Hello from Ghostville:
(March 19: Day One of The Sheltered Life)
by
Cindy Sheehan
I
am an incurable walker---I walk to shop; I walk for fun; I walk to go
visit; I walk to stay fit. I see the world at short 3.5 mph
bits---usually not zooming by in a dino-mobile, texting while driving. I
don't own a car, but even if I did, I can't see myself living a
non-pedestrian existence.
Long
before this Covid-19 virus reaction, I have seen the seedy underbelly
of my town, as well as the plight of our many homeless. However, I have
also learned of the peaceful places:--near creeks, or up in the hills. I
have lived here in Vacaville since 1992---I have a son buried in the
town cemetery which I have also gotten to know too well.
Anyway,
I think the current crop of concerns began right before I was destined
to take a three-city trip back east, leaving on March 6th. Even though
there was not a lot of panic, yet, I decided it would be best to
postpone this 10-day trip. "Corona refugees" had been taken to the
nearby air force base and cruise ships were being quarantined in SF Bay.
Even
with the ramping up of the hysteria, I have never stopped walking, but
rest assured, I have never gone out and sneezed, or coughed all over
people, nor am I a serial French kisser of strangers. Because I haven't
had health insurance since 2005, I always try to stay healthy and limit
risks to that very valuable health. I don't want to get sick at all, let
alone get some random virus that no one really knows the true story. I
think this confusion of information on social media and the corporate
media is intentionally designed to keep us ill-informed, or fighting
each other and staying away from people (no protests, or in-person
gatherings, how convenient).
So,
since the beginning of March, it appeared everything was pretty normal
in my town. Everything was opened and people were still shopping, going
to school, going to the gym and parks, and eating out in restaurants.
Until Friday, March 13th when Governor Newsom closed all schools, then
like moths to a flame, or locusts to a wheat crop: Costco, Target,
Wal-Mart, grocery stores, mini-marts, etc, were cleaned out of toilet
paper, some medicines, milk, bread and canned vegetables and fruit. I
had my son's vehicle, so I was able to witness this frenzy, but not
willing to participate in yet another Black Friday--where the goal was
hoarding staples, not getting good deals on electronics or toys.
Black
Friday the 13th didn't not stop me from going out and I have been back
to my strolls around town. Again, everything was open, the stores were
packed---there were a limited stock of staples and most stores had
FINALLY put limits on how much people could buy...
...until
last night, when the Solano Health Department sent out a "Shelter in
Place" notice, which also closed all gyms, bars, theaters, spas, and, if
restaurants chose to stay open, they could only offer take out. We are
told if we are over 65, to stay home. If under 65, then if we have to go
out, we need to maintain "social distancing." Of course, if we are
showing any symptoms, then we are strongly encouraged to stay home and
stay in place until we have been symptomless for about a week. People
who call the doctor if they sneeze, begging for some big-pharma
"miracle" cure now are being told to "self-treat," unless it seems your
symptoms are getting worse.
After
the new order, I went out this morning and my town had transformed into
a ghost town literally overnight. Even though Vacaville has all the
chain restaurants and big stores, we actually have a very vibrant
downtown: with a very low vacancy rate on Main Street. Main Street is
only a few blocks, but it's always pretty busy and when it's nice, there
are concerts in Andrews Park or Town Square. The lack of cars on the
streets reminded me of early Sunday morning and the picture below shows a
stretch of Main Street that at 8 AM would usually be filled with the
parked cars of people going to Pure Grain Bakery or the popular
breakfast spot: The Heritage House (fyi: not my favorite).
Main Street at 8 AM: Usually bustling
I
frequently walk through close by Andrews Park in the morning, and there
could be at least 20 homeless there after the shelters kick them out
for the day---I didn't see anyone in the park except two cop cars. I
hope this bodes well for homeless people, since their main hub (phone
charging, internet usage, weather avoiding) the Town Square Library (and
all of our libraries) is closed. I saw some health department twit from
a neighboring county recently say, "the homeless are exempt from these
regulations, but they need to find shelter as soon as possible." What a
stupid thing to say! As if our most vulnerable (every day of the year,
not just during public health scares) will all of a sudden get the means
and opportunities to find shelter. Then, when most people are out of
work, they will find jobs to keep them housed? The handling of this
crisis by the U.S. government is magnitudes worse than most other
governments and maybe we shall get into a discussion of that in one of
my future posts.
