Since I Can't Go to the Gym...

I have been faithfully going each weekday to the local recreation center where I have been putting in an hour and a half workout each day.   There have been very few people there the last several days, so, as long as they had disinfectant spray for the exercise machines, I did not feel that it was a hotbed of contagion.  Today, however, when I drove there shortly before noon, and saw only a couple of cars in the parking lot, I knew it was closed.  Nevertheless, I parked the car, and went to read the sign on the door.  The rec center will be closed indefinitely due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Since it was a nice, sunny day I decided that I would get my exercise by taking a walk in the Cleveland Metroparks.  The Metroparks, often referred to as "The Emerald Necklace" are a series of parks that encircle much of Greater Cleveland and which cover over 23,000 acres.  I drove to the Rocky River Reservation which is just 1.5 miles from my house.

I parked my car at the overlook of Berea Falls, near the southern entrance to the reservation.

From there I followed the all-purpose trail (for walkers, joggers and bikers) which heads north through the reservation for more than 13 miles almost to the shore of Lake Erie.  

Of course the trees are not yet in leaf.  In a couple months this will be a beautiful, green forest.  I did hear some song birds and some croaking frogs, so spring is on the way.

The path follows the course of the Rocky River.  We always refer to it as the Rocky River, I suppose to distinguish it from the Cleveland suburb of Rocky River which is located by the river's mouth on the shore of Lake Erie.  The river was rather swollen, and you don't see the rocks which give it its name.

This small lake is known as the Lagoon.

A boggy area next to the Lagoon.

Every March there is a "maple sugaring" event in the park.  The maple trees are tapped, the sap is collected, and it is boiled down into maple syrup.  I wonder if the event will be held this weekend since the governor has prohibited any gathering of more than 100 people.

After an hour of walking, I reached the area known as Cedar Point (not to be confused with the famous amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio).  Here cliffs of shale tower over the river.  On top of the cliffs there are traces of ancient earthworks which were built by Native Americans.

I then headed back to the car.  My two hour walk was a round trip of six miles, so I guess I made up for not going to the gym.

Insanity

Now that there are five confirmed cases of corona virus here in Ohio, things are getting a bit crazy.  This morning I went to my nearby supermarket to pick up a few items.  I have never seen such long lines, nor have I seen so many people with their carts filled to capacity.  

Of course there is no hand sanitizer to be found at any of the stores.  On this trip I didn't even see any ordinary bar soap.  They had fancy, expensive bar soaps, and liquid soap, but no Ivory, Zest, Irish Spring, Dial, or any of the common brands.  Any sort of disinfectant was limited to two per customer... the same for rubbing alcohol and toilet paper.  Fortunately I made a trip to Sam's Club a couple weeks ago and bought a 32 roll package of toilet paper (that was before the run on TP), and I still have a dozen bars of Dial from an earlier trip to Sam's.  I did succumb at bit to the shopping frenzy and bought a few more canned goods and non-perishable items than I had planned on.

Later in the day I went to the recreation center for my daily workout.  As long as they don't run out of disinfectant spray for the exercise machines, I will have no qualms about going there.  There were very few people, and the place was eerily quiet.

Balancing Act

Now that the corona virus outbreak has been classified as a pandemic, I am trying to do a balancing act.  I am trying to neither overreact to the situation nor minimize its seriousness.  

Just a couple days ago the first confirmed cases were reported here in Ohio.  There are at this moment four cases, and I know that at least three of them are in Cuyahoga County where I live.  Three people among a population of 1.24 million people is a very tiny amount.  The question is will the virus be successfully contained, or will it explode.  

As a senior citizen I am told that I am at risk.  However, I have (knock on wood) no serious health problems, and, when I am at home and not traveling, I go to the gym five days a week and work out for an hour and a half.  I certainly do not consider myself frail and elderly.  Furthermore I have read that the mortality rate for the virus among people in their sixties is around 3%.  So if I were to catch the virus, there would be a 97% chance that I would recover.  Putting that in perspective, If, heaven forbid, I were diagnosed with cancer, and the doctor told me that my chances of survival were 97% I would be very happy indeed.

If I should come down with something, even if it's just the sniffles, I will stay at home.  I have enough food in the pantry that I will not need to go to the store.  And I bought a thermometer so that I will know if I have a fever.

My biggest worry at this point is how the pandemic is going to affect my travel plans.  Last December when I found a very reasonable, round-trip, first class airfare to Mexico City, I jumped on it and made my reservation for my April trip to Mexico.  In less than a month I am supposed to leave.  

As of today there have been eight confirmed cases of corona virus in the entire country of Mexico.  Of those eight, four have already recovered, and there have been no fatalities.  It seems as if I am safer in Mexico than here in the U.S.  (0.1 cases per million people as opposed to 3.2 in the U.S.)

Supposedly the airlines are doing a more thorough job of sanitizing the planes during this crisis.  However I will still do my own sanitizing job.  I have a small spray bottle of Lysol spray and a packet of Clorox disinfectant wipes that are within the limits for the "liquids bag" that I am allowed in my carry-on.  Hand sanitizer is not to be found in any of the stores, but fortunately I had several partially used bottles from previous trips.  I consolidated them into two full travel-size bottles of sanitizer. 

