Copyright © 2020
by Ralph F. Couey
February 2nd is about a month in the rearview, but the glow of the Chief's victory in Super Bowl LIV has only slightly dimmed. I even had a fellow (a 49er's fan, naturally) suggest that I should fast celebrating the win for Lent. Fat Tuesday chance, that. It's hard for fans of other teams to understand the dynamic of a half-century of waiting, while enduring a long and excruciating string of playoff losses that could only have been scripted by Stephen King. This one was special, and felt earned. So, yeah...I'm gonna continue to celebrate. At least until the Chief's fumble away Chris Jones. Anyway...
Like most other folks, I and my colleagues at Hawai'i Emergency Management Agency, are carefully monitoring the spread of the Corona virus, and its associated illness, COVID-19. While there are a number of people self-quarantining here, there has yet to be identified a single case here in Hawai'i. Still, the people of the Aloha State are managing to indulge in their well-known ability to panic. On the mainland, grocery store managers note that panic buying prior to dangerous winter storms spark runs on mainly three items, eggs, bread, and milk. One wag noted that perhaps a Winter Storm Warning should more properly identified as "French Toast Alert." Here, and other places in the mainland, the top three items have been toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and disinfectant wipes. The latter two I can understand. But the first one has me baffled. Shelves at warehouse stores and other big box retailers have been swept clear of toilet tissue. At a local Sam's Club, a semi truck full of TP was sold out in 12 minutes. Retailers here have instituted rationing policies. But the runs continue (pun unintended).
Media outlets have been accused of over-hyping news stories. This one may qualify. When you look at comparative numbers...
Flu 1 billion cases worldwide, 450,000 deaths. 32 million cases U.S. 18,000 deaths
COVID-19 91,000 cases worldwide, 3,118 deaths. 105 cases U.S. 6 deaths.
Now, a couple things to note. The mortality rate for the flu is 1.4 % worldwide, while the rate for COVID-19 is 3.4%, so there is a higher possibility of death for the new virus. But COVID-19 is affecting the same demographics as the flu, the elderly, the very young, and those in the middle with immune systems compromised by health issues, and drug and alcohol addictions. In addition, we deal with the flu every year; its an accepted part of the winter season. COVID-19 is new, mysterious, and quite frankly, scarier than the flu. Or at least that's what the news media is yelling at us.
The good news that in China, the nation most severely impacted, is reporting that the number of new confirmed cases is sinking dramatically, indicating that either the government is getting a handle on things, or that this virus, like others, has a shelf life. But governments outside of China are still declaring states of emergencies, and the UN and the WHO are beginning to plan for the delivery of global aid to affected regions.
A couple of weeks ago, the house was tented. We had been overrun by ants and cockroaches and so it was worth the expense. The hard part was bagging up all the food that had to be protected, and then unbagging it afterwards. Coincidentally, one of the fridges went on the fritz, so the food we had so carefully protected went bad and had to be thrown out. The good news is that since then, we haven't seen bug one anywhere in the house, although we did have to clear out a few dead geckos.
Having to leave the house for a couple of days, we decided to take a long-overdue staycation. I booked a room at the Hilton Hawai'ian Village, but for the wrong dates. Presented with this error at check in, I was able to negotiate a room with a less appealing view for the first weekend. I couldn't cancel the second reservation without losing the entire cost, so instead of one romantic weekend, we had two, back-to-back. We spent some time enjoying the resort's amenities, but for both of us, the most valuable thing we did was just relax into a state of relative vegetation. The first weekend, we spent three hours on the beach. The second weekend was hampered by very high winds, and since we didn't want to be sand blasted on the beach, we set up our beach chairs on the lanai of our room that looked out over Diamond Head and the Pacific.
For those golden hours, we didn't think about anything. Work, obligations, worries went away and we just enjoyed the sun and each other. I particularly enjoyed the time on the lanai. We were 22 stories up in the air, and mostly in the lee of the strong winds. The offshore flow leveled the surf, and from our elevated perch, we could see diamond-like points of light as the ocean reflected the sunlight. The blue of the water closely matched that of the sky, so vivid and beautiful. At one point a shower passed by. The actual cloud was on the other side of the building, so we retained sunshine as the rain fell. I looked up towards the sky and saw the rain falling in gossamer-like tendrils, almost like the drifting spider webs you see in the spring. We enjoyed the privacy and solitude, and the relative silence being so far up in the air.
Eventually, the weekends both ended, and we returned to the real world with an audible "thud." We found out that Cheryl's eldest sister's husband had a bad fall and ended up with a large lump on his forehead. After a long and vociferous argument, he finally consented to be taken to the hospital. Almost as soon as he was admitted and made comfortable, he threw a seizure, stopped breathing, and went unconscious. After a few hours, he came back. But he remains in the hospital, awaiting the diagnosis. Irene, his wife and Cheryl's sister, was a rock, and a stubborn one at that. She deflected all offers of help, even coming over to sit with her, preferring to endure this alone. I should add that stubbornness is a strong family trait. The man in question is beset with a lot of medical issues at the moment, so he lives on a sort of mortal knife's edge. Any medical issue for him is potentially serious as a result. But, it looks now like he might recover fully, so for that we are all fervently thankful.
Also going on, the retaining wall that supports the yard above our neighbor's has been leaning and sagging for several months. Irene struck a deal with the neighbor to split the cost of fixing the wall, so that is going on as well, the work being done on the weekends. Cheryl's mom continues to slide downhill with her dementia. She cannot be left alone for any length of time because she forgets to eat unless the food is placed in her hands. Her cognitive abilities continue to degrade as well, and I think the family is going to face a very tough decision sooner rather than later.
After being at Tripler for a year and a half, Cheryl has decided that enough is enough, and when this contract ends at the end of September, she's going to hang up her scrubs for good. While I'm happy for her, we do have to face the hard fact that the loss of her income will make things a bit more difficult in the time period after that date. We still haven't decided where to settle, although Kansas City is beginning to edge into the lead. Hawai'i is nice....well, paradise....but paradise comes with a very high price and I'm not sure that's one we can afford in retirement. We can live comfortably in KC, but will have to endure those beastly summers and cold, difficult winters. The good news is on the bad weather days, we will just sleep in. We've actually enjoyed the uncertainty of our lives that past two years, but the time is fast approaching when we will choose to plant roots, once and for all.
We're planning a big trip in July along with our dear friends from Denver. We're going to Germany and Austria to indulge the sights, the food, and the music at one of the fantastic Salzburg festivals. It is the kind of trip we always planned to take during retirement, and we're very excited about it. There is a world out there, and we are bound and determined to see as much of it as we can before our clocks run out.
It's been an interesting life. Now we'll see what the finale will be.
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