Connecticut Green Living

This morning I coughed up some phlegm. Is this the detritus of my Covid that ostensibly ended a couple weeks ago? Or did I catch something this week? I don't feel safe in New Haven schools because I am not. Before I get hate mail: I know what the rules are. It's who-gives-a-hoot in terms of masking in America. Young Americans have decided the pandemic is over, so those of us over 50 can just grin and bear it and hopefully not end up in hospitals gasping for air. Yesterday, a teen was coughing. I put on a second mask as I sat at the desk, nervously wondering if she were ill. I decided to call Admin and ask that a mask be sent up. The teen agreed to wear one, then as she became more and more lethargic, soon asked if she could go to the nurse. Of course, I said, of course. I heard a few coughs from the other side of the room, an animated boy "working" in a close group. Did he have Covid? I counted: maybe three masks in class. It should be noted, often I see more kids t...

Before I caught Covid recently, someone had commented the anxiety I felt would kill me faster than Covid itself. I recognize her point, but also squelched it, particularly because at 61 it is not a given that I'd avoid a trip to the hospital or worse. Not to mention the risk of Long Cov id, which is still a terrifying possibility. I am considered an anxious person in general, a label that hasn't helped me make friends or set others at ease at cocktail parties. But the anxiety has helped me act on danger more quickly, staying attuned to threats in a way my calmer brethren do not. I was very strong after the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, when my mom needed surgery, and even after she died of an unrelated cause. It was only after Mom passed, months later, that my anxiety kicked in. I have been dealing with my fear of lapsing into Long Covid by writing (longhand in my Covid journal, begun at the start of the pandemic), watching late night comedy, walking, taking hot baths, readi...

I caught this substitute teaching. I have a weird feeling in my chest, sort of a cool sensation, but I can breathe. I came down with a sore throat Thursday, tested negative for Covid , then negative again Friday. But after heavy congestion and a hoarse voice, my brother said, "You sound like me when I had it, but maybe it was from being out in the cold." I had waited 25 minutes for a bus when it was about 17 degrees out. I would not find out till this morning, though, that I'm Covid-positive. After avoiding this successfully since we first learned of the novel virus, my time had come. I even predicted it on New Year's Eve in my annual vision collage, with a single word "Covid." I knew that as a substitute teacher in New Haven, in classroom after classroom with largely unmasked kids and staff and no regular testing, it would only be a matter of time. Is this how we have to live? If the schools were testing kids regularly with rapid tests and providing staff u...