7/20/2020 of COVID-19 Home Life

Chel Owens

Last time I checked in, I shared Utah’s rising case numbers. Things are looking up since then.

And I do mean “up.” Our all-time high was 867 in one day, reported just two days after I wrote. Fortunately, we’re back to numbers like 736, 731, and 788 for the last three beautiful, blue bars of that graph.

I’ve had a bad headache today since the baby awoke at 2 a.m., compounded by another awakening at 5 a.m. As with anytime I’ve felt a little off, I’m paranoid I’ve got The ‘Rona. That figures, since I still do grocery pickup, mask when I go to a public place, and have not agreed to family invitations to public places. Heck; we’ve gotten takeout five times in the last four months.

baked box cheese close up

Pizza: The American Meal. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

We did attend church last Sunday. We LDS normally attend every Sunday; with a communal meeting that includes eating bread and drinking water (sacrament) passed around on trays, then a second meeting by age and gender group afterward. Sunday’s meeting was only The Sacrament. We sat with a bench between other family groups. We all wore masks, except Baby Owens. The bread and water trays remained in the hands of the boys distributing them. We even sang with masks on, reading from our individual phones instead of hymn books. Only the speaker unmasked as he shared a gospel message about spirituality from the podium at the front.

My parents also live in Utah, but their local leaders have not reinstated meetings. Ironically, their libraries and recreational centers (swimming pools, gyms) are in business. Different strokes for different counties, I guess.

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In terms of shortages and price increases, I’ve heard that hard currency is running low. The cashier at the kids’ clothing store told me, the internet told me, and the plastic partition at the hardware store told me.

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Perhaps you’ll accept galvanized nails in replacement, Lowe’s?

I was able to procure some antibacterial kitchen hand soap at Wal-Mart when I had to go inside. Being 5’8″ tall with long arms helped that procurement. I brought a bottle of hand sanitizer down for any shorter-armed shoppers that followed. The rest of their soaps were in short supply, as were any bottles of rubbing alcohol:

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Who needs antiseptics when you’ve got a lonely roll of gauze?

The biggest news, for me, is The School Issue. I mentioned, before, that I’m following a TwoFacebook Group concerned with returning children to their desks, come hell or high water. Members of said group were prominent at a recent meeting in Utah County, where they vociferously (and crowdedly) spoke in favor of no masks for their children. Since I know many teachers personally and would like them to remain healthy, I see no-masking to be a selfish, nearsighted opinion.

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Just one of the many, many inspiring and educated adults making decisions for her offspring.

Of all the ways to make the news, Utah, you have to pick this one…

I assumed, recently, that my more-conservative friends have seen the light. With stories about reinfection; with more people we actually know getting infected; with areas shutting back down to curb Coronavirus cases -SURELY opinions would change. Not so. One of my more vocal neighbors just posted, today, about articles against masking and how any legitimate information supporting that idea keeps “getting taken down.”

I know restricting or changing information happens. I’ve seen it. However, I also know that I, like other humans, breathe and cough and sneeze. As such, I’m in favor of wearing a mask, using my turn signal, and not randomly kicking strangers in the shins because it’s my right to do so.

In conclusion, here’s a funny image re-shared by a teacher friend on 2FB:

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Sorry; I’m not sure who came up with these. They’re pretty clever.

Images ©2020 Chelsea Owens, unless otherwise noted. Blog post ©2020 Chelsea Owens

39 thoughts on “7/20/2020 of COVID-19 Home Life”

  2. Hi! I’m still not convinced that the science shows that masking actually prevents spreading the virus. People are masking like crazy and numbers are still up. Either way, I’m being compliant. I flew to Colorado last week, blog to come, and I wore a mask on the plane and when I was supposed to. But thankfully, no mask needed on the trail! The good news is that death rates are not up. Only positive tests. Take care !

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    1. Oh, I think most responsible people could sneeze into their elbows or not lick store shelves. I like that picture cycling the internet about how both people masking is like when one of those people pees. 😀 Not perfect, but sweeping measures help make small changes where they need to happen.

