Corona Virus Prep List...

With the outbreak of the corona virus, and one case of a teacher in Oregon, there is a decent chance that I will be looking at a school closure in the coming weeks. I hope not. It would create havoc on my ninth grader’s community service project and well as the juniors and AP testing, but, given the general germy behavior of high school students and how they are constantly eating each other’s snacks and sharing water bottles, school closure feels inevitable.  

So, I am preparing. First, I am making a new batch of sauerkraut packed with garlic and hot peppers to ward off germs—no one will come near us!—and support our immune systems. I’ve been considering food stores in the basement and ordered another box of whole wheat pasta on Saturday. Mark bought some emergency soup. We have winter stores of potatoes, onions, dried fruit, and canned tomatoes, as well as connections for greens. The chickens are starting to lay again. We won’t starve.

More importantly, I have been thinking about what I would do at home for a couple of weeks. City business would also be curtailed, I suspect, so I will have time on my hands. I can go for long walks in the woods and work in the garden, but that will only go so far. I’ve made a list of projects that have to be done some time soon, complete with possible purchases for the next week.  

1.       Repaint bedroom trim to sage green—get paint!

2.       Wash living room walls.

3.       Hang blue gate in garden—purchase wood for post and rings to hang.

4.       Prep house for painting—scrape, patch, prime. Primer and patching, sandpaper.

5.       Replace cracked windows. Glass and glazing.

6.       Knit sweater vests? Investigate grey wool in the closet.

7.       Repair garden beds—new posts? Brackets?

8.       Clean the basement! No new purchases, but maybe something goes away?

9.       Read: Strong Towns, some possible young adult fiction….stock up on books!

10.   Can more local beans. Do we have lids?

11.   Finish rewiring the stove. Mark reminds me that he will still be working, even if from home. Check the wire supply anyways.

12.   Give the Ark a good bath and prep for summer camping.

A couple of weeks off now could lead to more time for camping this summer….a mixed blessing, indeed.