There Will be Dancing

I did have my lesson last night. The studio has a good supply of disinfectant wipes and they were prominently on display in several places. Saw Z wiping down all the tables and chairs and they were even disinfecting our binders before putting them away. There is mandatory hand washing/hand sanitizer use by both instructor and student before each lesson.

And I no longer have to worry about Medal Ball since it is cancelled. Along with a couple of upcoming coaches and some other events. Group classes and parties were the first to go so the studio is now just open for private lessons. Showcase is up in the air at this point. It would certainly suck to have it called off but, in the grand scheme of things, not going to a dance event is a pretty minor problem.

With Medal Ball officially off the table, JoNY came up with a new Argentine Tango pattern. I took a photo of it after the lesson but forgot to transcribe it to my notes today so I’ll need to do that. There’s a little more contrast and changes in timing and requires more upper body rotation from me. The only tricky part requires me to step into promenade on my right leg (the bad knee). My feet point one way while my body is pointed in another way and I need to leave space because she’s doing a little kick between my legs. But I bring her around from my right side so she can do the kick so there’s a lot happening. For the kick to avoid any sensitive regions, I need to have enough space which requires getting the knee bent to give her room to kick around my leg. Shall we just say she got close a few times and leave it at that.

Speaking of the knee and also adjustments to life required by this virus, my third appointment is scheduled for Monday. Just got a text that they are consolidating and closing clinics to reduce the need for staff to come in. I know which locations are open but not which one I need to go to. So I’ll have to call tomorrow like everyone else who has an appointment that has been changed. I don’t know if these shots lose effectiveness if I don’t get the third so I’m hoping I figure out where I need to go.

It was weird to see the restaurants and the gym that were in the same strip mall dark and empty. There was a Subway that was still open. No drive through but I assume they would make you take everything to go. The liquor store on the corner was, of course, open for business.

Breaking news – the studio just called me and they are going to close for a couple of weeks starting Saturday. We’ve had all the major malls close today and several other stores so this does not come as any type of shock. So, after tonight, there will be no dancing for a bit.

Sometimes, the conspiratorial part of me comes out. I get what they are trying to do and the number of new cases in the US continues to rise. So I don’t know if this is just really preparing for a worst case or that the government knows something about this that they just don’t want to talk about. On the other hand, it seems to be under control in China, South Korea and Japan so maybe this is necessary. Except that the number in Italy are scary and they’ve had the country on lock down for awhile now.

But I don’t like to think about that. Oh and my vet just sent an email around as well. You can still bring your pet in if you need to but you need to call from the parking lot when you arrive. If you need to pick up prescriptions, you wait in your car and someone will bring them out to you. Crazy times.

It seems like every day there is some new development and some reason to panic further. It has really only been about a week since things got turned upside down but it sure feels like a lot longer. I really just want to close my eyes and wake up to the pre-corona world but that just isn’t going to happen. We just do what we can to stay safe and healthy and believe that this will eventually go away.