COVID-19 Archives - View from the Front Porch

21 09, 2020

Pandemic Fatigue and the 2020 Craziness

By judythemorgan|2020-09-20T07:25:21-05:00September 21st, 2020|A Writer's Life, Writer's Life|0 Comments

September is the height of the hurricane season on the Texas Gulf coast. A month loaded with angst as we watch the weather forecasts. This year in particular it’s a nightmare.

Add the pandemic-induced mess of 2020 and I feel like I’m teetering on the brink of crazy.

Days run together. I lose track of what day it really is. My memory’s totally shot. Argh.

Recently, I inserted my Wii Fit DVD into the player to do my exercise. The disc wouldn’t run, I tried to eject said disk. It wouldn’t jump out.

After several failed attempts to get the disc out, I gave up. A short time later, Hubby-Dear asked me what the Wii Fit DVD was doing on the table with the TV remote.

I’d never actually inserted the disc!

Other times, I load clothes in the dryer. Come back later to fold and find I never pushed start.

Attachments don’t make it to emails I’m sending.

Multi-tasking becomes a multi-mess. Stuff ‘s misplaced constantly. Minor things, I know. But, for me it’s frustrating. It makes me crazy.

Maybe, like me, you feel you’re losing your mind while trying to keep it all together and stay focused at the same time.

Well, we’re not crazy because things aren’t normal right now. We’re coping as best we can. Any way we can.

We’re feeling stressed for very real reasons. Who wouldn’t with all the COVID-19 hype? Newscasts filled with horrid visuals of violence and civil unrest. Tropical storms spinning into hurricanes and reeking unfathomable damage. Fires burning unchecked. An ugly presidential election on the horizon.

Any one of which would be troubling alone. We’re got all of the above pounding us daily.

We have “pandemic fatigue,” which means daily stuff may take a little longer to accomplish or may not go as planned.

That’s okay.

We’re getting through these weird times. One day at a time. The next months will likely be the toughest yet. We’ll struggle more, but, I’m confident, we will come through.

All we have to do is stop and breathe. Slow, even breaths. In for one-1000, two-1000, three-1000. Out again one-1000, two-1000, three-1000. Repeat.

Seriously, STOP. Take deep breaths then proceed.

It’s helped me. So do M&Ms, but breathing is so much healthier.

Next time you’re feeling crazy and want to pull the covers back over your head, try taking a few deep breaths. I think you’ll find those provide calm in this uncalm world.

3 08, 2020

Words and Understanding What’s Meant

By judythemorgan|2020-08-02T16:10:13-05:00August 3rd, 2020|Make Me Think Monday, Writing Craft|0 Comments

Alan Greenspan once said, “I know you think you understand what you thought I said but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”

To me, the quote describes the biggest issue in communication—written or oral.

An obstacle that’s brought home to me every week with my critique partners. The way critique groups work is pages are shared weekly then participants meet – pre-COVID-19 in person, now via video chat – and discuss what was sent.

Greenspan’s quote becomes reality when we discuss what we’ve sent.

Way too often what my critique partners read is not what I wanted to convey. Sometimes it’s the way I wrote something or the words I chose. Other times it’s a total fail because my critique partners didn’t get what I meant.

It’s no mystery why this happens. Each of us brings a distinct perspective to our critiques. We’re all from unique backgrounds and geographic areas and grew up during different time periods (age span of our members is over thirty years).

Misunderstanding what’s on the page can be the kiss of death for a writer because a reader will stop reading. It’s the reason fiction writers spend hours scrambling for the perfect word and rewriting a sentence a gazillion times to capture the perfect nuance.

Reading an incorrect meaning into words–whether written or spoken–happens too often.

Finding, and using, words—spoken or written—that are mutually understood is critical for effective communication, especially in this tense, trying time with COVID-19 hovering, hurricanes lining up, and important elections on the horizon.

So, let’s disprove Mr. Greenspan’s quote and make what we say, or write, match what we mean to eliminate misunderstanding.

20 07, 2020

COVID-19 Vocabulary: A Dozen Words to Know

By judythemorgan|2020-07-20T07:55:36-05:00July 20th, 2020|Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

As a writer, and avid Scrabble player, I pay attention to the definition of words I use. This COVID-19 pandemic has introduced lots of words. I looked up these to be sure I understood the meanings.

Coronavirus refers to a large family of viruses that includes SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome). The first identified SARS strain caused a two-year outbreak in 2002.

Corona comes from the Latin word for “crown.” The virus’s physical shape resembles a crown.

