Day 15 - SkyLines from the French Lock-down: Dispatches #2 - Battle Stations!

Salut nos amis! (Hi there friends!)  It's a sunny day in the South of France but there is something missing.  Yes, it's you and all the people who normally fill the world with sound.  Sure, I hear the occasional car go by and it's a gendarme's van checking to see that everyone is respecting the quarantine.  There is the whistling of our neighbor as he works on his 2CV but even that is a bit quieter than usual.  The ladies are chatting less from their balconies.  We lost over 400 souls yesterday and no amount of sunshine can make up for that. It's sobering news here and there's no way I will sugar coat that...

The Castillet in Perpignan flying the Catalan flag

Day 15 - It's morning as I start the blog, but as to what time, it hardly matters.  I'm not going anywhere.  The day divides into parts instead of hours now.  There is the part when we've risen - we call it morning even though some days that is nearly noon.  We don't set alarms and we don't plan.  We break fast and ask the everyday things like, "Did you sleep well?"  "Coffee?"  "Oui. s'il te plait."  It's a Tuesday according to my phone but these days that is also meaningless.  The bank that is closed on Mondays is closed everyday.  Sure you can call them if you need something you can't do online, so technically they are open.  The sign on the door tells you that's not the case.  

Thankfully, I don't need them at the moment because the last time I did, I discovered the person answering the phone was in Montpellier and not here where I do my banking.  On that occasion, I drove into town and went to the bank so I could ask my questions face to face.  It's very challenging for me to do anything important on the telephone.  My French is pretty good, but when it comes to details, it really helps to look the person in the eyes and verify with hand signals, figures on paper or dates written down that you understand one another.  Right now the only person I can speak with face to face is my partner.  We tend to stick to things like, "What would you like for dinner?"  "That was delicious."  You know that kind of thing.

And just like you, we're not going anywhere, not spending anything more than we need to on food and newspapers.  Yes, I know we can read a lot of the news online and we do, but it's not the same.   The printed newspaper is big and takes me all day or sometimes even two days to read.  My French partner spends at least an hour reading it, so as you can tell, there is still a whole lot of information in it.  I haven't even looked at today's yet.  Though I've been listening to the TV in the background.  For a while I tried to ignore it and spent time doing what I hate - organizing files in the computer and updating all the information and passwords.  Somehow whole hours disappear and it's noon. 

Then, because I was at the computer, I read the region's local news online.  I probably

shouldn't have done that before lunch.  I have been thinking a lot about Perpignan, the closest city to us. I love it. This small, Catalan city is just 18 kilometers from us ( about 11 miles) but at the moment it might as well be on the Moon.  I'm depressed as I get up to fix lunch.  The news is not good.  The poorer quarters, sometimes referred to as "gitane" (gypsy) other times called by it's proper name "Quartier Saint Jacques" is being hit hard by the virus.  It figures.  Poverty binds communities more tightly than affluence does.  I've often walked through the area when shopping at the open market in Place Cassanyes.  It looks like a close-knit community of tiny houses and apartments.  I have a feeling the number of people in some of those houses might be more than I would find comfortable.

I read that we have 2,126 people who have tested positive for the virus. of which 365 have recovered.  Sadly, there have also been 81 deaths from Covid-19 in our region of

Occitanie.  The rest are still in hospital.  Nine of those deaths were during the last twenty four hours but that does not tell me how many of those might have been in Perpignan. Since the region is approximately 28.000 square miles (72,724 square kilometers

according to Google) it's just a little bit bigger than West Virginia and has at last count, 5,845,102 inhabitants (think Los Angeles plus Phoenix),  so it still means we're better off than the north of France where the hospitals are now starting to struggle to keep up with new cases being admitted.  On that note, I must stop and have lunch.  I'll be back afterwards.

We watched the news as we ate and that was better than I thought it would be.  We've had enough bad news from the front lines today.  Now for the stories that were bright lights.  As this crisis unfolds, we see the evil actions of greedy people.  But there is so much goodness  that comes comes out at times like this.  

When the veterinarians heard that the medical services needed more ventilators, gloves, gowns,

Chili helps take away the chill.

and masks, they sent theirs.  It turns out the same equipment is used in veterinary surgery.  But don't fret - they told us that in each region, there would be emergency vets still equipped for extreme animal emergencies.  This is happening both in France and in America.  

A least one family in France has opened a sanitized wing in their house for truckers to stop over.  It made me tear up as I watched the report.  They said, "The truckers are keeping us all alive by bringing food, cleaning supplies and medical equipment.  We want to support them."

The highways are no only being used by the forces of order, the military, truckers and ambulances.  But the usual rest stops are closed.  A local company has set up a fast food van at the truck stop with free hot meals.  There are signs on the highway stating which days at which stops they are open.

Air B&B owners who rent out secondary homes, are providing free lodging for those care takers on the front line who can't go home, either because it's too far or because they fear contaminating their families.

Décathlon a big sports store, has made 30,000 diving masks available only to the medical profession. Turns out that idea works very well for taking the place of the traditional ones used with ventilators thanks to someone who designed a 3-D printed gasket to modify it.

My own visit in 2018 - lots of folks!

The National Orchestra performed La Bolero via Skype at the end of the news.  It was inspiring to see them on the screen, each at home, playing as one.  Here is the link, I hope you can see it. National Orchestra Skypes Together.

The sight of Mont Saint Michel with no visitors was impressive.  The nuns and priests said they felt closer to everyone in their own isolation.  It's fitting that it is once again what it was meant to be - a monastery.

And finally, when I went back online before I came back to write to you, I saw that doctor's wife in the states had worked out how to make effective HEPA masks from vacuum cleaning bags. 

It's amazing how wonderful humans can be when they work together.

So keep on looking up.  We are stronger together.  I hear you - you are doing the right thing and staying at home.  You are singing, writing, taking photos of life under lock-down, sending out posts, jokes, making videos, and sharing beauty of being alive.  Thank you!  Everyone needs the sound of life - and love.  We love you!

A demain, nos amis!  Link to Day 16