As we all struggle to make our way out of quarantine or lockdown or stay at home or whatever unwelcome jail the coronavirus has placed us, the question of how to do so rages on Zoom calls, on all media, in every interaction with those of us masked and those of us not. We are all sick to death of putting up with these restrictions, many of us grieving loss of loved ones to the illness, loss of work, loss of contact, loss of sports, loss of Normal. The latest news says a full third of the country is depressed. The understatement of the week.

Should schools reopen in the fall? Can I take the kids to the pool soon? Must I wear a mask to my nephew’s wedding where no one else probably will? Dare we ever hug a friend? Speaking of hugs, when oh when can we see our grandchildren again? When we pass each other in the stores, masks cover our smiles so we don’t know how to signal friendliness, so we turn a little and scuttle past. It’s terrible.

Many of us are tired of this situation and have decided it’s time to ignore it and get on with life.

All of this just reminded me of an incident from many years ago. My husband and I were driving in an isolated High Desert area with few houses and miles between them.

We came upon a young woman standing near a USFS cabin with her thumb up. We stopped because one generally did for anyone on those roads unfrequented by drivers. It could be a day or two before the next vehicle.

I rolled down my window, and she demanded that we get her out of there right now! “I can’t stand it another minute,” she said. We said we were going to town about 50 miles away. “That would be fine.” she said, and hopped in the back seat. Curious, we asked what was so terrible about her situation. “I can’t stand the rattlesnake under the bed!!!” Astounded, we asked why there was such a creature inside the house.

Well, apparently, her boyfriend kept a snake for mousing at night, a custom she said his family employed in an area short on cats and high on rodents. She said supposedly, the snake got used to them, and they theoretically got used to it. It generally slept all day and hunted at night so they rarely saw it. She said when company came though, the snake would grow agitated and hiss and rattle and move under the sofa. Friends didn’t come much anymore.

Well, she’d had enough, and so we delivered her to town, where it is hoped there were other less dramatic methods of rodent control.

So, how does this remind me of our situation with COVID-19? Well, we’ve grown used to this dangerous thing, this viperous virus. We don’t see it much. For the most part, we only hear about an occasional flareup. But it is still there, dangerous as ever, requiring that we pay attention, take precautions, watch where we put our feet and hands, and be very careful when we introduce new people into our homes.

We may be tired of the virus, but it hasn’t gotten the memo. I look forward to the day when we can all shoo this thing out of the house and not worry about every move we make. But until then, we are all stuck with the rattlesnake under the bed.

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