la peste ~ making noise for the caregivers

Last weekend Jude and I heard a what sounded like a giant party erupting outside.

We thought that was rather curious as we are all confined to our residences and can't go out.  Up came the shutters so we could see what was going on.

It was puzzling.  People were standing on their balconies clapping.  This went on for several minutes.  Then some of the yachts in the harbor started tooting their horns.

Thoroughly confused, we came back inside and did a little research on the internet.  Searching on "Nice actualite" led me to Nice-Matin (a local news source) and their top story was about the exact topic we were researching.

Like in Barcelona and in part of Italy, every evening at 20h00 people gather on their balconies to clap and make noise to give thanks to our CV19 caregivers, to give them encouragement, and to boost morale.

The world can feel so civilized, even during these times.

la peste ~ martyrs for the American economy?

Every now and then the strangest things strike me. Hard.

Today it's something straight from the mouth of the Texas Lieutenant Governor. Here's what he said.

 "... “My message: let’s get back to work, let’s get back to living, let’s be smart about it, and those of us who are 70-plus, we’ll take care of ourselves,” Lt Gov Dan Patrick, a 69-year-old Republican, told Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday night.

“Don’t sacrifice the country,” Patrick said. “Don’t do that.”

Patrick said he feared that public health restrictions to prevent coronavirus could end American life as he knows it, and that he is willing to risk death to protect the economy for his grandchildren. “You know... no one reached out to me and said, ‘As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?’” Patrick said. “And if that’s the exchange, I’m all in.” 

“That doesn’t make me noble or brave or anything like that,” he added. “I just think there are lots of grandparents out there in this country like me.”..."
(from the Guardian)

Let me see if I have this right.

1) American citizens prime mission is to support the economy.

2) Older people are willing to die to keep the economy afloat.

Do I have that right?  Is that what the Texan is saying?

Cranky Old Man News Flash: There are plenty of things I might be willing to die for, but keeping the "America that all America loves" alive is not one of them.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?  OK.  As a foundational idea, I can support that (even though the Texan is clearly not referencing this).

But to sacrifice myself for an idea as vague as "the America that all America loves?"  I think not.

The strange thing that strikes me hard is the narrow-mindedness of certain "public leaders."

I swear, it feels as if they're trying to kill us off.

UPDATE:
This is what I should've written, but fortunately someone else has -

NY Governor Cuomo: “My mother is not expendable. Your mother is not expendable. We will not put a dollar figure on human life. We can have a public health strategy that is consistent with an economic one. No one should be talking about social darwinism for the sake of the stock market.”

la peste ~ signs of the time

France is currently requiring everyone to stay home.  The exceptions are going to a doctors appointment, shopping for food, and walking a dog.  We need to carry a signed and dated permission slip.  Friends have been stopped and asked to show this document.

There is talk over here about Italian dogs.  At this point Italians have been home for over a month.  It turns out that dogs are tired from being walked so much.  Rumor has it that pets are shared between different people so everyone has a chance to get out of the house.

It's difficult not to see what's happening in America.  Things from that part of the world are well-reported on over here.  The runs on and fights over toilet paper and ammunition have been covered by the French press.  People here wonder how stocking up on toilet paper and ammunition will help fight a virus of pandemic proportions.  Perhaps America knows something the rest of the world does not?

By contrast, the shelves in our local markets continue to be well stocked.  Tabacs are open, as are most boulangerie.  In one exceptional case, a very small market around the corner from us was pretty empty of everything the day after strong orders were issued to stay home.  But a day later the little market was restocked, including, yes, with toilet paper.

Just as France entered this time of restricted movement, Jude and I headed out for a doctors appointment.  Along the way I spied two things that pretty much summed up the current situation.

la peste ~ CV19

Covid-19 hit the news and the world jolted awake to a new reality.

The French government has been slowly increasing pressure on its citizenry to pay attention to their surroundings and other people and to stay home.   The struggle is for this country to not go the way of Italy where things have gotten particularly bad.

Many of our friends and neighbors have asked us what we see here and we, in turn, ask them how things are wherever they are.  It's been an on-going conversation.

Our Parisian friends M and G were concerned enough about the developing situation that two weeks ago they cancelled their one week stay in Nice.

Our American friends B and I who are here for the winter told their son not to come.  They couldn't guarantee that he'd not be infected.  The man was a well known physician back in Chicago, so his words carried more than a little strength to them.

This morning France awoke to find itself at Stage 3 of emergency in it's fight to keep from over-stressing the healthcare system.  Stage 3 is the highest level of concern and people have been told to stay home.  Period.

In response to the new orders our friends M and F who'd come to Nice for the month signaled that they're thinking of going back to Paris.  They said the markets here in Nice were busy today and that shelves are emptying pretty quickly.

An American woman we met is flying home early.

Another American woman we met will be leaving Nice soon, too.

Which leaves us wondering what to do next?

We were sick last week with the flu.  We wondered about if it was the dreaded CV19 or not.  We had no respiratory distress, but had many other symptoms.  Out of concern, we stocked up on provisions and stayed home.

Then Jude found new research that talked about CV19 symptoms and their relative probabilities.  It was then that we realized what we had.  Good thing we stayed home, right?  Going forward, we should be fairly immune to la peste.

Now we're faced with making a decision.  Do we return to Paris at the end of the month?  Our apartment there will be colder and darker than the one we're in here in Nice.  Jude has a few doctors appointments next month and, um, our wine cave is well stocked up north.  As a bonus, we'd be strongly encouraged to shelter in place.  Huh.

On the other hand, if we stay one more month in Nice we'd have the sun and sea and gorgeous weather.  Basically we'd have more of the same.  Boring after awhile, perhaps.  Yes, we will need to find Jude some medical support, but maybe that'd not be half bad after all is said and done?

They've arrived! [part two]

A week ago a second wave of swallows arrived, seemingly riding the crest of the air waves of a rather large storm that blew through the south of France.

We hadn't seen anything of the first batch of swallows after the February group arrived.  They were here one day and then they were gone.  But this group seems determined to stick around.  We've watched them scour the skies all week.

This reminds me of my youth.  My mother and father had moved us to Dana Point in 1964.  We used to celebrate the Swallow Festival each year when the swallows would come to Capistrano.

In fact, Nice feels a lot like Dana Point and San Juan Capistrano.  They're both beach-side areas with similar "laid back beach vibes."  The only thing missing here in Nice are the sometimes large waves that would hit the California coast and bring surfers out in droves.