Finally Covid

 Two weeks ago, I started having cold symptoms -- scratchy throat and coughing overnight. I tested at home. Negative for Covid. I tested a few more times throughout the week and continued to be negative as my voice took on a deep throaty sound. 

While I lay about in bed, spring finally arrived here in the South of France. 

Some friends suspected it was allergies, others diagnosed me with a cold. 

On Wednesday, I was feeling bad enough that I told Earl he could go to a checkup doctor appointment without me. 

On Sunday we were scheduled to go to a ski resort with some friends. I decided to test one more time on Saturday. Surprise! I had Covid. I don't know at what point I went from cold or allergies to Covid, but I had tested negative throughout, until I didn't anymore.

Some people say those at home tests don't work, but when I tested for Covid, the line for positive appeared within seconds. There was no need to wait 10 or 15 minutes. I walked down to the pharmacy for an official test and they confirmed that I had Covid. In France, if you have a medical card (Carte Vitale), the test is free if you have symptoms or have been in contact with someone who had Covid. The pharmacy test result included a code that I could scan to the Covid app, and it would notify people who had come in contact with me. 

I cancelled our hotel reservations and isolated in our bedroom suite -- bedroom, office with terrace and bathroom. (It sounds more plush than it is, at least until the bathroom gets redone in June.) I didn't feel horrible: just a headache, fever and tired. For three days, I stayed upstairs, sleeping frequently, requesting a pitcher of water so I could refill at my leisure. Earl made me meals and ran to the store for things we needed. Until he tested positive on Tuesday. 

Then we figured we could just have a Covid house instead of a Covid suite of rooms. 

Once I was allowed to roam the house, I made a big pot of chicken noodle soup. 

After five days of resting, I tested negative in a home test. The next day I went to the pharmacy and they confirmed that I was negative. Friends, of course, were so helpful, going to the store to pick up groceries and offering lots of help while we were both sick. 

Now we're on day 8. Earl, who previously didn't believe the at-home tests worked, is continuing to test positive. The tests cost 1.95 euros per test at the grocery. Since Earl is still positive, but I feel I have a golden pass for a couple of months, I've gone out to meet with friends for coffee or walks, but I am getting a bit anxious to resume our busy social life. 

So far, none of our friends have said they caught it from us. That is one thing I worried about. 

Thank goodness for the vaccine which made my case of Covid so mild. I know people who still struggle with breathing difficulties two years after their initial case of Covid. 

The illness was worse than a cold but definitely not as bad as the flu, for me. But perhaps the healing process was helped by being forced to isolate so I had days to just rest so I could get better. 

Life Under Lockdown in China -- From a Child's Eyes

I teach English to Chinese kids on the computer. Each day, I get to peek into their homes and talk to the kids.

Me teaching at a friend's house at the end of January. 

Some of them have very limited English skills and others can elaborate on what is going on since they have been quarantined in their apartments at the end of January. Not just students in WuHan, the starting point of the Coronavirus, but people all over China have been hunkered down, required to shelter in place since their winter holidays, before Chinese New Year.
Think about that! Many of the children, who live in apartments, have not stepped outside for nearly six weeks.
As I waited for Sam, a regular student of mine, I saw a note that his 11th birthday was approaching.
"Sam, is it your birthday?" I asked when he appeared.
"Tomorrow," he said grinning.
I knew I had to tread carefully. I couldn't ask about a party because he was isolated from all his friends.
"Will you celebrate with your mom and dad?" I asked. "Will mom bake you a cake?"
He blinked a few times then said, looking down, "My mom is a doctor."
And I realized that Sam's mom would not be there for his birthday because she is out on the front lines, unable to return to her family and risk bringing the virus home to them.
About four weeks into the isolation period, I noticed a string of male students trying to hide hair cuts. Apparently four weeks is the amount of time that parents can stand to let their sons' hair grow before taking matters into their own hands.
Kevin tugged on bangs that rose high above his eyebrows. "My mom cut my hair," he whined.
"It's okay," I assured him.
"It's not."
At the time, he didn't know that it would have weeks to grow before anyone in China would see it.
Another regular student, Patrick, who had sported a bowl cut of thick black hair, arrived in class with his hands clasped in front of his face and forehead.
"Did your mom cut your hair?" I asked gently to the boy who was obviously upset.
He moved his hands and revealed a bald head.
"My dad shaved it," he said. Patrick is often an annoying student and I had determined to be firm with him about staying on track, but instead I tiptoed around him that day, feeling his wounds.
Some of the students are lucky.
Helen had traveled to the countryside to stay with her grandmother for the winter holidays when the travel ban went into effect. She explained that her grandmother lived on a farm, she had chickens and lots of vegetables canned and stored. Helen could go outside and play, alone, but outside, nevertheless. Until one day when it snowed and her Mom wouldn't let her go outside in the snow because there could be germs in the snow, Helen said.
Other students who traveled for the holidays were not so lucky.
Ethan, a loquacious 6-year-old, lives in Macau, a tropical area in southern China, kind of a Chinese Florida.
When I saw Ethan after the schools had been closed, I asked whether schools were closed in Macau.
"I'm not in Macau," Ethan said. "We came to Beijing for Chinese New Year."
Now he and his family are stuck in Beijing, unable to travel to their home in Macau.
I talked to Ethan earlier this week with more than six weeks isolated in Beijing. "When can you return to Macau?" I asked him.
"Maybe April," he said. "I think I should be able to go to Macau now!"
"I wish you could," I agreed with him.
"At least you're healthy," I said to Ethan, and I say that  to each child I teach when we talk about the quarantines that they are under.
I wonder how this quarantine will change their lives. Will the school systems change? Will the parents change what is expected of their children each day? They are all overachievers who rarely find time to play or watch TV, instead focusing on academic pursuits.
For six weeks, they've had abbreviated studies. They've drawn pictures and played games with their siblings or parents. They've watched some TV or played video games.
This virus may change their entire outlook.
Or, they might work harder than ever, cancelling summer vacation to catch up.

