Tag: pandemic

Updates and Thoughts on COVID-19

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Updates and Thoughts on COVID-19

Hey friends! We have been MIA for about a month. Shari and I were both super busy and needed some time to really focus on people, events, and ourselves. We are happy to be back! Our month away has shown us A LOT about where we are in this whole pandemic. With that said, read on for our thoughts, experiences, and questions.

COVID Updates from Kendall:

We’ve had mixed feelings about this topic. I mean, what is there to really say? Shari and I birthed The Salty Exchange during the height of the COVID lockdown. We spent hours talking about when things would get back to “normal.” Over the past 18 months we’ve seen our friends and family members all express their opinions, hopes, and fears to varying degrees. We’ve all worn masks, missed each other, dried our hands out because of hand sanitizer and hand washing, and we’ve all wondered what was next. It’s been an interesting time…

As a current resident of Vermont (and undoubtedly the safest place to be in during this pandemic), we’ve had our fair share of worries and woes. We’ve missed our families (TX and WA). There’s been cuts to our paycheck (thankfully that’s remedied now). Our proficiency with Zoom, FaceTime, and WhatsApp video chats has matured. In recent months, things have begun to open up more. With the vaccine available to the masses and a hopeful vaccination rate on the rise, there was a small sliver of time this year where it felt… familiar. 

It was during this sliver of time (May-July) that my husband and I were lucky enough to see our immediate family members. We had a steady stream of guests for about 2 months straight. While this was a lot of work on my end as the hostess, I wouldn’t trade it for a minute. It had been two years since seeing my husband’s family. That’s far too long to go without seeing the people you love. As these reunions were taking place, Vermont was also lucky enough to hit our 80% vaccination goal. Life was starting to happen. Literally. I saw life coming back to the streets of my small state. 

I still see that life. I still see that hope. My husband and I have done our part. We have vaccinated ourselves and anxiously await the day we can get Rosemary vaccinated. I don’t know when it went from “we are all in this together” to making the vaccine political. I get that there is a strong group of people who don’t like vaccines. I getcha- I may think differently than you, but that’s totally fine! I care enough about you to vaccinate myself to protect you. Even with all of these new variants like Delta and Lamda (WTF- Lamda sounds scary), I have hope. But every day I feel that hope slipping a bit. The anger of being asked to wear a mask seems pretty extreme and just too much for some. Why is it too much? I am genuinely asking. Is a mask really an infringement on your rights as an American? Because I just don’t see it but I am open to hearing your reasons why. Seriously. Let’s talk.

I often feel triggered by the news. The numbers of those dying are too high. The number of people not trusting science is too high. For me, I have yet to see anyone die from the virus. I know of people who have passed on because of it or are currently sick. Truthfully, it’s hard to process. We should care more about this stuff; specifically, we should care more about the prevention of diseases and viruses than we do.To not take the threat of this pandemic seriously means you are ok with the circumstances. It means you don’t really value what is right in front of you. You must be incredibly privileged to think you can beat it. It’s just the flu right? Well, surprise! People die of the flu. All the time. And it isn’t fair. It should be stopped. So when did trying to find a better cure or treatment plan become political? I have said it before and I will scream it again: I saw my mom die of the flu. And it was pretty much the same way people are dying of COVID. I can hardly think of that time without a pit in my stomach. I wasn’t even supposed to touch her because they were worried about us picking up her virus. But I still snuck in a last kiss. That’s the most basic and human thing I have ever done. I couldn’t let her go without hoping she felt it. Even if it meant I could get sick. So, for her, I vaccinate. And I ask that in her honor, you do too. 

WORST CASE SCENARIO: Even if it turns out this is all a hoax, don’t you want to know that you did all you could to protect your family? Your friends? Your life? Don’t you want to know that you cared enough to do something? 

COVID Updates from Shari:

When Kendall and I decided to write a Covid Update in August, I thought I’d have so much insight after just helping pull off the first in-person conference for my company since March of 2020. But to be honest, I don’t have much more insight. This is still a confusing time in life as we enter into what is undoubtedly another slough of restrictions and social navigation amongst family and friends. 

Immediately before we left for San Diego, the CDC issued new guidelines for wearing masks indoors (including those that are vaccinated). My company informed us that all the employees would be abiding by this new information; so I promptly washed all my masks and packed them in my suitcase. Our event made national news as the first conference held at the San Diego Convention Center in 18 months. The event went as smoothly as it could with a significant drop in attendance (we missed our International attendees) but the smiles on faces, the side conversations that felt naturally unnatural, and the slightly awkward networking that proved how out of practice we are… was worth the distance, safety, and vaccination to be together again knowing we had done our part in it all. As a result, our event was outbreak free and we are so thankful everyone had a good time.

