When quarantine struck, it really did feel like humanity held its collective breaths. Many places of employment ground to a halt, shortened their hours and/or staff, or switched to online production. The economy tanked, unemployment hit record highs, and people stopped going outside. Grocery and food delivery shifted from something disabled people used to something everyone was using. Suddenly Amazon and InstaCart were taking in record profits, while everyone scrambled to adjust to a new way of normal. The tension felt as we waited to see what would happen next and how long this would last, a tension that’s still here for those of us at high risk and those paying attention to the data, that tension felt akin to holding ones breath too long.

Riley’s panic in the second picture is how I often feel when I wake up and catch up on the news.

Had a writer written this plot–murder hornets + pandemic + police brutality + sandstorm from Africa + people refusing to wear masks because of their rights??–no publisher would have bought it. I don’t want to know what I get to check off next from my 2020 Bingo Card.