Controlling risk

I wear a mask when I go out, even for my morning walk at 6:30 or 7 a.m. And I'm not wearing it to protect you; it's to protect me. I'm over 80, I'm in good health (with assistance from Big Pharma), but one statistic I do believe in the ocean of misinformation about Covid19, is that the elderly are more vulnerable. The more health deficits they have like obesity, heart disease, lung congestion, smoking, alcoholism, etc. the greater the risk they'll die of Covid19 if they get it or get really sick.

When I walk in the morning, I may cross paths 4 or 5 other walkers or joggers, breathing hard. (At 80 I don't move that quickly.) I wear my mask because they don't. When I walk later in the day to attend a program in the park I may share the street with 6 teen-agers laughing and talking and doing normal kid stuff. I wear my mask because they don't. When I go in stores I meet strangers complying with the mask rules, but with their masks in odd positions--or under their noses, or lifting it to sip the ubiquitous coffee of can of pop. I wear my mask because they don't. I do eat in restaurants. I'm sharing space with people eating and talking and laughing--doing normal human activities. So I wear a mask, except when eating. In the days before the pandemic, I saw people wearing masks who were in chemo treatment or recovering from surgery but still in church or shopping. I wear a mask because I know they weren't trying to protect the public.

But loneliness and depression are also a risk--for anyone even without the pandemic. And I have good reasons for grief and isolation after the recent illness and death of our son. A few brave friends and family violated all the rules and took the risk to be with us, for which we'll forever be grateful, but it was nowhere near the support we would have had in another year from our church, our neighbors, our clubs, etc. So I'll wear the mask because I don't want to live in a prison. I don't want to live like I'm dead.

I'm still going to church (outside), I'm still shopping, I'm attending as many live programs as this odd summer at Lakeside has to offer (praise God for our wonderful staff), I'm still going to restaurants, I'm still inviting friends to our home and going to theirs, I'm still browsing the used books in the "Little Library" boxes all over Lakeside.

And masks keep the summer bugs out of my teeth.