end nothing changed and yet everything changed, but at least I had a good time. Oh, and I found a new talent due to at home ceramics class and a vast majority of free time. Two words, clay dragons! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
100 | Meridian, ID | Suspicious spots were found on my mammogram in January, 2020. I was told that the earliest that I could get them biopsied would be sometime in March. Due to the influx of population in the Boise area and the fact that St. Lukes had only one stereo tactic machine there was a long wait. I called every day to check on cancellations, and was able to get the biopsies rescheduled for February 19th. During that five weeks wait, I tried to continue with normal life and deal with all the possible outcomes. Sleep was hard to come by. Finally, almost six weeks after I was told that I may have breast cancer, I got the results. Malignant ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in both spots, with a suspicious third spot. I made the decision to have a bilateral mastectomy six weeks later, April 6th, the first surgery date available. Having a plan of attack against this deadly disease gave me some peace, albeit temporary. In the meantime, there was another crisis brewing. At the end of March, the state of Idaho was shut down due to the Corona Virus. Everyone was told to stay home, except essential employees. Few cars traveled the roadways--it looked like an apocalypse. I was beginning to get antsy--I didn't realize how long six weeks would be to live with the cancer inside me. The cancer had been caught early, but was April 6th early enough to have the surgery? Not until St. Lukes Hospital called me to cancel my pre-operative appointment did I understand how personal this virus was to me and to me surviving breast cancer. My surgeon's nurse informed me that there were only two operating rooms open at Lukes, and that some breast cancer surgeries were being cancelled. She informed me that I would not know whether mine would be cancelled until Monday morning, the day of my surgery. It depended on how many Corona Virus cases were admitted into the hospital over the weekend. What was the point of catching the cancer early? I began to lose hope. Four days before my surgery I received a chipper phone call from the scheduler, that NO family members were allowed to accompany me into surgery. Not even my husband??? "No." But so far my surgery is scheduled??? "Yes." It was dark when we walked into the surgery entrance Monday morning. My husband walked me to the door, and after my temperature was taken by infrared, we air kissed each other goodbye. After both breasts and sentinel nodes were removed, I learned a week later that the pathology came back clear. I was blessed beyond measure. This has been such a terrible time in history. I was one of the lucky ones. I think about those who had thriving small businesses with children at home who couldn't get a small business loan in time to save their family from bankruptcy. I think about health workers who had to risk their lives everyday to go to work. Mostly I think about all the ramifications of this pandemic that we will all feel in some way or other for many years to come. |