I started composing this while sitting at a vacation home we rented through VRBO that is situated along the banks of the Tennessee River near Whitwell, Tennessee, which is in the Chattanooga area. We had originally planned to come here over part of our spring break to do some of the touristy things that we'd never taken the time to do before. For example, I've driven by barns proclaiming "See Rock City" all my life but have never actually seen Rock City. Of course, all those attractions are closed at present.
We really struggled with whether to make the trip or stay home given how the whole country is shutting down to try to curb the spread of COVID-19. Who would have thought back at the first of the year that the term "social distancing" would be coined before the end of winter? Heck, even the week before last we were having a hard time wrapping our minds around what was going on. Vicki said it well then when she commented that she felt like she was living inside the Chicken Little story. Much of this is because our news media has completely destroyed their credibility, with me at least, that they will report the news factually, accurately, fairly, and without mixing in opinion and editorial. I really miss Walter Cronkite.
So why did we opt to drive nearly three hours from home and have our vacation? Well, it adds up like this: We had already paid for the house and could not get a refund, though to be fair, we were upgraded to a larger house. We could pack all the food we needed except for perishables, so mixing with others in public would be a bare minimum and no more than what we'd be doing at home anyway. We have a whole library of games available to keep us entertained, and if we did go out it would be to an outdoor park. It afforded us a different set of walls to look at for a few days. And given the uncertainty of the future, we may be cancelling our summer travel plans, so this might be it for a while.
Considering all of that we loaded up and headed out Thursday. Jenna left a little early to say a premature goodbye to college friends at Trevecca that she may not see again for a long time. Trevecca has postponed their commencement so she doesn't know if everyone graduating with her will be able to return to Nashville when it is rescheduled. Then she and Nolan got on the road to meet us at our destination.
The six of us really enjoyed our time away and with each other. We really didn't do any differently than we have done the last two or three fall or spring break getaways. It was just nice to be away in a different setting.
Now that we're back home we are gearing up for doing school at home. Both Jenna and Ben will resume their classes online next week. Nate and I will ease into online classes this week with us hitting full stride next week. This is a major task for Davidson Academy to try to pull off for all grades from pre-kindergarten through the twelfth grade, especially when we're not truly set up to do that. After sitting through all the last minute trainings for this I am really impressed by the planning our administrators have put into this effort. It has been quite a feat to completely switch from face to face instruction to online instruction in a week's time. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has said that all schools in Tennessee should remain closed through April 24. Of course, this could be extended, but I hope for the sake of our seniors they get to finish their senior year back in class as normal.
Mom is doing well. Jenna was the last one of us to be able to visit her, and that was back on the 14th. There's no telling when we will get to see her again. We keep her posted on what is going on, and I know she has watched the news some, but still, it's hard for her to fully wrap her mind around how abnormal things are when her world is confined to the facility where she lives.
I never in my wildest dreams would have guessed that I would have been writing this sort of news in my newsletter; not this year, not ever. I'm sure you share our prayer that this ends sooner rather than later. We certainly hope that cabin fever is the worst ailment you face as this all plays out.
Joe
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Big Storms and Little Bugs
I don't often mention larger events here because this is about our family, not a commentary of current events. But now is a time for an exception.
First of all, we were not directly affected by the tornadoes that tore through Middle Tennessee last week. We actually slept through the whole thing here. Well, Jenna and I both woke up hearing light hail and strong winds, but since there were no weather alerts on our phones we didn't think it was anything beyond a normal storm. We had no idea about the devastation that was happening some 30 miles to our south.
On the other hand, Ben and all the other residents at Tennessee Tech were awakened around 2:00 am and moved to the lowest floors of their dorms for about an hour and allowed to return to bed when the storm passed. Little did they know that some residential areas just a few miles north of campus were being decimated by an EF-4 twister that took most of the lives lost here in Tennessee that night.
I won't go into other details here since they have been so well covered by the news. Davidson Academy itself was not affected, but there were several schools in Nashville that were and will not be able to reopen any time soon. Some of the public schools are doubling up, allowing the hosting school to have classes one half of the day and the students from the damaged school to hold their classes the other half. Donelson Christian Academy, a cross town sports rival of ours, isn't so lucky and I'm not sure what they plan to do. Of course, concerns about the Coronavirus may make all that a moot point anyway. We did have a handful of DA families affected by the storm, but for the most part our students, like us, live outside of that storm's path.
