A Very Unusual Birthday

I didn’t really want to think about it anyway but I didn’t think the world would be turned upside down to distract me from the fact that I am a year older today. Oddly enough, the world was being turned upside down when I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1944. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese the US entered World War ll. Many Japanese people were seen as a threat and were put into internment camps, even though they were Americans just like the rest of us. Interestingly enough, they were never interned in Hawaii where the attack took place.

Now we have a new and unpredictable enemy, Covid-19, a virus which has become a pandemic, and which we don’t really know how to combat. We can’t lock it up or repatriate it. We can’t attack it or bomb it. All we can do is isolate ourselves from each other in hopes of keeping it from spreading. And yet,  I believe that in going against all the social norms we have been brought up with, by eschewing handshakes and hugs, we are actually coming together to fight a common enemy. By staying home we are recognizing the sacrifices necessary to protect one another.

John and I got out of bed this morning, put on some clothes and were on our way to the grocery store by 7:15. Having read about the chaos at Costco you couldn’t pay me to go there, so the compromise was to go practically before sunrise to our usual store.

Having bought groceries for ourselves as well as for Dana and Jim, and all without coffee, we dropped by Trail House on the way home for a cup. It arrived along with a free muffin and a rendition of the happy birthday song by Crystal and her fellow bartender/barista. The only thing I could think of was ‘why are they singing that? Nobody’s washing their hands.' (Wer’re reminded constantly that the time it takes to sing the happy birthday song twice is how long we’re supposed to wash our hands.)  There were five people sitting at the bar drinking beer...at 8:30 in the morning looking as dumbfounded as I do in the picture Crystal took.

The rest of the day has been spent doing laundry and making a big pot of soup.Tim called and said, ‘We were planning a big celebration but when the governor announced that we couldn’t have gatherings over 250 we had to cancel it...”

Matt called and started talking about how there is NO food in his town and to remind us that John and I were in the target age group and we should stay home.
Me, “speaking of age, do you know what day this is?”  
Long pause...
Matt, “0h sh*t!”

The only birthday present I want today is for Dana and Jim to be home and healthy.