social/physical distancing

Gordy's vocabulary now includes "social distancing".  Anytime we get near another person, he will yell out to them that we are social distancing and will then ask if they are doing the same.  I know that he doesn't have a complete understanding of what's going on with COVID-19, but he does understand a little - he knows that there is a "sick bug" that is going around that we don't want to get, and he knows that we need to stay away from people and not touch them or things in order to avoid getting it.  All that being said, this whole thing is very frustrating for him.  He so badly wants to play with his friends, and go to the playground, but the playgrounds are all closed and his friends are staying home as well.

Since Gordy won't remember much about this pandemic, this post is a quick summary for him to read later:

• Hawaii has been under a "shelter-in-place" order for the last few weeks.
• We are allowed leave our house for things like "essential" work, to get supplies (i.e. groceries), and to exercise.
• We are not allowed to hang out on the beach, and/or congregate in groups of 10 or more.
• All non-essential shops are closed.
• All restaurants are take-out only.
• We were previously told not to wear face masks because they would not help us to avoid spreading the coronavirus.  The CDC has recently changed their minds and we are now encouraged to wear masks when we leave the house.
• The economy is crashing.
• Your Dad is frustrated with the fact that everyone is calling it "social distancing".  He thinks it should be called "physical distancing" because the physical distance is what is important.
• The president (our dear leader) is a moron and refuses to wear a mask, can't stop shaking people's hands, and is more concerned with his Facebook popularity than the people dying each day.
• Hawaii has begun a "mandatory" 14-day self-quarantine for all incoming travelers (which is completely unenforceable).
• Due to the stay-at-home order and the traveler quarantine, the North Shore has quieted down quite a bit.
• We've enjoyed a couple of trips to Pipeline appreciating the lack of traffic, ease of parking, and Gogo pools all to ourselves.
• Toilet paper is hard to come by in some stores.
• My entire office has shut down it's location and is working from home - score for me!
• Waialua Beach Road is almost pleasant.  We can make it through 10 minutes of television without missing a majority of the audio.
• Your dad's foiling career is really taking off... or so he says.

We are all wondering what the effects of this will be.  Some are surely only temporary but some may be lasting.  We've read articles about positive effects like:

• Pollution around the world has significantly decreased.
• Air quality has improved.
• Seismic noise (due to human activity) has reduced and may therefore, allow seismic detectors to spot smaller earthquakes and other seismic events.
• Abandoning of handshakes as a greeting.

And, while the above sounds great, people are dying every day.  The world is in a very bizarre, sad, and scary place right now.  To be continued...