I awoke at 4 am as I do on the days I swim in the Bay. I popped up, headed for the kitchen to prepare coffee and a protein shake giving myself enough time to digest before the swim. Some mornings, I eschew both and just head directly for the Bay. It’s a 20-minute drive, picking up my swim buddy en route. But, today is different. We have no swim planned for today, I remind myself as the coffee brews. We haven’t swum in two weeks since the club closed to protect our members. Just two days before when we had completed a shower and were dressing for the day, I wondered about the shared spaces and everything we touched. Another member in the shower was shouting above the stream of water to some other friends about how she was sure her mother had it, but her hospital refused to test her mom. She went through the symptoms her mother had and the negligence (she felt) from the doctors who were not testing her mom. This was Thursday, March 12th.
My swim bud and I planned a return to the Bay in 2 days on Saturday, but I was starting to wonder after seeing news reports if it was a good idea to go to the club. I mean, we’re all clean in the showers after the swim, so the proximity to others couldn’t be bad, right? I kept reminding myself of how many surfaces we all touch and the close quarters if the locker room is filled with other women doing just as we were: escaping life to get in the Bay to feel better. It was truly the “Calgon, take me away” moment for all of us swimmers who delight in the brisk swim in the morning hours when the Bay provides the most calm. It’s glorious to watch the sunrise from inside the Bay being one with the marine life and birds soaring overhead or perched on the jetty or a boat. But, should we keep doing this now?
I didn’t want to wimp out and be the naysayer of the moment. Our college had already switched to distance ed learning for all classes for a few weeks on Friday, the 13th. Things were mounting and the news provided a constant stream of darker news showing the toll in Italy. But we needed this swim, I kept telling myself. We need to keep a routine and do the one major thing that brings us joy.
Then the email came from the club that we were going to close immediately until the end of the month as was our rival club next door. The club is home to many of the Bay Area First Responders who were all stating the importance of social distancing. This was the beginning of that call aside from my college ceasing face-to-face classes the day before. Then came the SF Mayor’s mandate to Shelter-In-Place that followed a few days later on March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day. Six Bay Area counties together shut everything down. “Social distancing” became the new word of the day and most people followed suit. SF turned into a ghost town by mid-week. As the weekend drew closer, we were aghast at the images coming from Florida of the people on the beaches celebrating Spring Break. Did they not get the memo or did they simply not care that protecting our healthcare workers and elders and immune-compromised is of utmost importance as a U.S. citizen? The only remedy to stop this viral monster was to stay in our homes away from others. Why were they so cavalier about this? Seattle was already battling a tremendous onslaught of the virus at this point.
Not a week later, we started to see NYC experience a massive flare-up of positive cases as ill New Yorkers flocked to emergency rooms. It’s been exponentially increasing in several cities across the U.S. How is it that these COVIDidiots are not paying attention? Proof exists all over the entire globe!
This is a poignant visual of how SF has treated this from our first knowledge of the pandemic: San Francisco Quarantine – March 22. (Turn it up.)
It’s now day 11 of the official S.I.P. There is no swim today.
I hope everyone is maintaining a safe distance from others, being well, and passing the time with calm.
