Virtual Reality

The other day my friend Sharla posted this on facebook:

She is, of course, talking about COVID-19. Which I didn't think I'd be writing about, but it has been kind of a big deal.

Since I don't watch TV at all, and I don't search for the news on my computer either, I pretty much get all my information second-hand. This means I don't know what's going on until someone else tells me about it, someone on facebook starts talking about it, or until there's suddenly no toilet paper in any stores. (And then I start doing some research...) So I can't give you all the facts, or the dates, but if you really need to know I'll bet you can look it up online—even twenty years from now, unless the world comes crashing to a halt.

COVID-19: (also known as CoronaVrius) Is the new super-virus that's going to wipe out the planet. Please don't correct me if I'm wrong, but I hear it started out in China (saying that makes me a racist these days...). It spreads super-fast, and could possibly mutate just as quickly. Because it's new, we don't have a vaccine or super-medicine to super-kill it. Super-Duper!

The worry is that, because it spreads so quickly, the healthcare systems won't have space, equipment, or enough staff to take care of everyone who contracts this virus which, in certain groups of people, can be deadly.

I had no clue two (three?) weeks ago that there was a possibility we'd be told to stay home. Forever. Did everyone else know this? Because the first thing I saw—around March 6 or 7—was that there was no toilet paper on the shelves of any stores. No TP, no "flushable" wipes, no Kleenex (facial tissues—like anyone calls them that...), and only a couple cases of paper towels.

It's like this everywhere. Still.

 I guess bottled water made a sudden disappearance too, as well as all kinds of household cleaners and disinfectants. Huh?

But by now people were talking. I kept hearing more and more about it...all conflicting.

The biggest thing, though—and the one everyone agreed on—was, "Wash your hands and don't touch your face!"

And then we weren't supposed to meet in groups larger than one hundred people. Sixty people. Ten people.

Then on March 12 the church (my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) announced that we would be cancelling all meetings for the next two weeks (two weeks being the supposed incubation period for coronavirus). Soon that changed to "until further notice" (not how it was stated, but that's what it meant). Then temples started closing (this is a pretty big deal). Then they started sending missionaries home from the foreign countries where they were serving. This is a pretty big deal too.

Around March 12 we also found out that Rachel's college class would shift to an online, at-home class. This was a bummer because of the four concurrent college classes Rachel took, this was the first one with a teacher in her classroom instead of one teaching from a remote campus. :-(  Later that day she got a text message from the library, where she works. The library would be closed for two weeks, or until further notice. "At least," Rachel said, "I still get to go to school." Well, no. Public schools were shutting down for two weeks. (During the second week of staying home, they announced that public schools will be closed until May 1, or possibly later.) 

There was a run on the grocery stores like I've never seen before—canned goods, pasta, rice, beans, flour, sugar...all gone. Some (non-food) stores are closing. Restaurants are closing. Theaters are closed...

"Social Distancing" is in full swing. And coronavirus—or anything related to it—is all people can talk about. Memes abound:

This, by the way, is not factual...

 

SOCIAL DISTANCING:

We all sit here complaining about "social distancing." Or complaining because we don't think people are doing it. Well, we are! Don't get me wrong, I miss my friends. I would love, at any time, for people to drop by my house to visit; most of the time you don't even need to call first (there are some times that I might not be home...). And I—even I, who am naturally more reserved—always wish that, as a whole, we were more social.

But, really, what we are doing now is only—or only needs to be—Physical Distancing. You'd think that with facebook, skype, portable telephones, email, and , yes, even the US Postal service, we could remain social (definition: marked by or passed in pleasant companionship with friends or associates).

The thing is, we weren't necessarily all that social before.

I mean, this does give you a little dopamine hit, but real words are so much nicer! And, yeah, I am guilty again.

I had a friend who blamed our antisociality (is that a word?) on garage door openers: We drive into the garage, close the door, and head into the house, never talking to our neighbors. I've heard people blame it on the lack of a good front porch: We don't sit out on our front porch and say "hi" to our neighbors as they pass any more. People have blamed it on smartphones: Our noses are so glued to our phones at all times that we don't notice the people in front of us. And I like to blame it on facebook: Cat memes and videos are pretty great, but they don't tell me anything about...anything.

