just a song

Not exactly the same situation (this was about WWII, especially in London, where people were being bombed), but....all I can do is hold out hope that even if things are going to be terrible for a few months, maybe eventually they will be better again.

I hope.



I'm gonna try to get some extra food today and then just hole up and sew or knit.

I hope there is some good news soon. A successful treatment or even a vaccine.



On top of everything else:

- Today is the day I cover exponential population growth in Ecology. This is absolutely relevant to what is going on with the virus. Essentially, what we are trying to do with canceling large gatherings and moving much of education temporarily online is to reduce the population growth rate of the virus; if you can get what is called the R0 below 1 for a prolonged period, you can slow the new-infection rate to a number that will be manageable given medical resources. If R0 is below 1 for long enough, you will see no new infections.

I am pretty sure my students - most of whom seem like pretty level headed people - understand how important all the "social distancing" stuff is, but I will be quite up front about how terrified I am by some of the patterns I am seeing, and how it is now on each individual to protect themselves (hand washing, social distancing) and to watch out for the particularly vulnerable (again, by avoiding getting sick, and being careful around older or immunocompromised loved ones).

- Today would have been my dad's 85th birthday.

On the one hand: I am glad he is not here in the middle of this. He had a lot of medical problems and had to go to the doctor regularly; if he had gotten this it would have taken him down quickly and probably my mom with him.

On the other hand, I still miss him terribly.


This is going to be a very hard day. I slept badly last night. If I can just make it to 3 pm or so - when all my meetings will be done and spring break starts - I can come home and if I need to collapse, whatever form that takes (sitting down and crying, or going straight to bed, or finding the most escapist entertainment I can and watching it), I can. I am glad I saved my Doki Doki crate that came the other day, I will be able to open it this afternoon and I will at least have that.

I am debating trying to run by Pruett's at my short lunch break to get a bit more fresh milk and some onions, but I am also given pause by the lines the news is showing at some supermarkets. (Though again, that was a Costco in LA, and we have a much smaller population here....)