March 15th, 2020

My family unit is starting self-quarantine today.  It is a privilege and a reflection of our privilege to be able to do this.  We get to do this because we have resources and are in charge of employment decisions.  Because we have these things, it is our obligation to self-quarantine early to help slow the spread because we know there are some people who cannot and others who will choose not to.

My partner will be home with our college freshman in a few hours. As soon as they get here, we are doing our collective part to slow the spread by starting our Quarantine Circle protocols. Only essential contact with others from now until further notice. Its going to be hard, but if we can reduce our virus footprint by 90%, then I feel like we are doing our part. None of us are high risk, but part of living in community is caring about the community.  Here’s an excerpt from the notice given to our family unit this morning. (It's true, we are a family of lawyer-types so we like clear expectations and proper notice to be given, even to the kids.)

What we aren’t doing:

No restaurants, shopping, or going to others’ homes. No campus. No one comes into our space.

Absolutely required court appearances and will signings only.

Everyone washes hands about every two hours & showers, including hair washing, every day. Wash your hands every time you come in the house & wipe the door knob after you come in.

Do not get injured or harmed. Be extra careful. The last thing we need is to worry about one of us in an accident and the last place any of us want to be is the emergency room.

Do not let your phone  run out of charge and take it with you at all times.

What we can do:

Drive to a park or forest & go for a walk or bike ride with other members of our Quarantine Circle. Do not go far. Bald Hill or out West Hills Rd. for trails, Avery or Sunset Parks. Do not touch or come within 6 feet of other people while there. Conserve gas by driving together, even if you walk alone when you are there. When you get to 3/4 tank, refill. Get out & swipe your own card.

Walk the labyrinth across the street.

Be in the yard, greenhouse, or hot tub.

Hugs within our quarantine group are ok. Four hugs a day is the minimum, not the maximum.

We are all really stressed. I expect this to get worse as we live in close quarters under these conditions. Online finals, work, friends & family who are more vulnerable, and not being able to see the friends we are closest to: this sucks, sucks, sucks. It sucks for everyone. It sucks a lot for us. It sucks a thousand times more for poor people, people experiencing abuse at home, and people who are chronically ill. Their stress level has to be substantially higher and they can do less to address it.

This could devastate us financially and emotionally or we can step up and make hard choices individually and collectively sooner rather than later. We can’t control what other people do, but we can control our own little family and we can lead by example. None of us like these choices, but we are strong and we are loved. This is a privilege and an obligation.

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