3/18
I took a walk. I passed within six feet of somebody coming out of his house. When I was twenty feet away I heard him cough. I will try not to think about this for the next fourteen days. I also saw some good dogs. From a distance. People are visibly crossing the street to avoid passing other people on the sidewalk. That includes me (although, to be honest, it's not such a deviation from my usual behavior, because I like talking to myself).
Mark called in an order to that same neighborhood bar-and-grill and picked it up from their parking lot. He didn't have to get out of the car or sign the receipt. We ate it from paper containers at our table. The kids had bottled root beers delivered, and I drank a beer I found in the fridge. The nachos, one box with jalapeños and one without, were cold, but comforting.
3/17
Mark went for a run. Nobody else left the house. We finished watching Avatar: The Last Airbender.
3/16
I took a walk. I didn't pass anyone closely. People were not crossing the street, just stepping off the sidewalk and smiling sheepishly to let each other pass with a wide berth. Nobody else left the house. We still had episodes of Avatar left.
3/15
Sunday morning. Mark convinced me to take a trip to the local natural-foods store, which is considerably smaller and more expensive than the regular grocery store, and also very close to the house. I went around 9 AM. It was busy on a level that's normal for 4:30 p.m. on a weekday. I wore gloves and didn't spend any time close to any shoppers, but I did prematurely flee the bulk coffee dispensers when a man next to me started coughing. I guess I might have spent an hour there. Of course, I "came in contact" with the cashier. Bagged my own groceries in bags I brought from home. Normally I forget to bring them. I bought five gallons of milk.
3/14
Woke up in a Hampton Inn in Mitchell, South Dakota. Ate breakfast in the breakfast room: we made the smaller kids sit down and fetched their food for them, so they wouldn't run all over. Left a double tip for the housekeeper, repacked our van, and drove back to Minneapolis. Stopped for a bathroom break, maybe fuel too, at a Kum-and-Go in Adrian, MN, and got lunch from a McDonald's drive-thru in Worthington, MN. There may have been other fuel stops and bathroom stops. I don't remember. We ate the McDonald's food in the car in the parking lot and got back on I-90 to get home. Arrived at our house, parked the van in the front, turned the water back on. Fortunately, I'd forgotten to throw out the milk in the fridge. I made some chili. We settled in.
3/13
Mark worked from home till early afternoon. I had a dentist appointment at my regular dentist at 8:20 a.m. I definitely came into extremely close contact with the hygienist and the dentist. My 16yo walked to the natural foods store, I think, in the afternoon, too. We cleaned up, threw out the food from the fridge that wouldn't last, turned off the water in the house, turned on some lights, put the small car in the garage, and headed out West for our weeklong ski vacation.
We chose a Perkins for dinner, I think the one in North Mankato, because we felt a sit-down chain restaurant would be complying with hygiene orders from corporate; also, it was Friday and they have pancakes. We weren't wrong; the manager explained about how the jelly caddies and bowls of creamer had been taken off the table, and we were handed menus still glossy from having been wiped down. The waitress kept her distance. I tipped her very well. Then (there must have been a fuel stop; maybe it was at the same off-ramp as the Perkins?) past Sioux Falls to Mitchell, SD, where we got a room big enough for all six of us in a Hampton Inn. After Mark checked in---I suppose he must have come in contact with the desk clerk he gave me one of the key cards and I went in with a tote bag full of cleaning supplies. After I finished pre-cleaning my own hotel room and disinfecting all the high touch surfaces, I opened a window and propped open a door to let the fumes out and texted the family to wait eight minutes and then come in. They did. We slept soon.
3/12
Mark's last day in the office. We had about a half-day of co-schooling at H's. Her mother was there, saying hi to us as she headed out and we headed in. H. had pizza delivered from Domino's. Then we went home. Mark picked up our 16yo's prescription toothpaste at the uptown grocery store. We had Chinese food delivered from a local place for our last dinner at home.
3/11
We learned that the 10yo's playdate friends had mild sniffles, so we canceled the planned playdate and everyone stayed home. The teenagers took the city bus to the climbing gym for team practice. I drove the 10yo to his weekly religious education class, where they were having Confession Night. Then to the grocery store, where I bought mostly nonperishable items to stock the kitchen in our vacation rental, but also some extra cleaning supplies. I finished quickly enough that I had time to pick up the 10yo after his class; Mark picked up the teens, probably waiting in the car in the parking lot for them.
3/10
Dentist appointment for the 16yo; Mark drove him and probably sat in the waiting room. I picked up a few things from the natural foods store, just enough for dinner that evening. In the evening I met Mark in the Y parking lot and handed off the 6yo for swimming lessons and the 16yo, who wanted to lift weights. My class had been canceled. I didn't go in to run or swim, either. I hadn't, either, encouraged the other two children to go and get some exercise. It seemed imprudent. So I just went home.
3/9
At H's all day. Ran an errand to the post office to send something Priority Mail; used the self-serve payment kiosk (wore gloves) and handed the envelope directly to a postal worker who happened to be emptying the catch bins under the slots. There was no meeting for our daughter's scouting-type group that evening, so I took three children home early while Mark drove the 16yo to a scout meeting.
3/8
11 AM mass. We made the small kids keep their knitted gloves on in church. Doughnuts and coffee afterward. But we stayed at our own table. I made a trip to the somewhat fancy grocery store to pick up charcuterie items for dinner, and also to Walgreens to stock up on hand soap, disinfectant, cleaning supplies, and the like. I laid out the table and we ate; H. and her teens showed up and scarfed down some of it; then she and I and all four of the teens piled into my van to go see Twelfth Night at the Guthrie. We arrived with just enough time to buy drinks in the express cafe to carry into the theater; of course, I spent time in line, and with the two staffers behind the counter. As for the play: It was a wonderful production. A packed house. Great acoustics, too: from our balcony seats (row N) I heard every cough.
3/7
Breakfast at my favorite Saturday breakfast spot. I had a table to myself, though of course a server came around and refilled my coffee, and I paid at the counter, and waited in line with a couple of other people. I sat there from 7:30 to nearly 10:30, reading; and then decided to go for a walk around Bde Maka Ska. It wasn't too crowded, even though the ice had almost melted off the paths. Meanwhile: The 16yo went to his last Swedish class at the Institute, and Mark took the 10yo to the Y for swimming lessons. He picked up milk on the way home. The 16yo, newly accepted onto the intermediate climbing team, and visibly excited, went to his very first Sunday evening practice for it. I don't remember if he took the bus.
3/6
I went to the Y to swim in the afternoon, by myself. Usually I take the kids, since there's open swim and a child care, but I didn't this time. It was lovely. The pool and locker room were uncrowded. I spent time in both women's and girls' locker rooms, because the hot water was out in the women's.
3/5
H. at our house for co-schooling. In the evening, we went to the Children's Theatre to see Spamtown, USA --- a really well-done production, seriously -- in the smaller Cargill theatre, packed on padded benches. Before they let us into the theatre the smaller children ran around in the lobby, tracing the spiral-patterned tiles on the floor, with numerous other waiting children, as the space was designed to allow; and they used communal art supplies that had been set out for us; and the teens bought candy from the concession stand with their own money. After the show we went to our usual bar and grill, the one where they know us and we know them; ordered root beers for the kids and drinks for Mark and me, and dinner for all: but first, two big platters of steaming hot nachos, one with jalapeños and one without, the cheese coming away in long melty strings.
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