COVID 19: The Journey. Chapter 10, Scary Virus Tracks Us Down

     

Steve Baker opens a Christmas present at a Dec. 26 gathering.

Granddaughter Myla Rodewald and Buffy, the family dog, on Dec. 20.

The National World War II Museum, where the writer spent her 63rd birthday Dec. 12.

   

     It was a normal start to December: I stayed busy getting ready for the holidays, what with buying and wrapping gifts, writing the annual Christmas letter and the like.

    We did decide (at least, I eventually agreed) to take a short trip south to the Gulfcoast. This time away compressed our holiday preparations but the biggest "hit" came to holiday baking, which was almost non-existent in 2020.

    A few days away from frigid Iowa was restorative, however; we were able to eat outdoors, and take long walks along the Gulf of Mexico. An additional bonus was fulfilling a hotel commitment for an upgrade. 

    My 63rd birthday was spent in New Orleans, one of my favorite cities in America. We toured the National World War II Museum for three hours. This is a fine military museum and the place was filled with young families on this Saturday afternoon.

    The Christmas celebrations were divided among the three girls in the family. On the first weekend, Dec. 19, we traveled to Ankeny to visit daughter Kirstin and Gage Rodewald, and our precocious granddaughter, Myla Adelyn. 

    The next weekend was Christmas. We spent Christmas Day at home, just the two of us. This was a first in our marriage, but Steve's two girls, and families, were invited to visit on Dec. 26.

    The Christmas holiday passed quickly; I tried to connect virtually to Mass at St. Ann's Catholic Church, our church in rural Long Grove, Iowa. However the connection was poor and there was no audio. That was a disappointment, for sure.

    On Saturday, a group of nine family members arrived to open Christmas stockings (my project) and assorted gifts. We played games, had some good food and lots of camaraderie. 

    I took some virus precautions: I opened the windows a bit, started the ceiling fans and sanitized public surfaces, several times.

    The next day, Sunday, Dec. 27, one family member woke up feeling like she'd been hit by a semi-truck. She and her husband traveled to Muscatine, Iowa, for a quick COVID test and they both tested positive. They promptly alerted us.

    For a few days we continued as normal. There was a Zoom meeting for the neighborhood board members about the ongoing lake dredging project. Six of my girlfriends all had a happy hour via Zoom. 

    Steve started experiencing some symptoms of the virus on Dec. 30 and we made our way to NorthPark Mall in Davenport for the Test Iowa program.

    At 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 31 -- our 33rd wedding anniversary -- we got the results. Both of us tested positive. As it turned out, eight of the nine family members who had stopped by for Christmas came down with the scary virus. It was a rough start to 2021.

     

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goodbye, Blogger.com

Image
Thanks to all Bakersheartbeat.blogger.com and  Gardensirencall.blogger.com readers!  It was a fun ride for years!     It's with a heavy heart that I say goodbye on this site, called either blogspot.com or blogger.com.     Recently, I wrote about a Quad-City Times Bix 7 event and the photo to go with it was blocked by Google. (This one, in this blog, was also blocked but I got around it as I'm not using Blogger anymore.)     Anyway, I'm trying to come up with a Plan B for blogging.      Stay tuned.     I think the problem developed (after six or more years of no such thing!) because I transfer the photos I take for blogs via G-mail. Either that, or Blogspot.com is now in the Google universe.     Anyway, it's not feasible to write blogs without photos, in my opinion.     All this blogging started in 2018, when my journalism career ended. Blogging was something I'd done at the office and I found Blogger.co...
Read more

Why a "community" matters, especially in later life

Image
Friends and family members in 2018 attended an excellent basketball tournament in Des Moines; four colleges participated: Iowa, Iowa State, the University of Northern Iowa and Drake University.        It was the morning of Valentine's Day and my husband Steve, and I, started to walk in Scott County Park, located just two miles from our home in rural Scott County, Iowa.     We had begun a two-mile loop when a woman in a car stopped us: She leaned out the driver's side window and handed us two bags of Valentine candies.     Startled, we stared at her as we did not know her. But she smiled and said, "I like that you are out here, walking!"     We did accept the candies and are eating them to this day!     That pleasant incident points to the importance of have a "community" in life. Communities are generally defined as a group of persons who share a common interest. Growing up, this is evident in school when one has dozens of clas...
Read more

Hair: A love/hate story from one perspective

Image
  That's me, after a recent appointment at the salon in Eldridge, Iowa Oh, give me a head with hair Long, beautiful hair Shining, gleaming, streaming Flaxen, waxen Now won't you gimme it down to there? (hair) Shoulder length or longer (hair) Here, baby, there, mama Everywhere, daddy, daddy Hair (hair, hair, hair, hair, hair) Grow it, show it Long as I can grow it My hair ... Songwriters: Gerome Ragni / James Rado / Galt Mac Dermot                   I scoop up my own hair every single day. I do appreciate this thick, brown and healthy hair, but my goodness, what a mess it makes!     I bought a special broom that grabs hair, and all sorts of devices to clean up said hair. I buy Swiffer sheets on a regular basis and use them.     I don't mean to sound negative. It's a blessing to have a head of hair, but also a responsibility.       No one wants to have hair in their food, for example!   ...
Read more