We do have some good natured banter with our cousins, the Cotters, about whether it's better to live in Florida or Tennessee. They've said before that they don't know how we can live with the threat of tornadoes. I have always maintained, and still do, that they have hurricane season for half the year and that I'd much rather take my chances with a scalpel over a sledge hammer any day. Besides, we have winter, spring, summer and fall. They only have a long tourist season and a short off season.
Of course, the COVID-19 virus is currently a major concern around the country. While I certainly want us to be careful and do all we can to keep this from spreading in a big way, I am also saddened by the hysteria that is coming with it. People are doing the craziest things in order to be safe. Nate and I were in Walmart today and the toilet paper, of all things, is completely sold out. Now Facebook Marketplace seems to have become a black market for this household necessity. Really people!
To get back to how this is affecting us, all universities seem to be switching to online classes only and even closing their dorms. Jenna's nursing classes are no different with no decision yet as to how they will do labs that require hands on participation. Ben's spring break is next week and has been extended to two weeks, and his mission trip was canceled. His classes will resume in online mode when their break is over, so he has at least three weeks here at home. Davidson Academy's spring break is next week as well. We are closed tomorrow to wipe down the school and have been told to prepare to do our classes online after the break is over. Many of our public school systems are announcing that they will be closed until April 10 or so. DA is just not playing that card right now. With four of us working from home for the immediate future I hope our internet service can handle it.
So, interesting times to be sure. Hopefully this is no more than the major news incident of 2020, though at this point in time with churches switching to streaming services only, travel bans, event cancellations, and even Disney and Universal announcing that their theme parks will be closed through the end of the month one can't help but wonder now if this outbreak will forever alter our way of life. Lots of unknowns to be sure. Some of our seniors left school today wondering if this was their last day of high school.
Wishing you all health,
Joe
First of all, we were not directly affected by the tornadoes that tore through Middle Tennessee last week. We actually slept through the whole thing here. Well, Jenna and I both woke up hearing light hail and strong winds, but since there were no weather alerts on our phones we didn't think it was anything beyond a normal storm. We had no idea about the devastation that was happening some 30 miles to our south.
On the other hand, Ben and all the other residents at Tennessee Tech were awakened around 2:00 am and moved to the lowest floors of their dorms for about an hour and allowed to return to bed when the storm passed. Little did they know that some residential areas just a few miles north of campus were being decimated by an EF-4 twister that took most of the lives lost here in Tennessee that night.
I won't go into other details here since they have been so well covered by the news. Davidson Academy itself was not affected, but there were several schools in Nashville that were and will not be able to reopen any time soon. Some of the public schools are doubling up, allowing the hosting school to have classes one half of the day and the students from the damaged school to hold their classes the other half. Donelson Christian Academy, a cross town sports rival of ours, isn't so lucky and I'm not sure what they plan to do. Of course, concerns about the Coronavirus may make all that a moot point anyway. We did have a handful of DA families affected by the storm, but for the most part our students, like us, live outside of that storm's path.
We do have some good natured banter with our cousins, the Cotters, about whether it's better to live in Florida or Tennessee. They've said before that they don't know how we can live with the threat of tornadoes. I have always maintained, and still do, that they have hurricane season for half the year and that I'd much rather take my chances with a scalpel over a sledge hammer any day. Besides, we have winter, spring, summer and fall. They only have a long tourist season and a short off season.
Of course, the COVID-19 virus is currently a major concern around the country. While I certainly want us to be careful and do all we can to keep this from spreading in a big way, I am also saddened by the hysteria that is coming with it. People are doing the craziest things in order to be safe. Nate and I were in Walmart today and the toilet paper, of all things, is completely sold out. Now Facebook Marketplace seems to have become a black market for this household necessity. Really people!
To get back to how this is affecting us, all universities seem to be switching to online classes only and even closing their dorms. Jenna's nursing classes are no different with no decision yet as to how they will do labs that require hands on participation. Ben's spring break is next week and has been extended to two weeks, and his mission trip was canceled. His classes will resume in online mode when their break is over, so he has at least three weeks here at home. Davidson Academy's spring break is next week as well. We are closed tomorrow to wipe down the school and have been told to prepare to do our classes online after the break is over. Many of our public school systems are announcing that they will be closed until April 10 or so. DA is just not playing that card right now. With four of us working from home for the immediate future I hope our internet service can handle it.
So, interesting times to be sure. Hopefully this is no more than the major news incident of 2020, though at this point in time with churches switching to streaming services only, travel bans, event cancellations, and even Disney and Universal announcing that their theme parks will be closed through the end of the month one can't help but wonder now if this outbreak will forever alter our way of life. Lots of unknowns to be sure. Some of our seniors left school today wondering if this was their last day of high school.
Wishing you all health,
Joe
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