apart but together

Social distancing.
Flatten the curve.
Terms I'd never heard of a week ago and now are part of daily vocabulary.
I haven't been to the office in just over a week nor have a huge contingent of Seattle office workers. Team meetings are on Zoom, all of us in our living rooms or spare bedrooms, working away as best we can, with occasional cat or child visitors popping in.
The stores are empty of toilet paper, beans, and any sanitizing agents.
So many Seattle restaurants have closed that you now go online to check who is still open, if you need to order takeout.
Most art and music gatherings are cancelled but The Seattle Symphony and punk Belltown bar Screwdriver both are offering up live shows this weekend online.
A family member in Canada reports that border crossings to the US mean a 14-day quarantine upon return, so we won't be seeing them for awhile.
Other family members are for some reason on a cruise out of the country, and we are anxiously awaiting their safe and healthy return.
My e-mail inbox is jammed with daily notices from travel sites, hair salons, property managers, hotels, cupcake stores--everyone notifying their covid-19 status and how they're handling it.
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The upshot for me, as a relatively privileged person with an office job and access to grocery stores and Netflix, is a few minor inconveniences. For my friends in the food and service industries, they have either been abruptly laid off or working severely reduced hours. Those in the medical field are working long hours and trying to be safe.
I signed up for a Seattle-based community help group to bring groceries or supplies to seniors or those who can't get out and about.
The few public conversations I have feel meaningful and fraught.
At the tiny coffee shop near me, where the owner roasts her own beans and calls me kitten, the one table has no chairs and a sign that says, "Eat it and Beat it."(She also gave advice on getting SNAP lined up now vs after April 1 when Voldemort has implemented new restrictions.)
With each new closure or restriction, I wonder what's next. I wish the feds were doing a better job--the lack of testing is criminal but we have a lot of smart scientists and local officials working their hearts out right here in my own city.
I know we will get through this. Will we emerge stronger, healthier, wiser? Time will tell.