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  3. It’s crazy. The thing against wearing masks. I blame it on politics-and anti-science folks.
    Here in Texas things are bad, but worse south of us and far south. I heard that today -six months ago the first COVID case was diagnosed. And now 140k+ are dead. 😳😢 stay well my friend!

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  4. The parents demanding their kids go to school unmasked makes me a little crazy. It’s amazing to me what issues people seem to go to war over. Really? I have a lot of teacher friends who don’t want to go back to school because they think it will be just a matter of time before schools close again. You shouldn’t have to worry about the children’s or teacher’s safety at school.

    By the way, welcome back.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I can only imagine that the parents honestly believe their kids will not infect anyone -which is also a ridiculous assertion if one has had children in school! Coronavirus isn’t a magic illness that completely skips children; a friend of mine has been posting daily updates on her eleven-year-old, who’s been very sick for four days now. 😥

      Thanks for the welcome! I’ll see how ‘back’ I can come, once we decide on a school situation.

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      1. My son is a football coach, and a couple of college students on the team came down with the virus. He’s been in quarantine for the last week (thankfully, showing no symptoms) and has one more week to go. I know football is outdoors, but at some point, I think somebody is going to wake up and realize it doesn’t make any sense to be playing.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. My personal feelings on masks’ effectiveness are a bit ambivalent, so I’m with you: if they help, especially to help those who need to wear one, do it.

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  6. I missed you Chelsea!!

    Things are sure different where I live. My whole province had a week of no cases. Now there’s been a small outbreak of 10 people on a secluded colony.
    So no masks here! Literally, I see maybe two masks each outing I go to. Risk is relatively low and our lives seem *almost* normal. But I agree, if more outbreaks begin to occur here, why WOULDN’T I wear a mask? It’s such a little thing! 🤷🏼‍♀️

    We also have gotten to go to church these past three Sundays. It’s different than before, but it’s something at least!
    Love the book covers! Especially the bottom right 😁

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    1. Those are all great things, Dawn! I’m happy to hear from you, too!

      I’ve often thought that writing a parody of a children’s book (you know, like a snippet) would be a fun prompt.

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  8. Those books are very clever, Chelsea. I saw your state of Utah on our news here last week and thought of you. Keep up the great work keeping you and your family safe. I wish everyone was as diligent.

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  9. The book covers are cute, Chelsea. Please please tell everyone to wear masks. Kids don’t have to wear them if they sleep overnight at school and don’t come home on weekends. And if only teenagers are allowed to be teachers and the teenagers stay overnight too. I’ve seen so many videos of people saying the virus isn’t dangerous and then three days later they’re dead. I just don’t see what the big deal is with masks. Gah. You made me rant. LOL.

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  10. glad to see you;re still posting, Chelsea 🙂 yes, these are very trying times: the State alongside us —- Victoria —- has recorded 732 new cases today while we still have one [ in isolation].I have never known a darker time than this and hope that we all come out of it soon 🙂

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  11. No rubbing alcohol!?

    Where I live, there’s a bunch of homebrewers, microbrewers, distilleries, and *analytical labs* that are working together to produce an inordinate amount of ethanol for disinfection’s sake. I have 4 L of alcohol in one of my cabinets right now, all inspected and certified by an analytical lab to be 80% ethanol.

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  13. Looking at your numbers is so sad Chelsea, especially when you guys haven’t even gotten to the inevitable second wave. Australia was doing such a good job but we reopened everything way to early and now Victoria is wearing the effects.

    In terms of masks they are effective if used correctly, but in all honesty we’re working on the policy of only go where you have to and in South Australia we currently have nine cases, so ….

    Keep well Chelsea and look after yourself.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. ❤ Thank you, Deb. Our numbers are terrible, especially considering how small of a population Utah has. I waffle between thinking our leaders think we have to be up and running (but masked), and thinking our leaders (and everyone) are up and running because they think ignoring COVID-19 will make it go away…

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