The View from the Hermitage, Day 157

My mom's assisted living facility called me late yesterday afternoon to report that the most recent round of covid-19 testing had so far yielded two positive results. My mom was not one of them, fortunately. That said, her results had not yet come back. One of the positive cases was a team member (I have a problem with staffs becoming teams unless it's in athletics) who would have had no contact with residents such as my mom. The other was a resident on the memory care floor, and residents on that floor stay on that floor. There's no contact between them and other residents. Of course, the staff/team member who had no contact with residents probably had contact with other staff/team members who do have such contact, so we're not out of the woods there yet. I spoke with my mom this afternoon, and she said one of the physical therapists had told her a letter was being drafted to explain everything. They were just wrestling with how to explain things. I replied that it made sense to me to wait to send a letter until all the results had come back. I also noted that I used to write such missives and reports professionally, but they probably wouldn't welcome my assistance. 

And so I wait. I've alerted the immediate family, reporting that I'll keep them posted. I'm doing a good job so far of not worrying. It helps that at this point there's not a damned thing I could do other than conjure up some of the thoughts and prayers we're always encouraged to offer in response to school shootings. Speaking of which, could we possibly make it through a semester with no school shootings? On the other hand, if kids are learning virtually, does that make an in-home shooting a school shooting? Might we have even more school shootings if that's the case?

Older son reported that he'd read that 20 percent of Harvard's incoming freshmen had deferred, opting to take a gap year instead of enrolling this fall. I can't say I blame them, though it will be interesting to see what activities they use to fill that gap year. International ones will be hard to come by, at least until the US gets its act together regarding the coronavirus. If they've already been accepted, though, they might be able to play a little looser in terms of what they do for the year. I doubt they'll have to submit a written report. The essay "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" won't necessarily evolve into "What I Did During My Gap Year." Or will it?

The case numbers in Virginia are staying on the lower side. They're not down to what they were before Phase 3 of reopening started, but they're looking a lot better than they were. I'll wait until late September before I declare victory. The university starts in-person classes on September 8. That's a Tuesday meaning there will be off-campus, probably frat parties the weekend before. A week to 10 days after that, everything may go fully online. I can actually see undergrads here viewing it as UNC-Chapel Hill lasted a week. We can shut things down faster than that. We can infect ourselves and others faster than they can. Sad, but likely to happen.

I put in another Amazon order this afternoon. The things one can order! Like bobby pins to hold back the bangs I swore I'd never again grow or grow out. I actually wasn't sure they would have bobby pins, but they had quite the selection. The husband and I should decide on new rugs for the living and dining rooms in the next day or two. After those get ordered (not from Amazon but from Flor.com) and installed, I can move on to curtains or drapes. I am far from a polished decorator, though. I do have standards, though. I decided that the end table on the sofa and love seat should match, so they both now have wooden file cabinets scavenged from an office closing to move everyone home. I draw the line at using metal file cabinets, but these are great. Each has at least one desk-style drawer. This means that the husband has a place for the crossword puzzle books he uses plus, more importantly, there is now a designated drawer for the remote. No more will we be searching sofa cushions, shelves, or coffee and end tables for it. It will be in its proper drawer, at least once I train the husband to return it there each night.