And maybe that's all true.

A Modest Proposal:

Let's use social media to be—get ready for this...

...Social! Not just now, but all the time! Radical, huh?

Facebook could be pretty fabulous for actually keeping up with our friends. Whaddaya know? Instead of re-posting the old *chestnut memes (yeah, I am guilty of this), let's talk about our lives. Let's ask our friends about their lives. I actually love Sharla's question (way up at the beginning of this very long post). It was a good question, and she got some really good answers. We could do that all the time! (!!!!)

*"chestnut [is] a figurative term meaning an aged and moldy joke." ~Mark Twain

So, if you've stuck with me this long, let me tell you how my family is doing with Physical distancing:

It's hard to say how much it's really affected us. We are a family of readers and game-players and that hasn't changed, although we do miss the library.

We got a Big Boggle game last Christmas, and Bruce and I have been kind of obsessed with it. We play it most nights. We've learned that the more of our family that joins the game, the lower our scores get, and if Rachel, Kaylie, or Jessica play with us, we are toast! We play other board games together, too. This is nothing new.

Sometimes we gather around the piano and sing together. With a family of—eleven now!—we almost have a choir of our own, although a bit heavy on the bass. This is also nothing new.

Well, if we're all singing around the piano I can't take a picture of us doing it! But Rachel plays the piano a lot throughout the day. That's not new either. Just nice.

I do all the cooking from scratch—always have; Physical Distancing hasn't changed that. The new thing about cooking is that some ingredients are pretty difficult to find due to all the panic-buying. I didn't play the "buy out the stores" game because I was too clueless...and I wouldn't have anyway.

With all the kids at home cookies, brownies, and home-made donuts are more prevalent in the house. That's a little bit different.

Flour was my big worry for a while. But this week a local restaurant posted on facebook that they had flour (among other foodstuffs) that they would sell to the public. What a great idea! Maybe this can keep them afloat until they can open for business again, and, although I paid more than I would have at the grocery store, I got a 50 lb. bag of flour. With that staple in the house, I feel a lot better.

Here are some things that have changed:

I cleaned my oven yesterday...for fun! Well, at least it was satisfying. It kept me busy, kept my mind a little occupied and my hands working. And it looks pretty spectacular! And, yes, that is different. The last time I cleaned the oven was six months ago.

Another change is having church at home, but we've been prepared for that. Last year (Jan. 2019) the church asked us to focus on having more home-centered, but church-supported, gospel learning (instead of church-centered and home-supported). We have tried to take this to heart and have scripture discussions with our family at least once a week. It's been really nice. I do look forward to being able to meet with our friends at church again, and the temple being open again, but we have some really good Sundays at home.

Michael has been saving money for a long time to get himself a Virtual Reality set and he was finally able to buy it about two weeks ago. It arrived at our house just before we were asked to never leave home again. So we've all—even I have!—been having fun with that. I'm kind of in love with Beat Saber: in this game colored cubes come flying at you; each cube has an arrow on it (pointing up, down, right, or left—sometimes diagonally). You are holding two lightsabers, matching the two colors of the flying cubes,  and you have to slash the cubes in the direction it's arrow points. All this is done in time to music. So the VR has been way fun! And maybe, when the quarantine is over, Michael will let me have some friends over to play with it. :-)

That is not a look of boredom on Ryan's face, I assure you. He's having fun! It is a look of fierce concentration as he plays Beat-Saber (which you can see on the computer monitor). You can also see Bruce reading upstairs, to your left.

My kids get to sleep in, which means that I get to sleep in! And I've discovered that I don't just naturally wake up at 6:00 every morning. Well, I do, but only briefly. When I don't have to get up, I sleep until 8:30 or sometimes even 9:00, and I don't need a nap by 1:00 or feel desperately tired all day long. This is lovely, lovely, lovely. Aahhhh!

There may be more; I don't know. We've had our little moments of anxiety and boredom. We miss seeing our friends in person. But overall, our family is doing great!

And now here is my question for you: How are you and your family doing?