Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you should be aware that COVID-19 is alive and kicking in these parts, that is, WA state.

We have a lot of high-tech industry here. Offices have closed, with the order for everyone to work from home for the next week or so. There was a huge run on toilet paper, tissues, hand sanitizer and rubbing alcohol in these parts – the shelves are empty.

Overall, my chances of running across it are pretty low. I don’t work in an office. I don’t have kids in daycare.

I don’t completely live the life of a hermit, however. I do go into the store, and I do work in both libraries as well as coffee shops.

I find myself taking precautions. I laugh at myself, saying that none of these are necessary. I still take them. I’m pretty focused on getting enough sleep. I always try to eat well. I’m taking additional vitamin C. I have elderberry syrup as well as various teas that I make with elderberries. I eat Brazil nuts every day.

I wash my hands.

I know there have been a lot of Facebook memes about how often to wash your hands. For me, what works, is, “Wash your hands as if your OCD has gotten out of control again.”

I carry hand sanitizer with me, as well as cloths. Whenever I leave someplace, such as the grocery store, before I get in the car I wash my hands using the sanitizer. Also, I’ve taken to cleaning off a table at the library or coffee shop with hand sanitizer before I use it.

I’ve also tried to make it a game. How long can I be someplace without touching anything using my bare hands?

Once I’ve touched something, I tell myself, “You’ve just been contaminated.”

From that point on, I cannot touch my face with my bare hand. If I have an itch, I need to scratch with my fingertips covered say, in my shirt sleeve.

I don’t have the worst immune system. I don’t have the best, either. I’m not yet 60, so even if I do get it, chances are pretty good that I’ll survive.

I have atypical responses to a whole boatload of things. Though I’ve been seriously exposed to chickenpox more than once, I’ve never actually gotten it. Probably did when I was a kid, but never broke out or showed any symptoms. When I had pneumonia back in 2009, it was atypical walking pneumonia, just in one small section of my left lung.

Would I be one of those people who have it and don’t have any symptoms? I don’t know. No one does.

But I’m also not hugging people. And I’ve canceled one of my trips already this year.

Be careful out there. Take precautions. Stay informed about what’s actually going on, not the fear, though it’s hard to distinguish sometimes. Let me know what you’re doing to keep yourself safe.