Overwhelmed by horror = writer's block.

Dear Reader,

I am overwhelmed with horror at the events unfolding in my part of the country. The tragedy of COVID-19 that is ongoing downstate is marching its way into my region of New York. I've recently come to the realization that there is just no way to 'dodge' this. It's simply a matter of time until one of us becomes infected. Then it is a question of if we're part of the asymptomatic population or the part of the population that shows symptoms. I've spent the last several weeks following this stuff in the news.

The state and local government response were impeded by bad information about this virus. They're being impeded by bullshit behavior by the federal government. As I have been doing my best to stay informed about all of this, I am coming to the horrific realization that we're going to be decimated as a nation because of this. All because of a narcissist who doesn't want to look bad and get himself another term in office. This is emotionally traumatizing in a bigger way than the terrorist attacks in 2001 were because it is a longer lasting event. It is more traumatizing because we are literally helpless and trapped. There is no way to escape COVID-19 any more than there was to escape the Black Death.

I take some hope in the fact that basic hygiene is one of the first effective steps to protect oneself from this thing. I also find hope in the fact that social distancing may work to keep more of us alive. I just fear that the social distancing measures were put into place too late. I fear that there are people who are not taking this seriously and still think it's just like the flu. The worst part is, some of those people are in the government. I've been so overwhelmed by these thoughts that I barely can focus to write in my daily journal.

I attempt to soothe my anxiety with hand crafts. I made a shawl and I'm currently working on a scarf or two right now. It just doesn't seem to quite work to make my mind stop racing and make my heart stop hurting so much. I'm trying to find the words to work on my fictional world and such. It is very hard to, right now, because so much is going on.

This is on top of the fact that we're presently home-schooling the kids as school is not in session and are still working out the bugs in the distance learning program that they're putting into place.