It’s beginning to feel like this will be a marathon – not a sprint. We’re going to have to all hunker down to weather this thing out – and fortunately for me – I’m not in a decision making position.

I actually feel really bad for those in power – any kind of power – right now. And that includes my kids. Not that any of them are either medical or political in any way shape or form – but they all have folks that rely on them to make the smart decisions – and smart decisions seem to be the challenge. Is closing down the right or wrong thing to do? I’m not so sure there’s a correct answer – if you close down (as many folks have) you put people out of work at a very tough time. If you stay open, you risk their health, your health, other folks health.

So my question to you – my readers – are you hunkering down, or trying to pretend things are normal?

Personally – I’m hunkering down. The good news – if there is good news on this topic – I’m hunkering down in St. Croix, USVI. Montreal is still extremely cold, and wet, and nasty outside – our typical March – and we’d come to the island a week ago, not knowing at all that things would go from bad to incredibly scary in just 7 days.

It’s really the terrifying speed of this that’s the really worrisome part. That and the panic buying. We went to Costco in Montreal a bit over a week ago, and toilet paper was on our list. There was NONE – of any brand – to be had. Why would people think it critical to stock up on toilet paper of all things? Will we still be laughing at them in another week? Maybe they know something we don’t know? News from Heber City in Utah (I have friends there) is similar – no stock of toilet paper. As someone quipped – don’t they know this is a respiratory problem, not an intestinal one? Buy out Kleenex – that makes sense. On the other hand – on the Montreal News this morning – apparently Montreal has been restocked.

I can tell you that here on St. Croix, it’s very different. Given that stocks have to come in by barge, and running out of something means RUNNING OUT – for months – the stores seem incredibly well stocked of everything except alcohol. I think folks are taking the advice to wipe down surfaces seriously, and yes – alcohol is superior to Anti-bacterial wipes, which have no impact on viruses at all.

Which brings to mind the gal at the Plaza Extra (it’s a grocery store) here on St. Croix with her shopping cart full of big bags of anti-bacterial wipes. I think she bought out the entire shelf. Hmm.. smart? Dumb? Mis-informed? I’m not sure.

In any case – I’ve taken to checking the WHO site every day – and reading CNN – live every morning. The list of countries that have closed their borders grows and grows. I think they are going to have to start publishing a list of countries that have NOT closed their borders.

Meanwhile some news that won’t make headlines. My son has an Amazon Store that sells our Soup Bases (Luda Soup Bases) – and his team is busy filling the orders that are pouring in. Given that we sell to restaurants, we’re talking fairly large quantities of soup base, enough to feed a family for months. But our bases have a really long shelf life, so at least this buying makes sense. And my daughter – who makes and sells artisanal sausages from her own website (Crown & Queue in the UK) is also reporting an up-swing. So it wasn’t surprising to hear that Amazon is hiring 100,000 temporary workers to fill the demand.

Another no news trivia – the major on-line Bridge Playing website – Bridge Base – got overwhelmed big time this weekend. If you don’t play bridge, you won’t understand – but there are literally thousands of folks that do play bridge, most of them in Clubs scattered all over the US and Canada and the rest of the world. All have been closed – and all these folks now have time on their hands. Result – the on-line site got swamped. I’m betting that Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other’s of that ilk are also getting hit big time. My son who does IT says that the ‘Cloud’ is suffering as well.

My question to you – my readers – what are you doing? What are your kids doing? Are any of you Covid-19 positive? Did you get really sick? I realize that we’re hardly a news worthy group, but I’m wondering. Right now I don’t personally know anyone with the Virus – and I’m hoping it stays that way.

Signing off to admire the beach and sun, and hope to Heaven that this too shall pass – The Soup Lady