Now that I am back home and have a few moments to reflect on the past week in San Diego, and simultaneously take in the emerging news, I am torn. I just witnessed the connection and embrace of humanity in-person again. The reality that we are going backwards with variants and the spread of Covid again is a bit much to accept. I see meme’s from both sides of the coin and honestly… it feels like we are entering into an interpersonal civil war rather than one against the real enemy that is the virus. As a nation we are not a team. We are kids bickering going from one conspiracy theory to the next. Social media is our battlefield and it is obnoxious to say the least. Maybe it is my personality that causes me to be appalled by conflict or maybe it is the fact that adults seem to enjoy playing the devil’s advocate and it’s extremely exhausting. 

Whatever it is, I long for some good news. So here it is…

Today I am celebrating the fact that a good friend of mine is on the mend after fighting for her life last week due to Covid and pneumonia. I couldn’t imagine losing her (I am sure I will write more about this eventually) but in the meantime, let’s work together for goodness sake. It is a helpless feeling when your friends or family are sick and I don’t wish it on any of you.

Guest Blogger Allyson: “Tie Dying for my Life”

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Guest Blogger Allyson: “Tie Dying for my Life”

If you told me 6 months ago that I would be spending my evenings tie dying clothing in a shower in the middle of a global pandemic, I would have looked at you like you were crazy – yet here we are.

This wasn’t how 2020 was supposed to go. 

I was a creature of impeccable habit. I woke up at the same time, ate the same foods, worked the same job, wrote the same lists; I wore my militant discipline almost as a badge of honor, thwarting it over people to show them that you really could accomplish anything with the right amount of regulation and control. 

2019 brought me the devastating loss of my father. We knew it was coming; there was no medical hope or miracle in the world that could have saved him. Before he passed, I was spiraling. My methodical means of coping were no longer an option when I was faced with something so utterly out of my control. I couldn’t craft a thoughtful list of how to save a life. 

Some may argue that death shouldn’t bring you anything but sorrow and pain, but this pivotal moment in my life inspired me to break free from who I was before. If anything should motivate you to live your life (and I mean truly live it, not some imposter-of-an-existence that I was in), it should be the lesson that, as George Strait once said, “I’m here for a good time, not a long time.” Your life can get cut short in an instant, and I was not going to waste another moment of it not doing the things that brought me joy. I was going to travel, see the world, eat the food – anything and everything my dad would have wanted for me. Then the pandemic hit.

This wasn’t how 2020 was supposed to go.

I had grand plans for this year and in what felt like an instant, the world stopped. Work slowed, gyms closed, travel was not an option; then the depression and anxiety hit. I had just managed to start digging myself out of the deep hole I had been living in for the past couple of years with my renewed enthusiasm and zest for life, and here I was again; dangerously flirting with reuniting with it. I honestly didn’t even know what to do with myself, especially since I couldn’t even go back to my “normal” way of life. How does one plan their life anymore when there isn’t a plan? I didn’t have a handbook on how to navigate my life during a pandemic. 

At the root of it all, I had to remember what I promised myself I would – life is short and I cannot spend my days wishing I had taken the leap to do the things that make me happy. I needed a creative outlet, and what started as an activity to keep me busy at home turned into what I can lovingly call a small business. If you hadn’t gathered earlier, I am a meticulous, almost-robotic (at times) person, so the idea of trying something that I am not already an expert at completely frightened me. But, for the first time in a long time, I was excited about something, and I needed to keep that positive momentum going for my mental health and survival. People don’t always like to admit this, but I will – I value the opinions of other people (yup, I DO care what people think of me), so the notion of sharing this new venture with my community was a huge change for me to take – but I did it, because if I hadn’t, I would have regretted it.

You may call it tie dying, but I call it tie dying for my life. 

This wasn’t how 2020 was supposed to go.

But maybe –

This was exactly how 2020 was supposed to go.

You can find Allyson on Instagram at @upcycledstylefinds and on Etsy!

Allyson is a fabulous and fierce friend of Shari and Kendall. She went to WWU with them and is currently an active member of the Bellingham community. Allyson lives with her husband, Tyler, and precious pup, Luna. Kendall and Shari adore her because she is always quick with her wit and loving with her friends.