Cape May Live How Coronavirus Changes Everything

Cape May Live. How Coronavirus Changes Everything

How are you holding up?

Part of me feels held hostage by a bad weather forecast. So many worse case scenarios. If the storm goes this way or that way. I want the storm to miss us this time.

The problem here is we’re depending on human behavior. And that worries me.

We all have our role to play and our part in flattening the curve. Dr. Emily Landon explained it best. Staying at home may look like you’re doing nothing. And nothing will happen. That’s the point. 

I read on Charles Hendricks Facebook page the other day, Social Distancing is a misnomer. I think he was right. We are physically distancing, but socially we seem to be closer than ever. Virtual concerts are now the norm.

The helpers are here

Residents Pete and Lorraine Baldwin have started a virtual helpers list. You can access it here and sign up if you are able to help a neighbor.

They are compiling a list of helpers to tutor, shop, clean and run errands. Of course, the situation changes by the hour. What was essential yesterday is not essential today or tomorrow.

On the Locals Radio Show from WCFA-lp, we got together in our individual homes or offices ( Brady in his bar) and we recorded episode 95 with the honorable Mayor Clarence Lear as our guest. Due to technical difficulties, the station is off the air.

The program happened with the help of Wendy Collins of the Mission Inn. Through the kindness of a colleague, we used the zoom platform to meet and record the show. Even though we could not see what Michael Clark was wearing the show sounded pretty good.

Local Information

There is also a new public Facebook group where all are welcome to keep up on developments as they evolve. Its called Cape May Live. While we go through this period of uncertainty the group is intended to reveal that there is indeed life in Cape May. Even if it is slightly isolated. We are together socially.

We will attempt to keep you updated as circumstances evolve in the area. For now, I present episode 95 of the Cape May Locals.

We all prefer Cape May Live. How coronavirus changes everything is still to be determined. Walking through town the past couple of nights is like a surreal dream. A Friday night in March doesn’t compare to a Friday in July.

I wasn’t ready for the extremely quiet and desolate welcome on the downtown streets of our town. Let us hope this storm passes quickly.

 

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8 Comments

  1. March 21, 2020 / 12:38 pm

    I posted on a local page last night about propane delivery, for my grill. My wife is adamant that I do not go to any stores. I am 67 and, thus, in the “high risk” group. I got many kind suggestions. This morning a total stranger brought me a full tank and a small bottle of hand sanitizer and refused payment!
    There are good, kind, caring people out there willing to help! God bless them and keep them safe.

  2. Charles Enlind
    March 21, 2020 / 12:48 pm

    With restaurants shut down over much of the U S vacationers will probably
    not go further than where a stack of their sandwiches can feed them while away.
    Hopefully something resembling normalcy will return by Summer.

  3. March 21, 2020 / 3:57 pm

    As two Canadians who “winter and partly Spring” in Cape May (Feb1-May1st), we were disappointed in having to return to Canada. Yesterday at the Houlton (Maine) border, I thought there’d be a slew of cars and people with a temperature gun and papers to sign. Nope, just one car..ours…and the girl at the booth asked us two questions: Do you have a fever? No! Are you sick? No. Then she gave us a paper with instructions about “self isolation for 14 days” when we get to our house in Nova Scotia. That was it! One minute is all it took!!!
    But John, I really miss riding my bike freely through the streets of Cape May, walking with Kathy and Scout on the beach, seeing our friends, and now not doing the radio show as hosts at WCFA 101.5FM. (our sister-like station of VOBB in Newfoundland. )
    And I was finally going to do the Mad Batter’s Sunday night OPEN MIC with M-Q Murphy! I perform with my trio all summer long in Newfoundland so I rest during the winter. But I told a few I was gonna sing a few Newfoundland songs at the Mad Batter. I did before with Barry Tishler . Now I am sad I won’t get the chance.
    Yes John, it’s almost surreal! But as you say, social distancing is important and what’s more important is that WE ALL STAY IN TOUCH through social media, phoning and whatever virtual method you can come up with. We need a smile. We need to keep each other close.
    I sincerely hope the good people of Cape May do what has to be done and live to see better days ahead.
    Finally, I hope this makes you smile! I was supposed to show how a Newfoundland UGLYSTICK works as a percussion instrument during a house party of guitars, accordions and fiddles in Newfoundland. I was supposed to show this during the WCFA Radio’s Spring Fling fundraiser today Mar 21st! So here I did a very short you tube in Cape May before we left on how to play an uglystick! I made this uglystick out of stuff I found in Cape May too. Enjoy:
    https://youtu.be/SvfqxbMYnuA

    • March 21, 2020 / 4:26 pm

      Oh my gosh! Just listened to/watched your YouTube video! It definitely made me SMILE!! That is great and who knew you could make a good sounding instrument from remnants found in Cape May! Fantastic! Thank you for sharing! 🙂

    • Gabrielle B
      March 24, 2020 / 11:37 am

      Hi Mike! Thanks for your comment. My husband and I were married in Cape May last Saturday and then made the same long drive (with same border experience in Maine!) back home to Halifax. Good to know the Nova Scotia-Cape May links out there. And great Ugly Stick! Next time you are in Cape May, do you know the drum circle?
      Stay well —

