June 2020
The Tales of the Traveling Tote is a series of adventures that share where our Mackenzie Childs tote bags have taken us. Four times a year a group of bloggers each write a connected post about the places we have been. We have built incredible friendships through our blogs and we hope you enjoy our tales as much as we do!
To read about how it all began, go HERE
Here’s my tale:
March brought us the news of the Corona Virus, COVID-19, but we were able to squeeze in our family Pirish Party early in the month before all of us were ordered to shelter in our own homes.
We packed up the "girls" and drove to Ohio.
News of the virus was spreading and we all took caution, however it really wasn't until we got home that the seriousness of Covid-19 had us sheltering at home.
Here are a few photos of our family celebration:
Once we returned our state ordered a shelter in place and I decided to spend time organizing and cleaning. I started with my washing the hardwood floors, moving furniture, washing baseboards and woodwork.
That led to closets....
When my house seemed in order, I retreated to the kitchen, trying new recipes for days...
...and making masks...
We took a few day trips to get in some fresh air and exercise:
Chittenango Falls
Green Lakes
One cloudy, but warm day I packed up sandwiches and chips in my Bistro Tote and we ate in our car overlooking Oneida Lake, a few miles down the road....It wasn't Cape Cod, but we pretended!
...and another day I packed up my Serendipity Tote, Ms Tizzy, with cheese and crackers and we had a little Happy Hour at William's Beach, again, sitting in the car!:
These are the things I want to remember about March 2020
This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, declared March 11th, 2020.
- Gas prices were $1.89, $1.69 in some places
- School cancelled - yes cancelled
- Self-distancing measures on the rise.
- Tape on the floors at grocery stores and others to help distance shoppers (6ft) from each other.
- Limited number of people inside stores, therefore, lineups outside the store doors.
- Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed.
- Parks, trails, entire cities locked up.
- Entire sports seasons cancelled. Like NBA, MLB, ALL sports!
- Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - cancelled.
- Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings - cancelled. Funerals limited to a specific number and being live streamed.
- No masses, churches are all closed. During Easter season.
- No gatherings of 50 or more, then 20 or more, now 10 or more, and even this is encouraged to be limited to immediate family.
- Don't socialize with anyone outside of your home.
- Children's outdoor play parks are closed.
- We are to distance from each other. Six feet!
- Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers.
- Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill.
- Panic buying sets in and we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towel no laundry soap, no hand sanitizer.
- Shelves are bare. Hard to find beef, eggs, milk. Sending one family member to shop.
- Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and PPE.
- Government closes the border to all non-essential travel.
- Fines are established for breaking the rules.
- Stadiums and recreation facilities open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients.
- Big industries help make more ventilators, and more masks for hospitals.
- Press conferences daily from the President and the Governor. Daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths.
- Government incentives to stay home.
- Barely anyone on the roads.
- People wearing masks and gloves outside.
- Essential service workers are terrified to go to work.
- Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families.
Easter was a bit lonely, but we FaceTimed with the girls and their families. John flew a kite for the annual Family Kite Flying Contest (and so did Sara in Ohio and Mike in Rochester), so the tradition was not broken!
Mid April discussions on how to slowly get back to normal were discussed daily on TV. And we woke up to snow a few days:
Thanks, Google for keeping track of my whereabouts during April...my one 10 minute drive!:
I was happy when May arrived, sunnier, warmer weather, and a hope that CNY would slowly start to open and people would stay safe!
We ventured out for an hour and a half drive to see our newest grandson....and my Traveling Tote was also happy to see daylight!
The Traveling Tote group participated in a Zoom call the first week of May and it was fun to chat and catch up and also hear how Covid-19 and sheltering in place is affecting everyone around the country. Remember, we represent NY, WV, CA, UT, AL, OK, TX and CT:
Two weeks ago we made our annual trip, the first of a few, to Hafners for our flowers:
I hope that you are all doing well, staying healthy and being socially responsible as the country slowly opens up.
Wishing you all peace and ......
Enjoy this blog hop and make sure you take a chance to win this
Canape Knife Set. Linda is hosting our giveaway this month, over at
Life and Linda
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(¸.*´ (¸.*´* patti*
