Page 23 - Sonoma County Gazette April 2020

Close your doors; Open your Hearts
Wow! Another wake up call, like we didn’t hear the last ones? Healdsburg residents, whose hearts have been tenderized by fire threats, evacuations, PG&E shutoffs, losses to hospitality businesses, gentrification evictions and flood damage are again responding with compassion: reaching out, looking after the more vulnerable, expressing gratitude, offering support and inviting calm. This forced isolation is a perfect time to reflect, to acknowledge our feelings, to think deeply about life and death, to turn to our treasured writers, thinkers and poets in order to make sense of existence.
“Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.”—Henry David Thoreau
So, take a spring walk in the amazingly clear brisk air; prepare food and eat at home; plant seeds for summer bounty; offer assistance where you can with whatever gifts you have to share. It’s time for relaxing baths, for prayer and meditation, for singing, shadow dancing, and staying connected. Friends who aren’t on the internet appreciate a call or a card. Don’t forget the shelterless!
City staff are getting really good at emergencies! Healdsburg City Council ratified the city’s March 11 emergency declaration, in relation to COVID-19. An emergency declaration allows the city to access mutual aid and resources.
If you’ve been too busy to participate in City government now is your chance. City Council meets April 6 and April 20, 6PM using new Brown Act revisions that allow all but one council member to call in remotely. You can watch/listen to the meetings from home via the City website. Click on the tiny orange RSS symbol http://healdsburgca.iqm2.com/Citizens/default.aspx.
I just want to take a few minutes to remind everyone, we are in this together! These are some of the craziest times we have ever been through, and also some of the scariest. We all have to remember there will be an end to this, and there will be sunshine in our future!
Residents who use the internet are staying connected on social media during this crisis. On Nextdoor Healdsburg there’s been a robust conversation on various ways to support community members, seniors and local businesses. Neighbors have offered to pick up items for seniors or visit from a safe distance. Seniors in isolation report they will continue to pay house cleaners; others suggest buying gift cards from local businesses and restaurants. El Sombrero, for example, is closed but is offering gift cards.
Support our poorly paid hospital staff with gift cards from restaurants offering takeout, delivery, curbside pickup etc.: Agave, Baci, Barrels, Brews & Bites, Barn Diva, Costeaux (delivers Sunday brunch!), Casa de Mole, Catellis, Downtown Bakery, 8 Dragons, El Farolito, El Sombrero, Journeyman Meat Co. Thai Orchard, Vallette’s and Wicked. Don’t forget to tip.
Shelton’s Market practices strict safety guidelines, has a super convenient curbside pickup. Email your order and pay online; they fill orders wearing gloves. They will also deliver within Healdsburg for a $35 min order and $5 delivery charge. Big John’s is open and well stocked. Safeway is open and has senior hours on Tuesday and Thursday 6AM–9AM, but some shoppers ignore social distancing and take your own hand sanitizers. Windsor Safeway will deliver. Oliver’s Market is open and has posted the strict safety precautions they follow. Many other stores may be open and all need our support. Visit your favorite food store or restaurant’s Facebook page; email or call them.
• Wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds, with soap and water or alcohol- based hand rub
The City has set up a Neighbors Network to match those with needs with volunteers helpers. If you can volunteer to help someone, let the City know. For INFO and to request HELP—like shopping, errands, pet care assistance, minor home maintenance, social interaction, etc—or to volunteer, call: 707-431-3492 or visit the City’s Volunteer Program. https://www. ci.healdsburg.ca.us/860/Volunteer-Program.
At the time of writing this article I have a friend who is in the hospital fighting for his life. He is 51-year-old, he did not leave the country. He and his family were on vacation. I saw posts on FaceBook from March 11th, they were smiling and having a great time. Now he is on a respirator and his wife and daughter are positive for the virus too. I hope he recovers and becomes an advocate and a face for our community to say, “I know someone affected by this” and it becomes a reality, so we combat this.
Reach for Home is distributing food for the shelterless each Thursday at 8 drop locations. Portable toilets are adjacent the Plaza and most parks.
In closing.... I know we will get through this eventually. Windsor, Sonoma County, and all of us have been through so much in the last couple of years, but we will rise above this pandemic.
Keep educating yourself about this virus. We will get through this. If you have thoughts or feedback please mail me at lorene@mac.com
Share how you are coping: HBG_Gazette@sonic.net
One of my favorite sayings is #togetherwearestronger that was true for our time after the Tubbs Fire, all those crazy PSPS (BSBS) incidents which completely overlapped with the recent Kincade Fires. And just as we were starting to recover the COVID-19 also known as the Coronavirus happens.
Now that the realization the COVID-19 is a real thing (and not fake news as some are reporting) we as civic members need to hunker down and do what we are told. First Sonoma county and the counties surrounding it were directed to become Shelter in Place cities. This started the process the people needed to stay at home and to minimize contact with people.
After day 3 Governor Gavin Christopher Newsom bumped it up another notch and imposed Shelter in Home for all of California. This is pretty much the same as what Sonoma County and already been doing but now it is statewide and hopefully a little clearer for people so understand to STAY HOME!!!
The Town of Windsor, our Mayor, Town Council members and the Windsor Chamber of Commerce have been working tirelessly to do their best to work to support Windsor businesses.
Basics to avoid getting sick...
DO
• Cover your nose and mouth with a disposable tissue or flexed elbow when you cough or sneeze
• Avoid close contact (keep 6 feet apart) with people
• Stay home and self-isolate from others in the household if you feel unwell
DON’T
• Touch your eyes, nose, or mouth if your hands are not clean
Right now, things change hour by hour. It has been my experience that the COVID-19 has been the most reported pandemic in my life. Currently all schools are closed until at least April 7th. All events and activities have been cancelled until further notice. And people are ordered to stay home and all non-essential businesses are closed and or people are working from home.
Please distance yourself from others. Take this seriously, it is not a game, this is not a hoax. It’s the real deal and we do not have a cure for it nor do we know how it is spread. It’s entirely possible to be positive and not get ill, but you could make others ill.
#togetherwearestronger
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