Dear Reader,

Greetings from home isolation. No one in my family is sick or symptomatic, but like millions of Americans, we are doing our part to help stop the spread. I’ve barely left the house in five days, and then only to get food and provisions. I expect it to be so for weeks more – at least. Just ten days ago, this would have seemed an extreme overreaction. Now it’s just the way it is.

I know I’m not making a novel observation. The most common conversation I have with people lately is some version of “can you believe what it was like just seven days ago?” I’m sure you’re all thinking and saying the same kinds of things. Not long ago, we thought the pain might be short-lived. Not long ago, supplies were plentiful. Expectations and adaptations change hourly. By the time I write you next, we may be in a nationwide lockdown. That was unthinkable just last weekend.

[caption id="attachment_27379" align="alignnone" width="359"] WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 17, 2020: Demanding "social distancing" space from the gathered journalists during the world-wide coronavirus outbreak, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin speaks to journalists after the weekly Senate Republican Caucus where he discussed the House coronavirus aid legislation, soon to be voted on by the Senate, on Capitol Hill in Washington DC Tuesday March 17, 2020. (Photo by Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)[/caption]