Bliss! Bliss?

We were apprehensive. This strange sickness was in the air, but we were okay. We decided to chance it.

We were cleared to travel on that day in March...March 8th. Bus ride from Boothwyn, PA to New York City. Temperatures checked, passports checked, forms filled out...and we were off!

It was a beautiful cruise. 

We washed our hands every ten minutes and sanitized every five. "Good morning, Washy-Washy!" sang the crew.

No self-service in the buffet because we didn't touch anything. They gave us utensils and plates and the food.

We had a fascinating balcony, and we had a full moon, and a quarter moon, and sunrises that the pictures don't do it justice.

                                                                     

The New York harbour was breathtaking, Night or day!

Jersey Boys (Frankie Valli The Four Seasons), Six (HerStory of Henry VIII), comedy, Beatles cover band...We were entertained!

Fun on the Bliss! Talking to the children when we were not at sea! Little fishies on the hallway carpet that guiding us to our destination (and they didn't work because we were lost most times.)

Kennedy Center in Florida. I still like his comforting image although he died when I was six years old...

...and now...finally...the Bliss!

It was March 15th. We left the ship and got our temperatures checked again. The computer recognized our faces from our passports. We rode back to our home, and we are still there!

Jackie had noticed that she starting getting symptoms of a virus and called her doctor.  Long story short, Wednesday morning, March 19th, she was tested. Self-isolation became mandatory quarantine. Her symptoms grew into fever, cough, loss of taste and smell, et.al. Ten days later, the results were in - POSITIVE!

Meanwhile, I had one day where I had a fever, and it went away. After a few days, I had a high fever, agita, and loss of taste and smell for eight days. Since Jackie tested positive, the health department said that I was a probable case. We are statistics. We are getting older. We are getting better and wiser.

Now I sing Happy Birthday twice...to me...when I wash my hands...twenty seconds!

Now I see the news. Covid is a word I never heard before March 15th. Now it is the most uttered every minute of every day. Sometimes I can't stand it. The reports can be repeated on CBS This Morning, the Evening News, and even Sunday Morning and the local News. One time is enough!

How about the commercials! The commercials have the word Covid in them...and depressing piano music...and a dentist that will comfort us while we purchase a gift card for somebody else to be used when 'this' is over. 
'Oh Oh Oh! It's magic ya know!' A favorite song from Pilot from 1975 when I was a senior in high school.

Now it's 'Oh Oh Oh Ozempic and two words after that.' Nope. Can't do it all the time.

The wonderful people that are on frontline workers can't see the news or the commercials. Pause for a moment to honor them. I wish it was all over...

Good thing that the warm days are here. We have a porch to be on. There is no television on the porch, and when we need the news, it will be there.

 Happiness, Joy, Bliss - This was what we felt on that ship. What we felt after we left was not. I wish that the powers that be would have made the decision to postpone the cruise. Too much sickness. Too much worry. Too many sick friends. Missing my family. Missing my friends.
I want a haircut. 

I want to go to the grocery store. I want to go to a restaurant. I want to see my family. 

We can dream. We can hope. We can get better. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day. In the meantime, we're here. Wanna chat? Zoom call?  Private message? I'll wait...and there are still crossword puzzles to solve, books to read, and dirty bathrooms to clean... 

Hang in there. It's gonna be better...