This
brings me to another point. I follow many holistic health blogs, or
practitioners and one of them had a Coronavirus Town Hall with about
eight doctors, or other health specialists. I sat there watching in
shock as they all bragged about how "lucky" they are to have months and
months of essentials in stock and how happy they are now that they don't
have to travel and they can spend more time with their children, and
meditate, catch up on their reading, and just have a good old time
during these urgent times that are very frightening for most people. I
asked them "what about those of us that live paycheck to paycheck; or
those of us that have immune issues, or other high risk factors--how can
we look upon this disaster as "positive?" The answer was, "well, you
can take time to re-evaluate your lives and be more prepared for the
next disaster." LOL, I don't have time to listen to a bunch of elitists
who weren't offering any of their toilet paper or medicine to anyone.
I
don't watch a lot of corporate news, but I do read a lot of sites and,
as usual, the Democrats and Republicans are using this issue as just
another club to beat each other up. Sanders had something
super-political to say recently: that the best thing for the Coronavirus
issue would be for "Trump to shut up." Yeah, that'll do it Bernie! One
thing I am surprised about in all the WashedUp, DeCeit efforts is that
besides bailing out Wall Street and other wealthy industries, they are
also talking about bailing us out, too. We'll see.
Los Reyes Restaurant on Main St
Even
though it's apparently a crime against humanity for me to leave my
house, since I am over 60, (but less than 65) I still plan to walk,
walk, then walk some more. One Dr. recently said that those that sought
osteopaths during the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 had lower mortality
rates because they were told to get fresh air, sunlight, and exercise to
keep their lymphatic systems flowing. Sounds like a good plan to me.
All
of my children and their partners are off work because of the reaction
to the virus, but the only thing that has changed for my activist work
is that I am not traveling, and frankly, the break from airplanes is
definitely a good thing for me. I am even going to update this blog
every day from "A Sheltered Life."
I
am also voluntarily sheltering myself from social media---it has just
turned into a clusterf#ck of bad information and negativity. Not that I
am saying there is nothing to be worried about, there obviously is, but
most USAians just don't understand a few things:
1)
The US government and its servants are never going to allow a "good
crisis" to "go to waste." Rahm Emanuel---democratic politician
2)
The USG and its servants will never tell you the truth and is, in fact,
relishing in all of these police state measures they are forcing on us.
I don't think we've seen the worst of the measures, unfortunately.
3)
STRESS is the number one factor that will lead to chronic or serious
illness. For me, to reduce this stress, I am curtailing social media for
now and NOT social distancing myself from my close family who shares
everything, including germs. A day without grandchildren is like a day
without sunshine.
4)
Constant arguing about every little damn thing is going to turn us
into a nation of bitter trolls. Come out from under that bridge!
Me in front of my closed gym at 8 am
Usually, the parking lot would be full.
(Mask to make other people more comfortable)
There are a lot of "stats" flying around out there and they all contradict each other, so these are my personal stats.
Me: Fine, never felt better
My family: Fine, no illness
My friends: Fine, no illness
My acquaintances: Fine, no illness
What I watched today:
Season One of Patriot the
story of a depressed U.S. intelligence agent who gets into all kinds of
trouble trying to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. It's very
funny and surprising.
(Amazon Prime---sorry, I'm sheltered)
What I read today:
I finished The Boy from the Woods, the newest Harlan Coben book. (No review, just look it up) 4 stars from me.
I would love to hear how you all are doing!
Comment on this post, or email me at:
CindySheehansSoapbox@gmail.com
Please be well and very soon we will again raise hell!
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