An update on the story where Vinalhaven year rounders cut down a tree to block people from leaving. Turns out the locals were wrong on this one, the blockaded residents called police and the Coast Guard and the blockade was ordered removed. Islanders panicked and went vigilante rather than confirming anything.
Similar stories coming in from RI, where people with NY plates have actually been in their shore homes for three weeks or more. But neighbors apparently just noticed the NY plate in the last couple of days and are calling police on them.
The police have a lot of important work to do right now. Calling them to check on people needlessly because everyone decided to panic 48 hours ago rather than check first is not helpful.
My husband had told me several days ago that hate acts against people who look Asian were ramping up. Ignorant haters donât seem to know that it is not an inherited disease. In their frenzied scapegoating, someone who has never even been to China is a target.
I am sorry you experienced that, even in highly-educated metro Boston. All the published incidents I found involved large cities, where the greater density makes it harder to avoid the potential attackers.
Here in a rural (and heavily Trump-adoring) part of CO I am very, very glad to have more space, and not only for reasons related to any disease. So far, I havenât seen any outright attacks on anyone. However, I did get one person inexplicably staring at me long and balefully one of the times I came out of a supermarket. It was definitely That Look, the one that says âWhat Are YOU PEOPLE doing in MY WORLD.â
The Vinalhaven wannabe vigilantes are just another manifestation of this ignorance. The blockade would not have occurred unless they had already resented the victims for a long time, merely because they were not just like themselves. COVID-19 just gives them a politically-correct excuse to hate openly.
New order for Florida. The 10 max per boat shouldnât be an issue, but the maintaining 50 feet between boat pretty much shuts down any sort of paddling with friends, guided tours, or instruction (unless there is a exception for paddle craft or non-motorized craft).
Celia, this episode will reveal some individualsâ true personae.
As for being a minority, all minorities learn early to develop a thicker skin and to avoid engaging the crazies. That is key to continuing to live anywhere.
Also a lot of students in RI. Schools are closed, but if they rented a house or apartment for the school year they might still be around. I suspect the cars we saw yesterday were students since we were in an area where a lot of people rent their summer houses to University of Rhode Island students.
COVID-19 or Coronavirus hasnât affected me paddling my Cayman 124f fishing kayak! I got out today for a few hours here in Richmond, Virginia, on the James River. Lots of powerboats on the deeper section though, which ticked me off a little, as the boat wakes were wicked!
Camo knee waders, an old Shakespeare rod & Garcia reel, and peace and quiet!
My wife and I paddled the James in 1971 when I was at Fort Lee for some training. We lived in a trailer park near the river. Bought a pretty yellow Sawyer tandem canoe at a dealer near by.
That was a long time ago.
As a primarily solo paddler (has always been a cherished opportunity to find solitude in the natural world), I have no better excuse than the current unfortunate circumstances to indulge. And so I do. When I can, becauseâŚ
Iâm also spending a great deal of time volunteering during this health crisis for the homeless, hungry, and mentally ill, and this is pretty much a full time job at the moment. Doing my best to be careful and remain healthy in these activities, but âbest practices social distancingâ is difficult when dealing with people who are not the best at taking care of themselves, or thinking of others. So far, so good, but itâs a stressful activity in these unhappy times.
During my âoff hoursâ, Iâm either on the water, or at home playing music, reading books, and writing.
A potential silver lining: Looking forward to a summer season without any cruise ships. I hope.
Another comment on the story where year rounders on Vinalhaven Island, Maine cut down a tree to block people from leaving. I canât find the news story again, but I read that the people being blocked were contractors staying in the house, and they had already been there for some time. There had apparently been words between the parties and either or both sides reacted in a way that just escalated things. The year rounders were reported to have guns and thatâs never a good way to defuse a bad situation.
Iâm still hoping our yearly summer stay in midcoast Maine can happen. We have an old house there with some maintenance projects that Iâd rather not put off. Self-quarantining would not be a problem but like everyone else weâd have to go out for groceriesâŚ
There is no barrier to you coming. We do ask you self quarantine and hopefully you can bring some groceries with you. Do you have neighbors there? The Knox Co. sheriffs office wants to find those miscreants. They seem to have vanished as cowards do.
Hopefully this works. The Press Herald has dropped its paywall on some articles.
Vigilante behavior is not acceptable
Thanks for the sympathy, C. As PB said, some of us are used to micro (and macro) aggressions. Although admittedly, I tend to not step back as much as I should.
Both my sons are engaged with non-asian (caucasian) partners. Itâs funny how their partners are more worried about them in this environment than I or my sons are (because we are just so used to it).
Despite it all, with an immigrant background, we still aspire to the hope of this country: E pluribus unum
Hard to imagine thatâŚâŚ there is an over abundance of stupid out there right now, and thinking things through seems to be an old fashioned concept anymore.
Yes, fortunately a neighbor across the street watches the house and mows for me. Weâre not ocean-front where all the houses are empty. This is a street of mostly year-round residents. And yes, we can easily bring several days of groceries but weâre 800 miles away so any frozen foods in the cooler(s) would thaw too much to keep frozen. Weâll have to see how the situation develops to know whether driving out is advisable come June. Spending summer in Maine would be nice, but keeping ourselves and everyone else safe has to take priority.
A factor for anyone to consider if contemplating travel (for recreation, to a second home, to âescapeâ a hot zone) is your health insurance coverage outside your home area. For anyone in a PPO, HMO or Medicare Advantage Plan, you might face out of network costs.
Governor Mills just announced that all who cross the border from NH must self quarantine effective Thursday morning . Order in effect until April 30. And only family members must be in the car. Maine residents who go to NH or beyond and return must do the same.
Not social distance. Quarantine.
I am hoping my time in midcoast will be late enough to be well past the height of things. But yeah l could bring 14 days of food and there are far worse fates than being stuck in a wonderful cabin on the water in July for 14 days.
But to be devilâs advocate, all that assumes people are coming into Maine from a higher risk situation than Maine is in. I am enough of a cynic to point out that by later in June, upstate NY could be flattening out and l would be arriving in Maine just in time for it to be peaking more dangerously than around home. It is in Maine now and like everywhere else is capable of asymptomatic spread. Stopping cars at the border doesnât change that, the guest in the red mask has already gotten into the party.
Not saying l intend to be bad. Just that l am seeing a lot of statements from people that remind me of a lifeboat mentality. Which does not work in a pandemic. 8 weeks can be a long way away at a time like this.
I do see that Maine closed sit down restaurants and imposed a ten person limit about March 18, maybe more strict on the person count by now. NY spent about 3 days at that ten person limit then scratched that as still not being enough.
This thing does highlight the issue of insurance. I am sure there are a lot of people out there who have gotten stuck away from home with a regional advantage plan with no clear way to cover medical costs. In a normal situation this issue could be resolved by triggering the evacuation option in the travel insurance. But that means that flights have to be available, and the pandemic has grounded planes.
Even after we are over the worst, the repercussions are going to go way on.
Iâm following with interest the situation with Bath Iron Works shipyard. Thousands of workers are concentrated there every day and then they go home all over the region (about half are choosing to stay home without pay). As as a defense contractor, the government hasnât given the shipyardâs owner, General Dynamics, any relaxation of schedules or delivery dates. Theyâre considered a critical defense industry and expected to keep working. I donât have enough knowledge to know how to deal with the situation, but it sure sounds like thereâs some extra risk there.
Yeah, in certain ways Maine is up to ten days behind measures that were made statewide in New York by Gov Cuomo. Given the track in every other state, Maine is an explosion of cases waiting to happen.