Virus is from the Latin for a secretion, poison, or venom and any of a type of submicroscopic agents that cause disease, or a disease caused by such an agent. For example, the common cold is a virus. It’s caused by various viruses not related to coronavirus or flu strains.

The adjective form – viral is something widely spread within a culture, primarily through social media. Think how a Facebook post or Twitter post is said to “go viral.”

The dictionary definition for viral is something with a metaphorically poisonous effect on the mind or the soul.

A novel coronavirus means a new or different virus. In 2019 SARS-CoV-2 appeared as a new/different virus and named as COVID-19.

The acronym comes from the first two letters of each word in coronavirus and the first letter of disease, followed by the last two digits of the year in which the virus strain was identified.

Pandemic, which comes from Latin for “all people,” describes a disease widely dispersed geographically and common among populations. COVID-19 is both and therefore called a pandemic.

An epidemic is different from a pandemic. Epidemic means “among or within people” and refers to an invasive but local disease.

Pandemic is used exclusively in a scientific context, while epidemic can be used in nonscientific references.

Asymptomatic means “presenting no symptoms of disease.” The connotation for the COVID-19 pandemic is what’s significant. A person, unaware of having the disease is a risk, may spread the disease to others, who are also unsuspecting.

Morbidity— I was surprised to learn in scientific and medical contexts refers to the rate at which a population contracts a disease, not death. Mortality which measures the number of people who die from a disease.

Quarantine is the policy of restricting movement of people or goods to prevent the spread of disease or pests. To self-quarantine is to voluntarily isolate.

Vaccine is familiar word—a substance injected into the body of a person or an animal to protect it against disease. It’s generally a weakened or killed form of a bacteria or virus, and the injection forces the body to produce antibodies without suffering from full-blown symptoms or succumbing to the disease.

Herd immunity is the concept of reducing the infection risk by mass exposure to the contagion or widespread immunization. Nice concept for an ideal result, but a strategy of exposing a large population to a disease to produce herd immunity only helps the survivors. Not the many people who die or continue to suffer from chronic symptoms.

These next phrases have been used so often we all know the meaning, but just in case.

Flatten the curve is the strategy of minimizing the number of cases of a contagious disease so as not to overwhelm healthcare resources and avoid an increase in cases.

The curve is charted on a graph showing the increase in cases. Flattening is visualization of the effect on the curve so that it is a long, low hump rather than a steep spike.

Flattening the curve in a pandemic is not only about mitigating the impact on hospitals and healthcare personnel but also keeping cases down.

Shelter in place originally referred to staying inside a structure when a biological, chemical, or radioactive contamination emergency is announced rather than going outside to a shelter or evacuating to another area and being exposed.

Nowadays, the phrase means staying socially isolated as much as possible to avoid contracting (or passing on) a contagious disease.

Social distancing, meaning the interpersonal interaction of individuals, is actually 200 years old. Today’s meaning refers to physical space between oneself and others to avoid contracting a disease.

Six feet apart will likely only prevent contamination through breathing and accidental exposure from coughing or sneezing because airborne solutions can project greater distances.

That’s why wearing a mask and social distancing is recommended.

1 06, 2020

Quarantine Isn’t Something New

By judythemorgan|2020-06-01T07:58:55-05:00June 1st, 2020|Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

These COVID-19 pandemic days of self-isolation have made quarantine a common part of our vocabulary.

But did you know the word’s been around since the 9^th century?

Its quad root dates to the Proto-Indo-European or PIE language kwetwer, and linguists trace the PIE language to between 4500 BC to 2500 BC. We hear quad in words like quadruple and quadrilateral.

Quadraginta is the Latin word for forty. Quarantena referred to the desert where Jesus fasted for 40 days. In both Italian and French, the word also applied to Lent.

Today we we use the word to mean a period of isolation to prevent the spread of contagious disease.

The use of isolation traces to Middle Ages and Renaissance and the plague-ridden 14^th century when Venice required the crews of ships from afflicted countries to remain at anchor offshore for forty days before docking.

According to The Visual Thesaurus, being quarantined isn’t all bad. There are famous cases of creativity that have risen from periods of quarantine.

Shakespeare wrote King Lear
Isaac Newton worked on his theories of optics and gravitation
Giovanni Boccaccio wrote The Decameron, a book about people telling each other stories during quarantine

And stay-at-home authors create word origin searches like this to blog about. Which, if you were honest, is probably more than you wanted to know about quarantine.

What have you done while you stayed at home or quarantined during this COVID-19 pandemic?

4 05, 2020

Pandemic Stasis and The Next Thing

By judythemorgan|2020-05-04T13:28:50-05:00May 4th, 2020|Book Release Announcement|2 Comments

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic reared its head we live in a new world, a new time. It feels like we need a computer reboot.

