Inform Each Other?

[David Horn]

My wife and I live on a lake in central Virginia, which is generally exurban though more suburban-like along the lake itself. I'm 72 and my wife is 60 -- both are typical ages for our neighborhood and much of the lake community general. Since we have an abundance of retirees, much of the commercial enterprise is here to serve that group. So far, we still have a fair share of products on the store shelves; most restaurants are still open (though why is a mystery), and nothing is obviously amiss. We also have no known cases of COVID-19.

We're pretty vigilant. Many of our friends aren't. We haven't processed how we'll deal with that, but we've nixed socializing for the immediate future … perhaps for the duration. I'm not sure how that will play in the grand scheme of things. People will undoubtedly be offended if we refuse all invitations -- especially if this lasts the predicted 18 months. For that matter, I'm not sure how we'll cope alone either. One can only walk the dog so many times a day.

Until Medicare kicks in, my wife plans to continue working -- if she can. She works in a Federally funded dental clinic at the most at-risk occupation in the coronavirus universe: dental hygienist. Luckily, her employer is a good one, and all hygiene procedures have been put on hold for the duration. We know that going to work and doing essentially nothing isn't going to last long, so we're preparing for that now.