Day 1 of COVID-19 California Lockdown

    With the arrival of COVID-19 (coronavirus) aka "Rona" to the United States and growing numbers of people being diagnosed, this has caused panic and pandemonium as well as anxiety and stress among everyone. Grocery stores shelves are empty of bread, toilet tissue, water and oddly enough, female hygiene products. Luckily, there have been no confirmed cases of Rona in my county so far. In response to Rona, my library system is now closed from today with a tentative return date of Monday, April 13th. Although  the library is closed, all staff are on call and are expected to act as disaster workers if called upon by our county CAO office.

     Last night, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a state wide shelter in place for everyone in the state. This means that we need to stay indoors with the exception of going to work (if you fit in an essential job category,) the grocery story, pharmacies, banks, doctor appointments or exercise.In addition to the order to stay inside, we have also been told to not have any gathering with more than 10 people as well as to practice social distancing which is to stay six feet apart from each other when out in public places.

     I'm attempting to stay stress-free by continuing my daily routine of getting up early and exercising daily as well as reading my daily bible devotional. Although I've kept a journal since I was in elementary school through middle school, high school and college, as of late, I have not been writing as often as I used to. Given the current state of the world, I feel it's vital to keep a record of how the world handles this global pandemic. I also plan to relieve stress by reading books for my two reading challenges, binge watching funny movies and Tv shows as well as play three new Kinect video games I recently purchased which are Disney: Fantasia Evolved, Minute to Win It, and Puss in Boots.

     In reference to my running events, all of these (Las Vegas Women's Half Marathon, Havasu Half Marathon, and Star Wars Half Marathon) have been cancelled. While I'm sad that the races have been cancelled, in most cases, the races have been rescheduled or my race fees have been refunded. At this point, I'd much rather be healthy than put myself in danger for a medal.Once the world returns to some sort of normal and it is safe to travel, I'll run again.

     My main goals right now is to stay safe and sane during this crisis and keep stress levels low. I'm also going to make it a goal to blog everyday during this lockdown as a way to record my mindset during this pandemic as a form of therapy as well as for stress relief. Stay safe & well!