Teleconferences
Every Monday afternoon since the beginning of May the Executive Director holds a teleconference for half an hour. People here and their families on the outside can tune in, ask questions and hear the latest information. North Carolina is now in Phase Two of “opening up”. It does not mean anything for us at this time other than that we are a little closer to the end of Phase Three. This Monday we heard serious complaints from children of people in Assisted Living. Most of their parents are handicapped, staying in their room day in, day out, because there are no group activities and there is not enough staff to tend to individual entertainment and stimulation. Both Independent Living and Assisted Living have a courtyard with a gazebo, but there is not enough space in the shade to go outside for those who can. The ED promised to purchase some umbrellas to create more shade in the courtyards. And so it goes, and we realize daily how very special and safe we are here, while the death toll in the United States tops 105,000.
Rain
They announced several rain storms: we had one week of them and are expecting the effects of Hurricane Bertha, now a tropical depression that hit the coast of South Carolina. It will bring a lot of rain to us as well. But you know, Cary seems to be in a safe place in the North Carolina landscape. Hurricanes, thunderstorms, heavy rains pass us by without much damage. Last week, in preparation for the storms, a man in a yellow jacket walked down to our little pond in the back, inspecting the storm drains. The water level of the pond was lowered over a foot, and that proved good, since it rose again with the rains. On my evening walk with Lani I saw between the potted plants at our front door a tiny frog, the size of my thumb nail. I suppressed the urge to squat down and pick it up to take it to the grass. It was so small I was afraid I would crush it and thought it would be able to find his way home again on his own.
The Virus
It only takes time, they say. Last Friday we received a letter from the Executive Director that one of the long-time caregivers in our Memory Care had a temperature on Wednesday and proved positive for Covid-19. She is in isolation and will not return to work until her physician tells her she is better. That is scary. Because she could have been contagious two weeks before it was discovered. On Monday, during the teleconference with the Executive Director there was no news yet about the tests that had been done on other caregivers and residents. So we will wait and hope for the best. We were informed that Legacy, the Physical Therapy Group with offices downstairs on the first floor, has postponed all their PT treatments for this week. That is not so good for all the people who depend on daily PT treatments. On Tuesday we received a notice that all tests of staff and residents in Assisted Living and Memory Care have come back negative. Great to know.
We will be tested
The next step is the testing of all the residents in the whole facility, including Independents, on June 12. They will come by the apartments and cottages on that day and we will be tested. A new experience!
We walk around the campus daily but don’t enter the main building if we don’t have a reason to. So it is that one of our cottage neighbors told us that one of our friends had died. We have not seen anybody for almost three months now so we didn’t know that Harry was very ill. When I went over to take a condolence card to June I found her outside the main entrance on one of the benches and we chatted for a while. She told me that Harry had been in so much pain for so long that his passing was a blessing. They had said goodbye when EMS took him to the hospital. Oh, what a sad, heart wrenching goodbye that must have been for them. We will miss his wide smile and our lively conversations when the dining room opens up again; the predictions are that will be by the end of August. Maybe.
The Death of George Floyd
An unimaginable heinous crime and devastating aftermath. I have never seen so much hatred and destruction in my life. It is something I watched part of, then walked away from. I hope peace will be restored soon and I wish people would be more kind towards one another. Covid-19 is causing enough deaths and mourning already. We shouldn’t make it worse. Easier said than done.
The Launch of Dragon and the Rendezvous with the International Space Center
Something I did watch in full, well, almost, was the flight of the Dragon to the International Space Station. What a sight! What an enormous accompishment. What a fabulous almost to-the-minute docking at the ISC after a 19 hour flight through space. And what a miracle that we could see it all from our living room, including the rendezvous and the astronauts entering the ISC after they had completed the first part of their mission. It was jubilantly mind boggling!
It’s a Wonderful Life. But sadly, not for everybody.
Until next time,
Ronny
So much has happened even in just the past few days, so your review of it and more helped to bring a bit of sanity. Thank you Ronny.
Also, I’ve finally finished a skirt using your fabulous Indonesian batik fabrics. I’ll send a photo in a couple of days.
Thank you my friend. Please stay safe. Life is short.