My salt of the earth neighbor, Mika, is using her stay-at-home time to build a vegetable garden in her front yard. It helps me cope, she says. Her landlord is the luckiest one around to have a tenant who finds pure joy in planting flowers, potting trees -- and now her edible garden. With the help of her husband Ryan, trellises have been erected. Other plantings line the raised wall above the sidewalk. Vegetables will hang over the wall, she explained to us. “Please… feel free to pick anything you would like!” A true heart of gold.
In another act of kindness, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer just announced that she would like to see the state’s essential workers rewarded when this war against the virus is behind us. In the spirit of the GI Bill that supported soldiers who served during World War II, the program, called “Futures for Frontliners,” would reward tuition-free higher education to frontline workers without college degrees – be it a bachelor’s degree, associate degree or technical certificate.
My forever motto is, “Good things happen to good people.”
And at opposite ends of the country, two takes on stay-at-home mandates are happening: In an effort to continue fending off spread of Covid-19 with all-important social distancing (that is making a positive difference), California Governor Newsom intends to continue this trend with the closure of all state beaches and parks to avoid dangerous overcrowding. In Florida, Governor DeSantis has announced lifting of stay-at-home orders throughout the state (except Dade, Palm Beach and Broward counties) despite 350 new cases and almost 50 new deaths.
In a crisis as severe as what we are facing, I would err on the side of caution – especially in the words of Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, who essentially said: A little paranoia is good.
Time will determine the better decision.