Surreal reality and fishes

I mentioned that Evelyn has been a little under the weather.  She had a low grade fever, and developed a rash.  She has a well child check up on Thursday, but they have now put all well patients in the morning and all sick patients in the afternoon.  Madison wasn’t sure if they would still want to see her in the morning, and she was sort of thinking that the rash might be strep, and maybe they should see her today rather than Thursday.  The pediatric office sort of freaked out. They told Madison they wouldn’t even talk to her unless she called the Covid 19 hotline and got their feedback.  Madison spent 45 minutes on the phone with them, describing the symptoms.  They told her these are not Covid 19 symptoms, and she did not need a test.  Madison then called the pediatric office and they said they would not see the baby unless we went to this drive through clinic and had Evelyn tested for Covid 19.  Madison was scared.  I drove them up.  I know that the pediatric office was being abundantly cautious, but if the hotline said it isn’t the right symptoms, I wasn’t sure why we needed to do an invasive test on a baby.  We arrived at the drive through clinic.  It was pretty crowded.  It reminded me of the scene in the movie ET where they discover the alien and set up the tents and everyone is wearing space suits. It was surreal.  The clinic people were very nice.  They gave Evie a pretty thorough check up (as thorough as you can be in a vehicle). They said she doesn’t have Covid 19 symptoms, and they ran a strep screen on her right there in the parking lot of the north Topeka express care.  They were set up to do flu screenings as well.  Her strep screen was negative, and they said she has roseola.  Luckily that is not a huge deal, and she will be just fine as soon as the rash clears up.  Still a scary, humbling experience.  The reality of the situation is terrifying.  I think I was further frustrated when driving and noticing how much traffic there is.  Also seeing how full the stores we drove past were.  I don’t think people here are taking this seriously yet.  

The girls have been asking if they could get some fish.  Jim told them he actually missed our old aquarium.   We did the Walmart curbside pickup.  I didn’t have to get out of the car except to open the trunk.  I was able to get all the stuff we needed except the fish.  Pet stores are considered essential.  Maybe after what I said about people not taking the stay home orders seriously, I am a bit of a hypocrite, but I did stop off and grab some fish.   The pet store was completely empty of people and they were sanitizing.  I am carrying Lysol and hand sanitizer in the car now. Anyway the happiness that the kids had over some simple fish sure made me feel like it was worth a small risk.  We won’t be going back to town now for at least 2 weeks.  And I might add that I may never do anything other than curbside pick up from now on.  I love this!   

The cats love the fish too.  Both stood on their hind legs watching for the longest time.  We also had a good chemistry lesson about balancing pH levels and learning  about what type of fish you have, and what level the tank needs to be for them.  Preston has accused me of bringing home pets because I am feeling like an empty nester.  Tonight he told me he was sorry he said negative things about the fish, because he found them incredibly relaxing.  I remember asking for an aquarium for my 10th birthday. I was lucky enough to have one of those mothers who always thought our ideas were worth trying.   I had a tank for the next probably 30 years.  When we were selling our house a few years back, I gave my tank away.  I was almost immediately sorry and have missed it.  Jim missed it too.  I have a lot of hours logged late at night rocking babies and watching the fish swim.   I am happy to have a tank again, although I am hoping to keep my fish watching to daylight hours!