Alas! COVID19 Caught Up With All of Us.

 Dear Joanie,

    First, I need to tell you that your Great Grandfather Dougie has been very, very ill with COVID, probably the Omicron variant that I talked about in my last letter. He is all right now, and soon will be fine. That's important for you to know as you continue reading.  

    Dougie started coughing around January 4. We thought he was catching a cold. When I went for my weekly COVID test, I told Angelina, who was giving out those swabs--long, skinny sticks with cotton on the tip that we have to stick up our nostrils and then swirl around a bit--I told her that I'd take Dougie's up to him because he had a cold. But instead, Angelina sent me to Beth, the nurse, who then grabbed a couple of rapid COVID tests. She and I walked back to our apartment, where she gave Dougie the test. 

    For the rapid test, you have to use the same cotton swab and do the same thing with your nose. Then, the swab is put in a little folder with a window in it. When Dougie did the test. we all watched that little window like hawks homing in on their prey. Here's the way the rapid test works: if one little pink line appears in the window, you have tested negative. You don't have COVID. If two  parallel pink lines appear in the window, you have tested positive. You do have COVID.

    It takes about 15 minutes. After 10 minutes, there was just one pink line. Nurse Beth left our apartment and said she'd let us know if two pink lines showed up. We went about our business. Five minutes later, Nurse Beth knocked on our door. She showed Dougie the two pink lines. She had all kind of protective equipment, which she placed outside our door along with this sign:

We were quarantined. That was a Monday, January 3, 2022. 

    At first, it was just a major annoyance and frustration. But I want to be clear. We in no way wanted to break our quarantine. We understood how contagious Dougie was, and we didn't want to infect other people. But still. We could not leave our apartment, even to walk our dog. I spent time canceling appointments, finding a dog walker, figuring our how to hand off Shelby Poodle to a walker and keep a 12' distance, how to get food, making phone calls. But we weren't too worried. Everything we had read about the Omicron variant was that vaccinated and boostered people were getting lighter cases of it.

    We just needed to endure 10 days of not leaving our apartment. Or so we thought. But then, Dougie begin to feel bad, then a little worse, until by Saturday morning, I couldn't wake him up, and when he finally did wake up, he was confused and disoriented, with a deep, highly congested cough. I watched from our sixth floor window as the ambulance took him away. I was not allowed to got to the ER with him.  He was so sick that I didn't know if I would see him again. He was so sick that the hospital called to make sure I had Power of Attorney, so that I could make decisions that he was incapable of making. 

    They pumped him full of COVID drugs, antiviral and antibiotic medications, and he began to respond. 

    On Monday, January 10, I tested positive for COVID.  I wasn't surprised, because on Sunday I began to have a cough and felt tired. I am the "light case" that we've heard so much about with Omicron. But light case or serious case, it doesn't matter; I was quarantined for 10 more days. It was agonizing for me because it meant almost a full two weeks before I would get to see Dougie. In the meantime, he was transferred to a rehab facility, where he is now, so that he can get stronger and come home. Shelby and I were able to see him yesterday when my quarantine was finally over. 

He still has a way to go before he's fully recovered, but I think he'll be able to come home in a few days. He's now only slightly confused about where he is and what happened to him. He has some trouble finding the right words. Today, he couldn't think of "quarantine." He said "house arrest" instead. Actually, he wasn't far off.

    This is our COVID world right now, Joanie.  When you do your research, you will want to go to The New York Times, which publishes updates daily on cases, deaths, and hospitalizations, using color coded maps. Many hospitals right now are at capacity, most of them filled with people who have refused to get vaccinated. Dougie got so sick because he had what is called an "underlying condition." his blood cancer.

    And you Ms Joan--you have also tested positive, along with your father, and I think your parents  and Coco are having quite the challenge keeping you quarantined. Stay well! I hope my next letter will show you Dougie's recovery.

Love,

GG Katie

It's 2022! We Still Wear Masks, We've Had Some Snow, You are On the Run!

 Dear Joanie,

    Somehow, December 2021 swept right on by, dry as it could be and pretty warm. In Colorado, this kind of weather in December is unsettling. We love the snow and the cold (well, not the bitter cold, such as we had two nights ago), and we love the seasons. Most of us scan the ten-day weather report with furrowed brows, frowning and shaking our heads when we look for snow in the forecast and see none.

    Finally, on New Year's day, we had about four inches here and even more in the mountains and now everyone is out running and walking, sledding and skiing. There must have been 50 kids sledding at Scott Carpenter Park this morning when Shelby and I took our walk. Everything seemed normal.

    Except. On New Year's Eve, Boulder County had a fierce windstorm with gusts up to 120 miles per hour. A small little grass fire started in a field and exploded into a full-blown fire devastating two towns, burning down almost 1.000 buildings, and leaving about 10,000 people without electricity or water. Most people whose homes did survive are still waiting for water and heat. The high on Saturday was 12 degrees. Such a tragedy. People are now searching for places to live, clothes to wear, cars to drive. Mostly everyone is in shock.  Usually little grass fires can be put out easily. When we think of fires in Colorado, we think of forest fires. But this one was on the plains, with hardly a tree in sight. Dougie and I watched the flames from our 6th floor window as they topped the hill just outside Boulder. Climate change. I know I keep bringing it up, but here it is. We are living with it now.

    Our Christmas was family. Your great uncle Andre had his birthday on December 24. We were able to keep our long-standing tradition of sushi, eating at Hapa on the downtown mall, outside, in 30-degree weather. COVID has made innovators of all kinds; we had heated seat cushions and propane heaters overhead. Here we are on his 44th birthday:

Speaking of COVID.

    We have a new, high contagious variant, Omicron.  As of right now, everyone I know knows someone who has had COVID. And several of my friends and relatives have had COVID themselves, with varying degrees of sickness. At the Carillon, the restaurant is closed, and food is delivered to our apartment. We must wear masks in all public places. We're tested for COVID twice a week. Hospitals in many states are beyond capacity, with most patients being those who refused to get vaccinated. It's shameful. People are once again putting traveling on hold, and some countries are on a "no travel" list. We are almost in our second year of COVID, and we realize now that it will likely become part of our lives, like the flu, when the pandemic is over, whenever that might be.

    The good news is always about you. Your mother posted a picture of you in your "No!" mode last week. You are approaching what we call "The Terrible Twos," but really you are beginning to realize that you are an individual apart from your mother, and the best way to express that is to say "No!" In fact, when your mother was turning two, your grandmother Coco and I were on the phone trying to have a conversation, but I could hear you in the background crying and saying "No!" I asked Coco what was wrong, and Coco said, "I just made brownies and gave one to Brett so I could talk on the phone. She's saying "No!" to getting the brownie, but crying because she really wants it." 

    Finally, I'm going to post my spaghetti sauce recipe pretty soon. I'm famous for it.

    Until next time,

    GG Katie