Thursday, May 7, 2020

Oh, the tales they tell.

There are many days where, in my little bubble of home, I don't really think about global pandemics and corrupt governments, dead scientists or The Experiment Known as Sweden. I walk the dogs. I pet the cats. I look at the little projects around the house and decide what I want to do that day. I have my cup and a half of coffee, my breakfast. I play my little game on my phone. I check social media. I wash my hands.  

Other than putting on my face mask to go anywhere and only doing groceries and going to the market once every 3 or 4 days, my bubble of containment is pretty closed.

And then Ralph sits down in the morning and reads me an article. In Chiapas, Mexico, one state away, villagers demanded to have a COVID-19 patient released, convinced that the coronavirus diagnosis is a government conspiracy and health authorities are trying to kill people.

In Zaachila last week, Carlos and I stopped off to visit with a family we often have worked with at the refuge, Don Feliciano and his wife Rufina. We wanted to see them, and to make sure they were OK and had everything they needed. We found them working on their land where they keep goats and grow nopal or squash or corn or whatever else they need. No face masks and wanted to greet us with big hugs, as they always have. We chatted, standing in the yard, 6 feet apart mas o menos, the dog barking in the back and the chickens pecking in the yard. Rufina looked at Carlos and asked, "Do you think it is real? This thing?" 

We both were left speechless and for those of you who know me, that rarely happens. What to say? Carlos said yes, it was real, but it was not yet in Zaachila, but that they should be careful.

I can only control what I do. I put on my face mask and I walk my dogs and I wash my hands.

And so, my bubble gets shattered. I put on my face mask. I walk the dogs. I pet the cats. I wash my hands. And I pray. I pray my family is spared any illness right now, because I think to be in hospital at this moment would be terrifying. I pray that somehow at the other end of this some people will have changed for the better. I worry not one thing will have changed. 


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