The Coronavirus: Week One

Desperate times call for desperate measures

This expression was first attributed to the Greek physician Hippocrates when he wrote, "for extreme diseases, extreme methods of cure, as to restriction, are most suitable."

How fitting to use it now as we complete our first full week of the COVID-19 "home isolation" practice. This past week, Governor Roy Cooper closed all North Carolina public schools. UNC as well as the majority of colleges in the state cancelled all in-person classes and is moving all learning online. The federal government has encouraged people to only gather in groups no larger than 10. Movie theaters are closed, as are stores like Kohls, and restaurants are closed except for carry-out, drive thru options. All of this to "flatten the curve" and slow the spread of the Corona

virus. It is a scary time. One with lots questions, and one with very few answers.

The Brown's are doing what we can to get by. Keep things as normal as possible. But what does normal look like when school is not in session, Rich is working from home, and I am trying to continue my job search? We have created a daily schedule to keep Grant and T.J engaged in their learning. Grant is having fun in his "social studies time" building a historically accurate castle on mind craft.  TJ has learned a few card tricks via his Math and Magic class found on Great Courses. We are being creative, trying to have fun, and maintain our sanity.

My mom, being 88, has decided to drastically restrict herself to the house. As such, we give her daily phone calls to check in and give her a bit of social interaction. We have gone over to pull her weeds in her yard and talk with her through the windows and screen door. She is fearful, and so am I, with how this virus could affect her. COVID-19 seems to be especially tough on the elderly. And so we keep our distance. Earlier this week, TJ and Grant sat on her back porch to show Grandma the new card trick they learned.

And now, the week through the eyes of both Grant and TJ (as a part of their Friday work)

Grant's assignment was to answer the following questions:
What is going on in the world right now?
A virus is spreading around the globe called the covid-19 with makes its a pandemic not an epidemic.

How has COVID-19 affected you and your family?
Well me and T.J are staying home and not going to school, and same with my dad how he stays home. What about your mom? Oh shes jobless. She was home anyway.

What are some things you have done this week?
I surpassed my class in math by taking a Kahn Academy online class. I perfected decimals in just three days. So take that, Jacob! I'm smarter than you.


What has been the best part of the week?
Oh ummmmm.... seeing my Mom, Dad, Brother, and Dog all week long. It's nice having to see my family for most of the day.

TJ's assignment was a free-write about the week using 8 of his 15 spelling/vocabulary words:

It all started in Wuhan,China. This once-in-a-life-time pandemic (not epidemic) is affecting our lives, like the NBA'S season being suspended and March Madness being canceled. Its crazy!! it affects the respiratory system which involves the lungs, nasal cavity, etc. We are being told to stay safe by washing hands often, not touching eyes, nose or mouth the best you can, and avoiding groups of people of 10 or more. They call this "social distancing." Scientists all over the world are trying to find a vaccine, but it's difficult. Grandma has put herself in to quarantine. We can't even visit her in her house. Instead, we talk through the screen door. My cousin, Grace, had to come back from Italy during her semester abroad. Italy is one of the worst-case countries with a large influx of cases. This virus is supposed to hit real hard in May, so I don't know if camp is going to be canceled. Hopefully, this virus passes though quick so I can get on with my life.  


Desperate times call for desperate measures, that is for sure. I just hope that all of our self-isolation is not for nothing.

It's Not Like Fortnite

TJ has been doing really well in school lately.  His grades are up, his poor behavior is down, he made the Track Team(!), and has been good to his brother. This new level of maturity was rewarded with a chance to go shooting with his sister, her boyfriend, Mitchell, and me.  

We own a lot of Nerf guns. Our house is littered with Nerf bullets and parts of guns; silencers, bi-pods, butt-stocks. A good Nerf war is never out of the question as long as it is outside (no guns in the house). The boys are master snipers, gun-slingers, and are experts at magazine exchanges - thanks to watching YouTube videos and playing Fortnite.  However, taking a real gun, with real bullets is a whole different experience. 

I remember the first gun I ever shot was my uncle's 357 magnum revolver; a massive gun in the hands of a 12 or 13 year old boy. The gun jumped in my hand and I was more then happy to hand it back after about six rounds.  My hand hurt afterwards.  

TJ has handled guns before.  Both boys have learned the basics of firearms safety; weapon on safe, finger off the trigger, and always pointed away from people (down range). They know the basics of how to take a weapon and make it safe.  They have even started to learn how to take apart a gun and put it back together.  They have fired .22s and shotguns at camp and with our friends but the guns we shot yesterday were "big".

TJ was apprehensive.  All of that bravado in running around with Nerf guns was appropriately humbled on the range.  We had a few guns; some are mine and some are Mitch's.  After the mandatory safety briefing, we donned our eye and hearing protection and entered the firing line.  

TJ did not want to shoot first.  He was happy with sitting and watching. Indoor ranges enhance the pressure waves of gun fire and I think he was very surprised how big this invisible force was.  

I finally got him to the line with five rounds in the pistol.  He took his time and fired.  Then he took even more time and fired again.  Yes, I told him to go slow between shots but this was glacial.  The good news is that he did everything correctly even if the gun jumped in his hands a little bit.  

We moved on to the M-4.  Both Mitch and I own one but in different configurations.  TJ favored Mitch's because it was lighter and had a red-dot reticle as opposed to my iron sights.  He followed all of our instructions and did really well.  It turns out that shooting is NOT like the movies, or video game, or Nerf guns at all.  TJ clearly has a new respect for guns.

However, in an ironic twist at the end of the day, we learned that the video game developers from Epic, the makers of Fortnite, use this indoor range for their weapons research!  The range rents all of those exotic weapons to anyone who wants to try them.  So the illusion of gun-slinging met the reality of shooting a firearm.  

I have not heard TJ talk/ask about the next time we can go to a range. If he had the desire I'd take him and let him improve his knowledge around guns.  Instead he is more like me; he knows how to be safe with them and he knows how to use them but he is not so enamored with them that he MUST have them.  

Next - time to clean them!  

Snow Day, Snow Way!

We had a short day this week and I didn't have to take my math test today!  This is the biggest and only snow storm this year.  We didn't even think we were going to have snow this year!  

Dad says that this snow is nothing and that when he was a kid that he would definitely have school on a day like today.  Dad said there would have to several inches of snow before school would close.  We even had a three hour early dismissal yesterday. A decision they made on Wednesday before the storm even came.  He and mom complain because they cancelled school yesterday before the school district even knew how bad it would be.  Dad says that when he was a kid he would have to wake up early in the morning and listen to the radio hoping to hear his school called.  This was BTI (Before The Internet). He says it helped teach him anxiety. 

When we woke up this morning the road were clear and it was hardly even freezing.  The snow was just barely good enough to make into snowballs or go sledding on.  Instead we watched Disney movies with Caroline and Austin Plummer.  

Happy long weekend!