Living, Loving, (and Going to the ER) in the Time of Coronavirus, Spring Continues in Seattle, Virtual or Faux AWP

Red quince blossoms

Spring Continues in Seattle, Despite Everything

The time change is here, and with it, spring is showing signs of moving in; early cherries and plums are blooming, quince, forsythia. Birds are returning, like a family of quail I spotted in the backyard, and red house finches. Emerald City Comic Con has been rescheduled. My husband has been in the house more than usual, as working from home is encouraged. We’ve been avoiding unnecessary human interactions we might have done without thinking; going to the bookstore or stopping to get flowers. Nature remains a great companion, even during an epidemic. Books, too.

Living, Loving, and Going to the ER In the Time of Coronavirus

So, as nature continues to blaze ahead despite the troubles of humans, we cannot avoid the grim news. As of today, we’ve had 102 confirmed Coronavirus cases and 17 deaths in Washington State, and still our Coronavirus testing ability is pretty limited (despite promises from the government to the contrary.) Schools are closing. Every tech company has asked its employees to work from home. Social distancing and hand washing are encouraged. Stores shelves have been emptied of: bottled water, toilet paper, bleach, cold medicine, in some stores, canned goods, even Spam. Hand sanitizer and masks have been gone since two weeks ago. Glenn and I are spending a lot of time together – I mean, togetherness has a new meaning when you’re immune-compromised during an extremely contagious, fairly unknown outbreak.

This virus has changed the way we do some things; Glenn has had groceries dropped off at his car instead of going into the grocery store; I ordered books to be shipped instead of going into the bookstore. I text with my friends instead of seeing them in person.

Notes from an ER visit in the Epicenter: I had an unavoidable ER visit. I dreaded doing it, but so sick I could no longer stand on Friday night and with my PCP’s advice, we decided to go (and no, it’s not Coronavirus.) Glenn drove me fifteen minutes to the Redmond Swedish ER. (I live about a mile from Evergreen Kirkland, where most of the Coronavirus deaths have taken place; we avoided it.) I had him check in with the front desk to make sure they were okay for us (some hospitals are overwhelmed.) There was only one other patient at the hospital when I went, and everybody I encountered was friendly, gracious and wearing masks, paper clothing covers, and gloves in a flurry of safe practices. The ER doctor confided she was nervous that she hadn’t been informed about best practices or a treatment protocol for Coronavirus yet.  She was super helpful; I left two liters of IV fluid heavier, with two prescriptions, a copy of all my labs, practical advice, and feeling much better. The day receptionist said they had had too many worried patients coming in with coughs who should have been meeting with PCPs or allergists (flu and allergy season are still happening, after all) and the night receptionist told me he’d been grocery shopping at night with a mask and gloves. Everyone was concerned that they didn’t have enough Coronavirus tests. But they had just gotten a shipment of masks with face screens. Not every medical worker is lucky enough to have them.

Disability, Germs, and Smart Hubs

Because we live in a high-tech city, I had a conversation with the doctor and nurse about how a smart home hub might help me both decrease germs in the house and make me feel more independent with my disability; I ordered the Echo Smart Hub the next day. They pointed out not touching light switches, tv remotes, door locks, etc as much as possible helps to not spread germs, and I can avoid injuries with MS by turning on lights with my voice or unlocking a door. I also got tips about killing germs on hard and soft surfaces. I’ve never used as much bleach as I have in the last two weeks in my life, and every tech device has been alcohol-wiped to an inch of its life. Technology, I have to admit, might make this particular pandemic outbreak a little less terrible, because now we can have food shipped to our houses, kids can do their classes online, we can even visit with our families via Facetime instead of in person to avoid getting them sick. Italy just quarantined 16 million people in an amazingly sweeping action. We haven’t had anything like that happen yet, but as new cases keep cropping up farther from here, the epicenter of the US outbreak (the other being: cruise ships) I hope we are capable to capping a serious problem across the US like they have had in China, Italy, and Iran. Bill Gates has promised money for a home coronavirus testing kit, which could help avoid spreading the germs to health-case workers. So I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the long-term effects will be. In China, non-touch screens are being introduced at fast food restaurants, orders and pickups made on phones with zero personal interaction.

Sylvia with poetry books from Open Books for FAUX AWP

Virtual or Faux AWP

Since a lot of us couldn’t go to AWP this year for various reasons, (I personally think it should have been rescheduled for the safety of immuno-supporessed people and, because, you know, you don’t want to increase germ spreading during a pandemic) we’ve been having a Virtual AWP Bookfair and a faux-AWP. I ordered books from local poetry-only bookstore Open Books, because small businesses all around Seattle are hurting (they ship for free with over $25 purchases) and because a lot of small presses were financially harmed because they had to withdraw from AWP. I also signed up for a couple of new literary magazine subscriptions, including EcoTheo and A Public Space. (A Poetry Magazine subscription was a recent gift.) I was trying to spend the money I would have spent at the bookfair had I gone. My book purchases, you might notice, are apocalyptic in theme.

I’ve also been working on pitches for essays and reviews during this extremely down downtime. And I’ve got a suite of coronavirus poems now in case anyone needs them.

Field Guide to the End of the World

I would also encourage you to please purchase a copy of Field Guide to the End of the World directly from Moon City Press, because they could not go to AWP at the last minute, and support them.  Plus, I mean, I could not think of a more timely book to read right now. I mean, look at this cover! It’s all about survival in the face of all kinds of apocalypses.

So, if you also could not make it to San Antonio, I encourage you to reach out to your favorite small presses and writers, and support them. Send your favorite writers an encouraging note, subscribe to a new literary magazine. The best part of AWP is the community aspect, and at a time when in-person communications are riskier for some of us, virtual communications go a long way.

So, wishing you an as-happy-as-possible week. Wash your hands, avoid large gatherings, disinfect your cell phone, and spend some time reading poetry instead of the news – I guarantee you’ll feel better afterwards.