      • March 25, 2020 / 11:00 am

        Hello Gabrielle….via John’s wonderful blog! Good to know you made t back to NS. Yes, Kathy and I were married in Cape May in 2009..on the beach in the cove area. Special place to us and you too! I’m at mike_madigan@yahoo.com if yu care to write. Are you related in anyway to the owners of Whales Tales on the Washington Mall in Cape May? They have a home in Nova Scotia too. Wow…..this covid19 is a bad one but like all pandemics throughout history from the Bubonic plague,Spanish Flu, to the recent HIV, they need a vaccine to kill or at least hold off the virus. Hoping the medical world finds one soon!!! Take care and if John is reading this and we don’t see a reply here, maybe john can forward this email to you privately. All the best and enjoy Canada and NS…I think the gov is dong it right here. Horrible what Trump is doing to Americans and NY. Cheers..Mike

  4. March 21, 2020 / 4:11 pm

    Spot on as always, John. HUMAN BEHAVIOR! Exactly what is now worrying me here now as well in PA. Not that the virus isn’t worrisome, it very much is and I am taking it seriously, but that’s where the “Human Behavior” comes in as well. So many people are STILL saying this is “just like the flu, I’m not worried about it, I’m not staying home, this is blown out of proportion”….. and on and on and on. Are these people living in a bubble? It’s both ignorant and arrogant. Even saying, “only old people with underlying health issues get it, I’m not worried.” As if the “old” people don’t matter and if you have a health issue, you’re worthless anyway…. By the way, is 60 the new OLD? Thought it was the new 50 which is not old…. anyway, I digress!

    So if you’re not old you can spend the week partying at the beach and in the bars, ignoring rules, etc. etc. One girl on the beach (with a group), when asked by a reporter if they felt they were doing their part to contain the virus, replied, “Our school closed.” And she wasn’t being sarcastic, that was her college educated mind’s response that she thought qualified her as “doing her part!”

    I take classes with a woman who said upon closure of West Chester University (PA), lots of the “kids” booked a cruise on sale for $400. REALLY?! They made it to college and that’s their mindset!? School closed due to a Pandemic, so let’s go party on a cruise! And parents attitudes were “we can’t tell them what to do.” Again, REALLY?!

    Now with imminent increasing measures approaching along with National Guard trucks being seen, Twitter and Instagram is exploding with comments saying things like, “They can’t make me stay in my house,” “They can’t close my business,” “are VAPE stores open?”, slamming Governor Wolf, President Trump and vowing not to abide by any curfews…. these same people are wondering why they are seeing “National Guard” trucks! Wise up People! This is not a drill.

    And then there’s the outcry of why me, my business is an essential, etc. etc. over Governor Wolf’s now mandatory closures…. so much of an outcry that the Saturday enforcement has now been changed to Monday and some exceptions have been made. THAT is more ridiculous than the mandates the Governor is trying to enforce. Let’s get this done, rip the band aid off and move on! With all the back lash, delaying a true “stay at home,” “in place,” “National Lockdown” or what ever it will become, time is being wasted! There is no answer here that will suit everyone, that we must accept, someone else will always want another “exception.”

    If everyone (especially the complainers who apparently don’t comprehend the exponentially multiplying number of cases due to the high contagion of this virus) doesn’t comply with government restrictions, the further we delay having full cooperation, the more the virus is spreading and the longer we will ultimately have our businesses and lifestyles shutdown, the worse our economic consequences will be along with more illnesses and deaths! And our recovery will be far longer than it will be if we cooperate now. That’s the reality!

    Is there a perfect plan, is being out of business good…. NO! There is NO good option here, we either shut up and shelter in place and let the curve flatten, or we keep mingling while either ourselves or loved ones become a statistic or worse. I choose SHUT DOWN as the lesser of two evils!

    This is a hardship of one kind or another for everyone. We WILL get through this if we work together, cooperate and stay home! Life will resume quicker and with less economic consequence the sooner those who feel entitled to have their way regardless of there being a WORLD wide Pandemic, agree to cooperate!

    This is real, people are dying and we don’t even know who is infected due to many being a-symptomatic who are carriers that may not even get the virus themselves. This is NOT the “same as the flu!!!” That is why this is spreading daily in alarming percentages! Let’s cooperate and stay home so this thing can get contained and we can then get life back to normal. The job market will return as businesses reopen. Yes, I know, some people can not survive being closed a few weeks and will lose their businesses and I empathize. I get it, being self employed, my business being in creative fields is certainly not one of the sectors people are going to jump quickly back into! I am not getting income through this, but I don’t want myself or loved ones to die of this thing!

    Other than that, I’m booked for Summer Vacay in Cape May and pray for my Cape May friends and the shore itself, that this passes soon enough for a happy and profitable 2020 Summer Season.

    We can beat this everyone, stay safe, healthy and stay home! This too will pass, it will all be good, jobs will be refilled, the stock market will eventually recover. Don’t let HUMAN BEHAVIOR be our demise by defying what we need to do as a nation, and ignoring the realities of this World Wide Pandemic!