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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.

It has changed the holiday season... Altering, cancelling, or what was expected, anticipated, and valued. There are people I miss being with, something that ZOOM falls short of. We can still communicate, just no commune. When I think about the first thing I want to do when we no longer have to abide by pandemic restrictions is to go on a hugging spree! And then throw a party! I took a week off of the journal with the end of the fall semester, since I was pretty depleted. There isn't much about this year that I want to remember or really pay attention to. My anxiety level is up, my depressive symptoms have increased, along with insomnia. I made a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, and left both ham and cheese out on the counter overnight... I misplaced my ID and pass key for work today, only to find it hanging up on the door (put there so I wouldn't leave without it!) I spend more time escaping the absurdities of the world today in murder mysteries and police procedurals, both on screen and in books. The best thing about the pandemic for me was the discovery of e-books at my local library. I can choose from books all over the state from my laptop. No more lost books, coffee spills (Contigo cheap silicone washers that expand with exposure to heat; with no replacement parts), or late fees. I don't have to drive to the library, either! I can't help thinking about someone I know who is very vulnerable to any passing pathogen. A talented musician who is self-isolating because he doesn't want to catch COVID, but is dying inside due to loneliness. He misses his therapy group, his volunteer work, and teaching music. "I never thought my last days would be like this" was the conclusion of our last conversation. Multiply him my millions.... Someone else has to brave the cold weather to "visit" their spouse at a care facility through the window...Yet another may never be able to see her mother alive again (she is in a care facility and her health is declining). So much to grieve over... The pandemic has attacked us right where we are most human; it has tried to rob us of our connectedness. And yet witnessing one of the most vindictive scorched earth retreats in history.... Everything that can be done to make life difficult for the incoming administration is being done. Creating chaos by refusing to sign legislation that his staff helped draft, taking this country to the brink of insolvency and then signing it... There will be many glitches in the safety net programs that would have been more seamlessly funded without the grandstanding... I know people who never got their unemployment compensation. The moratorium on evictions was only extended for a month! That takes us into the coldest part of winter...