COVID19: March, 23, 2020 - Preparing for the Worst

When I was a kid I saw the 1956 movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, on T.V. and it terrified me. The premise is that these pods from an alien planet duplicate each person, and while that person sleeps, they are replaced by their duplicate. Unlike the original humans, they are devoid of emotions and not at all the kind of people you’d want to hang out with. 

This was not something that a little girl, who was already traumatized by the death of her father, should have been watching. For decades, I was afraid to go to sleep. 

That same core feeling is back again. I’m afraid to go to sleep. But now, I’m also afraid to wake up. No, I have to change what I said there; it’s not really that I’m afraid. It’s more of an anxiousness/dread/hyper-preparedness sort of thing. 

I sense that one-by-one the people around me will be getting COVID-19, and it’s just a matter of time before it comes for me, too. I wonder if I already have it and don’t know it. Every time I cough, every time I have a headache, every time I’m tired, I wonder if it’s beginning.

I read that one of the signs of the virus is that the people who have it lose their sense of smell. So, I go around all day, smelling things. Today, while I was getting out of bed, I stuck my nose in my armpit and was overjoyed to smell my own stinky body odor. Yes! Smells like I'm good for another day.

Three days ago, I also started taking my temperature every day. The first day, it was 94.8. I always tend to run low, but not THAT low! I looked it up on Google and learned that anything below 95 is cause for concern, and you should call your doctor because you’re headed south quickly. But I was close enough, so I waited until the next day, when it went to a solid 95. Again low, but okay. Today, it was 93.6. Not good. 

I mentioned this at my noon Check-in & Prayer group on Zoom. One person suggested I had an old thermometer. But I explained that this was a new digital one. Then Barbara, ever the practical one, said that it must have a low battery. And I realized that every time I looked at my temperature, I got a “Low” message. I thought it was telling me that my temperature was low! No, it’s the battery that’s low, Nancy. Duh. 

This is feeling like one of those no-one-know-the-day-or-the-hour times that Jesus talked about. I’ve been trying to work ahead and get everything done that I can because I never know when this alien virus is going to snatch me up. So, I’m pushing ahead on paying my bills, filling out my census information, writing sermons, doing laundry, cooking and freezing chicken noodle soup… Because tomorrow I might not be able to do any of those things. 

For someone like me, the only thing worse that coming down with COVID-19 would be coming down with COVID-19 and not being prepared for it.