Personal Update

Jan Vermeer, Woman Holding a Balance
Dutch, c. 1664
Washington, National Gallery of Art

Earlier today I noticed that someone had read the last article I added regarding my physical condition.  At the time I was making a slow recovery from spinal fusion surgery.  I thought it might be about time to submit another one.

Happily, recovery has progressed a good deal from the point at which I left off.  It is not quite where I had hoped that it would be, but it is acceptable. 

I can walk and had resumed most of my normal activities before the end of 2019.  Standing is still a problem, as are long walks.  For those I still need to use a rolling walker.  But, I can do intermediate walks with a cane and even do short walks with no support. 

I had hoped to be able to extend the amount of time and length of walk without support by the beginning of this summer.  But the coronavirus and an exceptionally cold New York spring have postponed that dream.  Since early March I have been self-isolating in my apartment, venturing out only once every week, if that.  It could be far worse, since there is no place to go, the tug of the exterior is diminished.  Also, my recent experience of being unable to freely go out and sashay around while I was unable to even stand up, as well as during the early stages of recovery, have actually been good preparation for this experience. 

There is plenty for me to do at home.  I can't say I have been bored at all.  However, I do miss being able to access the wonderful research libraries the city has to offer and, of course, I miss the interactions with people, both friends and strangers, that have always been part of my life through my many activities.  FaceTime, Skype and the other similar services help a bit for the friends, but right now strangers are off limits.  All my regular volunteer haunts closed down in the second week of March and will not be reopening in the near future.  New York seems a very strange place right now.  It looks like itself, but it's upside down.  What's usually crowded (like Times Square) is empty and what is usually empty (like Central Park on a weekday afternoon) is crowded.

So far I am not aware of having lost any friends.  We all check in from time to time and everyone seems to be OK so far.  However, friends of mine have lost friends of theirs to this virus.  It is not a joking matter or a trivial illness.  I'm near the route taken by ambulances to reach two nearby hospitals.  During the first and second week of April they were passing by very often, sometimes as many as three an hour.  For the last two weeks, we have gone back to the more normal once or twice a day.  Praise God for that!  But at the nearest hospital, which is three blocks from my apartment, the two refrigerated trucks it rented to serve as a morgue are still standing guard.   Although things are considerably better, the fear is that relaxing too soon will start to fill up the hospitals and the morgues again. 

We may have reached a pause, but we have not overcome this infection yet.  I hope and pray that all my readers where ever they are, will remain safe and healthy until it has been overcome.    God bless you all!