A Craptastic Covid Christmas

Happy Holidays to you and yours. Jim and I are digging deep to walk the talk, keep optimistic and hopeful as we celebrate our craptastic Covid Christmas at Fountain of Youth. We are spending it alone, because once again, 2020 laughed in our faces when we tried to make other plans.

Prepped and Ready to Do Battle

craptastic covid christmas at Fountain of Youth
Why do we run? So when a pandemic happens, we’re ready.

We’ve been training to run a New Year’s Eve half-marathon on the spaghetti bowl of FOY trails. For the last month we’ve been tackling crazy terrain completely different from road running, like during our Camp Covid Ultra. Tripping and falling is part of the process of becoming a better trail runner and this rocky terrain offers plenty of opportunities. And over the last few weeks the more I fell, the stronger I felt, mentally and physically. I couldn’t wait for a new race challenge. I pictured myself going even deeper into the ultra running world in 2021.

And then we went to L.A. to visit my mom. And Coronavirus hitched a ride back.

This is not the Flu

It doesn’t matter how it happened. It did, and we can’t change that fact. I’m just relieved my mom and sister didn’t get it too. No doubt some will judge Jim and I, thinking that were being careless. Go ahead, think what you want. Because I know that we did all we could to avoid it.

Since March, we’ve taken every precaution possible to avoid this disease. We wear masks. We stopped traveling. We avoid public places. We use Instacart. But the virus is now so rampant in L.A., that what was once a “safe” activity like seeing my family bubble, is no longer.

Fountain of Youth COVID Mask Party
Oh how we miss that crazy dawg.

From the day I woke up feeling off, I knew this was no “flu.” Jim fell ill within a day of me, and this nasty bug has pummeled our bodies in a way that no flu or cold ever has. So please, the next time you hear an anti-masker Covidiot say “It’s no worse than the flu if you get it,” do me a favor? Punch them in the face. This is worse. A LOT worse. 

A craptastic Covid Christmas for the ages.

Thankfully, we don’t appear to have the worst of the disease. Our bodies are weak, exhausted and achy, but seven days in, our appetites are good, our lungs feel strong, and our friends and doctor believe we are in the best possible shape to beat this beast quickly and without lasting effects.

We WILL beat Covid. We have to. Our crappy health insurance won’t cover us in California. If we need medical care, we’re on our own, financially speaking. This lack of coverage outside of our home state is the price we’ve always paid as full-time RVers. It’s always lingered in the back of my mind and now, it’s at the forefront. So we are doing all we can to be kind to our bodies and heal without needing to check into a clinic.

Denny's Speedway Fountain of Youth
Please be kind to yourself and those around you. Mask up and be safe!

In the meantime, I hope you are celebrating your holiday in a responsible, special, meaningful way that keeps you and your loved ones safe, healthy and warm. Are you sharing a beautiful meal with those you love? Engaging in an act of kindness for a stranger? Spending time surrounded by the magic of nature and non-human animals? Whatever it is, may your festivities bring more love and light into a world that needs it now more than ever.

Stay safe, and wear a damn mask.

 

 

 

10 thoughts on “A Craptastic Covid Christmas”

  1. Hi Jim & Rene, I’m so sorry you got COVID! I’m sending y’all lots of healing thoughts & vibes.

    Merry Christmas & let’s give 2020 a Huge Heave into the S__tpile where it belongs!

    😉

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  2. Sending good energy your way for a speedy and full recovery. Don’t rush it back to running – let this thing get well past before you push too hard. (I know how much you are chomping at the bit, but the ‘Rona has a nasty way of relapsing.)

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  3. So sorry you guys have covid and wish you a speedy recovery! It isn’t the flu James Jensen–I personally know a previously healthy person who DIED from covid. Our entire Montana family had it and all thankfully recovered–the fatigue was awful they said.

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  4. I’m sorry covid caught you! We are very careful too but I still worry that we might get it.
    I hope you both heal quickly so you can get back to the activities you love.
    Take care and have the best Christmas you can.

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  5. I’m so sorry. Hopefully it will pass and you’ll be back to it in a few weeks. My wife had Covid in July, and is now one of the long-haulers, with breathing and heart issues that get her down many days. The docs all say that’s what it is, and that they have no idea about the long-term consequences.

    We’re still hoping that we’ll be able to get out in our trailer at the end of March and get down from Oregon to the Southwestern deserts. That’s my wife’s happy place, and it always recharges her.

    Peace, and happy new year from one of your (mostly) silent readers…

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  6. Awww, you guys. I’m so sorry you are sick. I wonder if you caught the newer strain? I just read it’s 50-70% more infectious, and very likely to be present in the U.S. (and for sure in the UK). I’m thinking of starting to do a full droplet infection protocol whenever I go out (gloves, eye protection, maybe only wearing certain clothes just for public use, as my hospital worker friends do). I’ve also seen people in healthcare doubling up on masks, which can’t hurt.

    I am going to stay positive and say that since you both take such good care of yourselves on a regular basis, your bodies are strong and you will fight this off quickly and efficiently. Sending you love. Take time off if need be, life will still be here when you’re ready.

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  7. Anybody that thinks this is a flu is out of their freaking mind crazy and in a state of denial.

    Jim and Rene, I know you guys well enough to know that you took and take all precautions necessary, but it is literally everywhere. I am so sorry that you are victims to this awful pandemic, but I know you will take the best care possible of each other and you will come out on the other side. Thank goodness you live the life you do. Food, excercise, stress management… those are all on your side.

    My thoughts are with you both. Please get well soon. Sending hugs and healing vibes your way.

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  8. So first, Covid is extremely contagious, otherwise we wouldn’t be in the middle of a WORLDWIDE PANDEMIC, which is only made worse by people who think its a hoax. Nearly 3000 people lost their lives on September 11, 2001. During the last week or so more than 3000 people a day have died in the United States. Death is Death, Covid is like a daily 911. So even people who take all the precautions can get it if they are exposed and the virus invades the body in a high enough concentration.

    Secondly, James, the 10 people you know are very lucky. I know four people who contracted Covid in the last month, one person in Connecticut spent 16 days in the hospital, of which 10 days were in the ICU, then was transferred to a inpatient rehab facility, before finally going home, another person in North Carolina, spent two days in the Emergency Department and then was admitted to hospital for 6 days, his wife tested positive but just had severe fatigue and they both fully recovered. My niece just tested positive yesterday and has mild symptoms, but it’s still early.

    The medical community is still trying to understand why some cases are mild, while other cases are fatal. Thankfully, in the last nine months a number of treatments have been developed to treat this disease and many more people are surviving who might not have survived in April.

    Down playing this disease and calling it the flu, is like telling someone who has cancer that it isn’t a big deal. I am a cancer survivor, and I imagine that if a person has Covid symptoms and is told they have Covid, the mental anguish that accompanies that process is similar to be told you have cancer. Throw in the lack of insurance coverage and the mental anguish increases exponentially. So Jim and Rene are entitled to be a little off their path, they are entitled to feel however they feel. Knowing them, as I do, I’m sure they will get back to a more enlightened state of positivity, especially as they recover from Covid.

    Jim and Rene, know that I am thinking of you and sending as much healing energy across the universe as I can. Get well soon. Your friend

    The rest of you, please wear your mask, social distance and get the vaccine unless your physician says otherwise.

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  9. Sorry, you folks got the flu…….I know 10 people that had it and no one says it was as terrible as you stated. You shouldn’t say punch them in the face, that only brings more anger……..You should know better, get back to presence, enlightenment….You had a lap out of presence.

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