Two Birds

We couldn't call this post, killing two birds with one stone, because that would sound a little scary. It was actually concerning enough as it was. The two birds, you see, are Debbie's Aunt Sue (Sistek) and my sister Betsy (Zawada). They had both been stuck, and Lady Adventurer (Debbie Horvath) and I had taken it upon ourselves to un-stick them. Stuck how you ask?

Stuck in Florida. They had both been planning to fly back home to Ohio later in April. But the coronavirus had other ideas. It was attacking Florida worser than other places, and we began thinking, the sooner those ladies can get out of Dodge, (and hopefully not on a plane) the better. So we made the trip.

Lady A. and I drove south and landed first in Naples, FL to get Aunt Sue. It was all a little strange. We didn't know what we would find along the way, and we weren't even entirely sure that driving was safer than flying. But there was so little traffic; so few people anywhere, that we became less and less concerned. Debbie had made masks, and we were taking all other precautions.

The evening stroll with Aunt Sue in her neighborhood was strange, as people went far out of their way to avoid other walkers. Aunt Sue also tested my theory that you can't put too much garlic in a meal, as she inundated salmon with the stuff. In case you're wondering, the hypothesis still holds.

The following morning, we drove the two and a half hours up to Winter Haven, picked Betsy up, and then continued north. After a nice picnic lunch, we stopped for gas near Columbia, SC. There were strange things happening there. It was about what you'd call...

At an SC rest area. L to R: Dan, Sue, Debbie, Betsy

Surreal. That's the word that keeps coming to mind as we observed people who were out and about; going to restaurants, bars, and shopping. It's surreal because it's so unbelievable, after everything else we'd seen in eight other states. South Carolina, you see, did not yet have a stay-at-home order. And no one, it seemed, was staying at home. Ironically, it wasn't so long ago - only a matter of days - when not seeing people out and about (in Ohio and other places) seemed surreal.

Things were back to normal (which is to say, no one out and about) in all the other states. I mentioned Debbie's masks and our other precautions. She'd made plenty, and we kept using gloves and hand-sanitizer. All the fumbling getting in and out of the car was laughable.

The four of us made it home, safe and sound. We can only hope that it was the right thing to do.