I am worried about whether or not the first leg of my flight from Cleveland will be cancelled.  It is a large 737 jet and, right now there are only eleven passengers on the entire plane.  Every day I go to the United website and look at the seating chart for that flight.

I am the only person in first class.  That would be really nice.  I would have my own flight attendant, and I wouldn't be next to someone who was sick.  However I really don't think that the flight will run with so few people.  The second leg of my journey, the flight to Mexico City is about half full... IF there are not a bunch of cancellations in the upcoming weeks.  Whatever happens, I hope that I am not stuck with a horrendous itinerary. 

My final worry is what if I come down with the virus while I am in Mexico.  I am not so worried for myself, but I don't want to give the bug to Alejandro's family, especially his 80 year old father.  

I am just going to have to wait and see how things progress in the coming weeks.  

Women Speak Out

On Sunday cities throughout the world observed International Women's Day.  In Mexico City 80,000 participants marched from the Monument of the Revolution to the city's main plaza, the Zócalo.  The march was a protest against femicides in Mexico.  

My friend Alejandro, his sister and his nephew were going to participate, but the nephew was not feeling well, so they did not go.  I am glad that they were not there because, although the vast majority of the protesters were peaceful, there was a small band of radicals with spray paint, hammers and chisels who were damaging buildings and monuments along the way.  When they reached the Zócalo, someone threw a Molotov cocktail toward the National Palace.  It missed its mark, but instead a photographer was injured.

When I talked to Alejandro on the phone last night, he said that he disapproved of the vandalism and violence, but that he can understand the rage of the perpetrators.  Last year there were 3,825 femicides in Mexico.  So far this year there have been 265 murders of woman.  Twenty of those victims have been girls under the age of fourteen, and 68 of the murders have been in Mexico City.  The murderers are very, very rarely brought to justice.  One of the most horrific crimes occurred last month when a seven year old girl was abducted when she left school.  Her body was later found in a bag, and she had been beaten and sexually abused.  So, yes, there is reason for outrage.

(image taken from the internet)

"I don't want them to kill me."

The protest did not end with yesterday's march.  Today was "A Day Without Women".  The organizers have called upon women throughout the country to stay home, not go to work, not go to school, not go shopping... demonstrate what the country would look like without women.  Government offices, many universities, and some of the country's biggest corporations have supported the strike.  Alejandro's sister was staying home from work today, and school was cancelled for her son today because none of the women teachers would be present.  I will be interested to hear how successful the strike was.

(image taken from the internet)

THE 9th NOBODY MOVES!

NATIONAL STRIKE

Not a woman on the streets

Not a woman at work

Not a girl at school

Not a young woman at the universities

Not a woman buying

It's That Time of Year

Even though spring is still a couple weeks away, last night was when we "Spring ahead"... advancing the clocks to daylight saving time.  And that means that for a short time, here in the Eastern Time Zone, we will be two hours ahead of Mexico City instead of one.

Mexico did not adopt daylight saving time until 1996, and that was mainly because of the strong economic ties with the United States.  However, when the United States extended daylight saving time in 2007, Mexico did not follow suite.  They still make the switch the first Sunday of April.  So for four weeks there will be a two hour time difference.

The Mexican government however did allow municipalities that are 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from the U.S. border to follow the "north of the border" schedule.  This is to relieve problems in areas where many people cross the border on a daily basis.  

I have read that a citizens' committee in Mexico City last year was considering a proposal to eliminate daylight saving time, saying that it is harmful to people's health and it that it does not save energy.  Although that proposal did not go into effect, President López Obrador has long been an opponent of daylight saving time, and has talked about having a "national public consultation" on the matter.  So perhaps, if not this year, then in the future, most of Mexico will be two hours behind the eastern U.S. from March to November.

Hopping Toward Easter

I always go to Mexico in April.  I am there for Alejandro's birthday, and I am often there for Easter, depending on where it falls in the calendar.  Before I left Mexico the last time, I asked Alejandro's nine year old nephew, Ezra, if he wanted to have another Easter egg hunt.  I wasn't sure if he was getting too old for that sort of thing, but without hesitation he enthusiastically answered "¡¡¡Sí!!!"

Even though I don't leave for another month, I have already purchased everything for the egg hunt.  I bought a bag of plastic eggs and wrapped candies to fill them.  When I was in a local store, I could not resist buying this item...

What looks like the bottom half of the Easter Bunny is actually a bag in which he can gather his Easter eggs!

Unlike Christmas, Easter in Mexico has been relatively untouched by influences from the U.S.  The idea of the Easter Bunny, Easter eggs and egg hunts was completely new to Ezra before I started coming down for the holiday.  I guess I must plead guilty of "gringofying" Easter for the family.

A Miniature Gift

I have written a number times here about my friend Irma, who was the wife of one of my college Spanish professors.  She was born and raised in Jalapa, Mexico, but she has lived here in Ohio, just minutes away from my house, since the 1970s.  Tomorrow we are going to get together for lunch, and I have a small present from Mexico to give her.

Irma collects nativity scenes, and on my most recent trip I found this for her.

When Alejandro and I were in the city of San Juan del Río, we went to a nativity scene museum.  At the front desk, they had a few items for sale, including this tiny item made from recycled materials.  Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus are on the inside of a bottle cap, and it is mounted on a metal pull tab.  When I saw it I had to buy for Irma!  I'm sure that she doesn't have anything like it in her collection.