SQD8: Halfway Through

Self-quarantine day 8.
Stay @ home order day 3.

Yesterday marked 14 days for our potential coronavirus exposure for going through BCN to get to Turkey at the end of the TransAtlantic cruise. We remain healthy. I wasn’t worried, because at the time most of the cases were in Madrid. It wasn’t until days after we flew out of the Barcelona airport that the virus began growing exponentially in Spain.

I discount any exposure while we were in Turkey for a week. Not only did we practice social distancing, but COVID-19 cases didn’t start exploding until after our departure. And even now, the number is only a small fraction of what we’re seeing in the US.

But then we traveled two days to get from IST to DEN — with an overnight in BOS. The virus was already exploding in the US by then. So, we will continue to self-quarantine for another week. That will give us two weeks from our departure from Turkey.

Plus we'll adhere to the Colorado stay at home order for a week after that. But we'll be able to look for solitary hiking opportunities outside the neighborhood during that time frame ... a change of pace is good for our mental health.

All in all ... a good day.

After blizzard-like conditions overnight with strong winds that blew most of the powder snow elsewhere around the neighborhood, we got very little accumulation. Where surfaces get the sun, the snow has already evaporated. It’s a bit chilly at 37F, but we’re expecting to get into the high 40F range this afternoon. We’ll delay today’s exercise outing until later in the day.

Stay safe ... stay healthy. And here’s a link to a video a doctor put together on how to bring your groceries into your house. I think similar precautions can be applied to most anything ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&a…

ON THE FAMILY FRONT

The short story ... all's well with both our families in Turkey, and my brother, who lives in Kansas City, MO. The Turkish government took the pandemic very seriously and instituted fairly stringent precautions very early on to slow down the spread. While the number of cases is growing, it’s at a far slower pace than here in the US.

Mom has been quarantining herself since we flew from Spain to Turkey in mid-March. The local health clinic has been checking on her daily by phone to ensure she's well. She is now cleared from any possibility of exposure from the trip to return her to her home in Turkey. Alrighty, time to go out for some exercise.

But there is a wrinkle. She has to adhere to the stay-at-home order for 65+ that was instituted by the government last week. Absolutely no going out for any reason. Hefty fines for not following the order.

The good news? The health care worker told her that if she stays home for another 10 days that she will give mom a permission slip that will allow her to go out for exercise and such ... with appropriate social distancing measures taken when doing so. In the meantime, it's a good thing she has a penthouse condo where she can spend time on the terrace ... when weather permits.Read more