Quarantine 2020: Day 15

March 28th, 2020
​Lexington, Virginia

Quarantine!

Along with the vast majority of Americans, and for that matter, the majority of human beings on the planet, Alison and I have been quarantining ourselves in an attempt to avoid COVID-19. Today is our 15th day in quarantine, which we've spent entirely in Lexington. If you need to stay home, you might as well stay in your vacation home!

During this time, I have been quite busy with work. Busier, in fact, than I've been in years. Go figure. Alison, on the other hand, is on vacation. She objects to that designation, but given the amount of sewing, hiking and kayaking she's been doing, it sure looks like a vacation to me.

No one in our extended family has contracted the virus, so that's a good thing. On the other hand, we're staying away from all of them, out of an abundance of caution. One keeps hearing how older folks and people with underlying medical conditions are at the greatest risk, and given my recent health history, I definitely fall into the latter category.

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Legos and fabric

While Alison has been spending her free time lovingly fondling her beloved scraps of fabric (see photo above), I have spent mine working on a 2000-piece Lego model of the NASA Apollo Saturn V rocket (see photos below). One is never too old for Legos!

My partner in Lego Crime is Dave Norman, Nancy's dad. I sent him the rocket, he put it together and admired it on the mantelpiece for a month or so, and then disassembled it and sent it to me. He's now working on the NASA Apollo Lunar Lander. So many Legos; so little time!

Matt and Ginger sitting in a tree...

My brother Matt and his girlfriend Ginger had intended to tie the knot on April 18th. As bad luck would have it, it's not a good time for large celebrations with people in close quarters. So, they've postponed the wedding until November. Let's all hope that we're out of quarantine by then!

2020 New Year's Card 

For those of you who are not on our holiday card list, I've posted this year's letter here. The list is currently 178 friends and families strong, and we're shooting for a cool 200, so if you'd like to get on the list, just let me know. These blog entries tend to be infrequent, but you can always depend on our annual New Year's Card.

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Our very favorite Abby

We were blessed with a visit from our very favorite niece, Abby Noga (pictured, on the right). She came to Lexington for the weekend with three of her college friends from Clemson. Having graduated a year ago, Abby is working at the bottom rung of the medical profession and trying to decide which ladder to ascend: doctor, nurse, physician's assistant, or nurse practioner. We look forward to her decision!

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Music

My travels around YouTube continue, as I search for new and interesting music. A couple of months back, I discovered a group named Scary Pockets. Their angle is that they perform covers of popular songs with a distinctly funky feel. I find their music infectious! Here are a few of my favorites:

Tidbit

The 1918 flu pandemic was commonly known as the Spanish flu. It lasted from 1918 to 1920, infected a quarter of the world's population (500 million people) and killed between 20-50 million of them.

To maintain morale during World War I, most war-torn countries minimized early reports of illness and mortality. The exception was Spain — neutral during the war — whose press were free to report the effects of the epidemic. These reports created the false impression that Spain was especially hard hit, giving rise to the epidemic's nickname, Spanish flu. The actual origin of the epidemic was never adequately identified.

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