That’s the metaphor fellow writer Kristine Kathryn Rusch coined for our current pandemic stasis, and I love it. So relatable.

Everyone’s computer has hung up at one time or another. That little circle just whirls and whirls and whirls. It’s easy to make the comparison to this pandemic stupor.

Our days whirl and merge. We wait and wait and wait for normal to return, for our lives to reboot.

There’s relief, when the circle on the computer screen stops whirling, and the computer starts up again … but there’s also worry. Will it happen again and need to be unplugged and rebooted? We can’t predict.

The pandemic quarantine is loosening in some places. That reboot causes worry. Could we end up back in total quarantine again? We don’t know.

Is a return to a pre-COVID19 is even possible? We don’t know that either.

We hope and pray for the best. While stuck in our new world, in our pandemic stasis, we get up each day, put one foot in front of the other, and do the next thing.

We take care of whatever task is next, whether it’s mindbogglingly mundane or breathtakingly scary. And then, after that, we do the next thing, and the next.

My next thing was releasing a new book, my first romantic suspense.

She’s a forty-seven year old widow who views life with rose-colored glasses while raising her grandson after her only child and his wife die in a suspicious car accident.

He’s thirty-four, a divorced, overly cautious ex-cop, who manages her shipping company. A cartel’s bomb killed his twin sons. He trusts no one.

Mysterious threats about Evie’s grandson begin to fill her email inbox at the same time drugs show up in a company shipment. When the nanny she hired against his advice disappears with the toddler, they uncover a web of lies, murder, and drug smuggling in her company.

Searching for the toddler tests their trust, even as it binds their hearts.

Pre-order Seeing Clearly here for Kindle and here for Nook.

What’s your next thing? Mine is be writing the next book.

27 04, 2020

To Mask or Not to Mask – That is the Question

By judythemorgan|2020-04-27T12:20:47-05:00April 27th, 2020|Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

Our local county judge issued an order requiring residents ages 10 and over to wear some sort of protective face covering when in public places. It goes into effect today.

Face coverings may be a homemade mask, scarf, bandana, or handkerchief, as long as it covers the nose and mouth. And there are exceptions for eating or drinking, exercising, or doing physical activities outdoors, and if wearing a face covering posed a mental, physical, safety or security risk.

Still the order raised all kinds of social media chatter and protest. Within the day, a legal challenge was issued. Did she have the authority to do so?

Consensus seems to be a resounding NO. But, so far, there’s been no rescinding.

Which led to this to-be-or-not-to-be Shakespeare question blog and my favorite thing – research.

The answer lies in the reason behind wearing a mask. Is a mask worn to protect the wearer from getting infected or is a mask worn to protect others from being infected by the wearer?

And understanding COVID19.

Research seems to show a key transmission route of COVID-19 is via droplets that fly out of our mouths — when we speak, not just when we cough or sneeze. Coupled with the known fact that people can infect others before they themselves display any symptoms — even if they never develop any illness.

Imagine the coronavirus pandemic like a wildfire. People breathing out invisible embers when they speak, cough, or sneeze. Studies show sneezing spreads embers farthest, coughing second, and speaking least.

That’s a scary image and wearing a mask begins to make sense.

Wearing a cotton mask dramatically reduces the number of virus particles emitted from our mouths by as much as 99 percent. Fewer virus particles floating around means a better chance of avoiding infection. And if infected, a better chance of only a mild illness.

Mask wearing is like the emission filter on car exhausts and chimneys. My mask protects you; your mask protects me.

It’s called public good — something we all do to that eventually helps everyone. But how much public good depends on the level of participation.

In a perfect world there be lots of good mask wearing. Unfortunately, emission filters had to be mandated to cut air pollution. I suspect that’s why our county judge put out her order mandating mask wearing.

6 04, 2020

Finding Inner Calm in A Coronavirus World

By judythemorgan|2020-04-05T10:04:04-05:00April 6th, 2020|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

We’re living in a pandemic world filled with distraction and stress. That’s a big problem for our bodies that crave homeostasis (a relatively stable internal state despite changes in the world outside).

So how can we reconcile our body’s need for inner calm when what’s happening in our world is out of our control?

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

Here are some experts’ suggestions I found to consider:

Have A Morning and Evening Routine

Wake Up at the Same Time Every Day

Our circadian rhythm (aka our internal clock) sets itself by the time at which it sees daylight each morning. Our bodies need consistent sleep.

Eat Breakfast

Eating breakfast keeps our hormones from crashing and helps fend off anxiety and depression later in the day.

