Surreal Adjustments

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