Managing My Berkshire Expectations

When my kids were swimming competitively, there was a tshirt that read: "If I have but one day to live, please take me to a swim meet because they last forever."
That has kind of become my motto this summer. If I were facing the end of my life, these days in the Berkshires stretch interminably in front of me.
How many are left?

But who's counting?

What did I think it would be like spending the summer in the Berkshires? Well, I knew it would be cool (as in the weather), and it has been. 

I guess I pictured the Berkshires like the Catskills or the Poconos. The kind of places you see on television from Dirty Dancing or The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. 

A scene from the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in the Catskills

Perhaps there'd be dinners out and boating and games. 

I didn't plan for no cell service and the closest neighbors being not close at all. 

Don't get me wrong. I know some people would adore being isolated in the woods, maybe people with high-stress jobs who just want to get back to nature. 

And it is beautiful here in places, not unlike where my parents grew up in Kentucky.

The tiger lilies bloom later up here 

We have had some ventures into towns. I would say nearby, but truthfully, the closest towns are 45 minutes to an hour drive.

Last week we drove to Northampton, having no preconceived notions about it. Why did we go there? To work in a Starbucks. (I know, Theresa, but we all make compromises sometimes) My writing has stalled and I hoped that by returning to a coffee shop, I might jump start it. 

Instead, a man sat down at the communal table with me and Earl and began telling us his life story. 

Still, Northampton is an interesting town. The most liberal town in Massachusetts, where Smith College is located. 

Luckily, I wore an Indian designed top so felt right at home amidst the tie-dyed shirts and bright colors.

A shop window in Northampton

There were lots of people asking for money on the street and several musicians busking, even on a weekday afternoon.

Best of all, there was a candy shop called Sweeties. I took a picture and sent it to my friend Derrick. Sweeties is what the Brits call candy and I'm trying to make his niece and nephew learn American English so they have to ask me for candy instead of Sweeties. 

Jelly beans, fudge, chocolate, runts...

We also found a book shop, so the trip was definitely worth it.

On Sunday, we traveled two hours to Saratoga Springs, New York. Earl has a friend there that he went to Ohio State with in the journalism department. I had never met Barb and her husband Jim, but now I regret all those years we didn't know each other. We had a delightful time. 

A beautiful copper roof on the new building. The original building was built is 165 years old. 

The horses sweaty after a race. 

We went to the racetrack and spent about $20 betting on horses. Earl won $10 and my horses sometimes were limping so I was very bad at choosing.

Afterward we walked downtown. It's a very civilized town and even had an Aveda shop, which I've been searching for. I bought some new moisturizer and felt like I might be able to survive the remaining days in the Berkshires.

So, it's a lot of driving to get to anywhere, and most days, we don't leave our big, but cluttered house with the old dog and two mischievous cats. I've been walking every morning after I teach. I've managed to run down hill some, but I'm still having pain in my ribs from my fall so can't push it uphill because of that thing.. oh, yeah, breathing. It hurts to breath too deeply. 

We plan to go tubing, maybe Friday or Saturday. Apparently, there's a reservoir that lets water into the river on Wednesday, so the river is not high enough for tubing early in the week. Some things are still a mystery to me here. 

There's also kayaking for another day. And we even spotted a zipline. 

We're spacing out our fun activities so we always have something to look forward to.