Soak in Sunshine

Light combats depression. If you’re not comfortable walking with a mask, or can’t, open the shades or blinds and stand by a window or door, or pull a chair outside.

Go to Bed at the Same Time Every Night

This maybe even harder than getting up at the same time every morning. But disciplining ourselves to a regular bedtime that allows for ample sleep (at least eight hours according to experts) does make a difference in our daily health and energy.

Shut Off Electronic Devices Early in the Evening AND turn Off the Screens

This will help ward off Internet brain and stop your devices’ blue light from causing your body to be confused about the fact it’s nighttime.

Avoid spiraling into the black hole of news and social media

Yes, we need to be informed about important virus details and our responsibilities in dealing with it. Yes, we need to connect with family and friends.

Truth is, too much time online and listening to news only increases anxiety and worry.

Be wise. Give yourself a shield against the unnecessary anxiety triggers and information overload by setting limits to news watching and social media time.

Most important, Be Kind to Yourself

We’re all under enough pressure right now. When your chest and stomach clench with tension, your neck and jaw stiffen, tears build, and thoughts won’t settle, acknowledge you might need to chill for a while.

Stop what you’re doing. Read or watch something that makes you laugh. Maybe stretch out on the couch and do nothing.

Do what’s works for you at any given moment. To be of any use to others, we must first take care of ourselves.

None of these expert suggestions will make the virus go away but trying them may help calm the chaos.

30 03, 2020

Finding Happiness in a Dark Time

By judythemorgan|2020-03-29T19:11:53-05:00March 30th, 2020|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Today is Happiness Day. It’s a bit of a strange topic when we have a pandemic going on and death tolls rising. Still, we can all use a little happiness with all this craziness bombarding us.

Where can we find happiness?

First, and foremost, turn off the news. Quit watching every single newscast all day long. Stay informed but take a break.

I think we’ve all gotten the message. This is not getting better. If you listen to the experts, it’s going to be worse.

Truth is we do not know. So why, listen to all the speculation that only fuels a pervasive dread of what’s coming next.

And, because you’re stuck inside try some of these ideas to find a little happy…

Now that you’re living twenty-four/seven with all your stuff, bet you’re finding there’s hardly room for you. Clean out that sock drawer. Get rid of what you don’t need, haven’t used. You’ll feel lighter for it. Happier.
Escape to another world via reading. Try a new genre or a new author. Do a search for your favorite author.
Our local library offers free downloads of eBooks, magazines and newspapers. Check your library to see if they offer the same service.
Call people you haven’t talked to in years, just to say, “Hey. You okay? I want you to be okay.” It’s a good thing to do. Something we should be doing even if there wasn’t a pandemic lurking outside.

Find happy in diversions…

Go online, not to check the latest news, but to learn things we’ve always meant to learn, like Spanish or Gaelic, yoga or basket weaving, and how to play the ukulele.
Walk through prestigious cultural institutions, like The Met and The American Museum of Natural History or visit any one of the zoos offering tours. Need a list of virtual tours? Check here.
Work a jigsaw puzzle
Do a free crossword puzzle

Consider the good that’s happening.

Neighbors are stepping up to help one another. Desperate times are bringing out the good in people and renewing the belief we once held that good people help each other.
Our hopelessly divided government is worked out bipartisan legislation to help.
Pollution is easing with less cars on the road.

Yes, people are dying, but people are also recovering from COVID-19. Civilization is not going to end. Life will change as the emergency eases, normal will be different, and likely better.

Focus on the good stuff, and do something frivolous or fun.

Like a virtual ride on Disney’s new Frozen II roller coaster.

Be safe. Stay healthy. Find something that makes you happy.

23 03, 2020

Coronavirus – Crisis, Chaos, and Change

By judythemorgan|2020-03-22T17:31:37-05:00March 23rd, 2020|Make Me Think Monday, Writer's Life|1 Comment

Crisis, chaos, and change are the three components of every major event.

Remember the existential edginess of 9/11? It’s returned.

During that crisis, we hunkered down at home with loved ones close, glued to our televisions, as the world around us changed. Our hearts trembled in fear that day. We survived.

Crisis, along with its bedfellows of chaos and change, happened again during the Colorado wildfires of 2013.

Maybe not everyone, but edginess and uncertainty ruled with mandatory evacuations for us. We piled two cars with our most precious belongings, two dogs, and ourselves. Our home was spared, but our world changed. We survived.

Crisis struck again in 2017 when Harvey dumped torrential waters and once again uncertainty, losses, and dramatic life-changes swirled around us.

Now a pandemic called COVID-19, coronavirus swirls worldwide crisis and chaos.

There’s nothing good about this crisis. Fears are rampant.

No one escapes the chaos of bare grocery store shelves or quarantines, voluntary and mandated. NO toilet paper, really?

As we grope our way along through the chaos, here are six suggestions (paraphrased by me) from Writer Unboxed blog contributor Sarah McCoy.

Buy Flowers. Splurge on a bouquet at the store or pick some wildflowers or plant some seeds.
Get Outdoors. Self-isolation doesn’t mean we are locked in jail. Isolate yourself with a walk in nature. Drive to a nature trail, if necessary, where there are crowds.
A Song. Listen or sing your own. Songs are the medicine of angels, and it will resonate in you for hours… days… however long this quarantine takes.
Cook. To create a nutritious, virus-free dish for yourself and your loved ones is a simple recipe for joy.
Write A letter. To another person or yourself in a journal. According to the World Health Organization, the coronavirus can only live on paper for 24 hours. Letters sent through USPS take 2-3 days. It’s safe.
Read. For a writer like me, that’s a given. It’s my way to escape even when there’s no chaos.

Choose one or all of Ms. McCoy’s suggestions. Doing so requires nothing and will offer great relief from “the toxic fear plaguing us as tenaciously as this microbial foe.”

Take heart in knowing we got through 9/11, wildfires, and floods and so many other crises. We can rest in the assurance this darkness will give way to the light too.

Be safe, dear ones.

9 03, 2020

Disruption and A Black Swan Named Coronavirus

By judythemorgan|2020-03-09T09:59:31-05:00March 9th, 2020|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

I’ve lived long enough to know that life is never smooth. And, I know what’s happening around me can disrupt my writing brain. I’ve accepted that and adjust accordingly.

I can settle into a writing routine sans television and social media and pump out the words on my next work in progress.

Then whammy. World events erupt tossing an unexpected curve ball. The stock market sank 1,000 points.

Now, I don’t follow the stock market. But I do know enough to recognize a huge dip like that means there’s trouble in River City.

On goes the news again. I discover the cause. And this disruption is a Wowizer— coronavirus COVID-19 is threatening a pandemic. Fear over the impact on the economy is rampant.

Scary stuff.

All the journalistic sensationalism is troublesome. I’m not being blasé. I do realize the inherent danger and have amped up basic hygiene routines per CDC instructions.

But I’ve watched in utter amazement as media coverage has created its own pandemic. Shelves in stores are bare as people hoard assorted items named as potential to be hard to get. Prices of these necessary items are being raised to ridiculous amounts. (And, people paying those prices!)

That’s sick.

I had a moment of reality when news came that the virus had spread to communities near me. I’m not carelessly believing I’ll be fine. I’m taking precautions.

But I’m not panicked.

We have food and supplies stockpiled (comes from years of living where grocery stores were a long way away and being snowbound happened too often). We’ll share toilet paper and Kleenex.

Whatever happens will happen. Nothing I can do stop to it or avoid it.

In her blog Kristine Kathryn Rusch that called the situation a Black Swan event being fed by overenthusiastic journalists.

I didn’t know the term Black Swan. Business Major Hubby explained it was a term for an unpredictable event that causes catastrophic damage to the stock market.

Well, this disruption certainly qualifies.

Surely the mad dash to secure hand sanitizers, disinfectant, and toilet paper is straining supplies, depleting stock, and ultimately effecting a company’s bottom line. What manufacturer could have known the virus COVID-19 would increase demand and drain their supplies?

Never mind, too many of these products come from China where the virus has pretty much shut things down. The way COVID-19 is spreading worldwide the whole supply chain is being affected.

The term Black Swan itself originated from an ancient saying that presumed black swans did not exist then had to be reinterpreted to teach a different lesson after black swans were discovered in the wild.

(Probably much more than you wanted to know about the term, but what can I say, I’m a writer. I love research.)

The scariest thing about this Coronavirus Black Swan is the isolation that’s being created. We’re instructed to avoid physical contact-no handshakes or hugs, large crowds, and travel, particularly any foreign travel. Major events are being canceled. Cruises and conferences are canceled. Even the Olympics is danger of cancellation.

Disruptions that go way beyond my writing time!

This blog is not to tell you how to prepare or explain why companies should have known to have larger stock of certain items. It’s a gentle warning…

Sometimes, in our hyper-vigilance, we focus too much on news and social media. Neither of which are not the most reliable sources for accurate information.

I urge you to get your information about the situation from solid sources like the World Health Organization and/or the Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Please be safe out there and take care of yourself.

Me, I’m turning off the television and focusing on getting this work in progress finished.