Sent by a friend in California...

We can't either.............not in real life................but we had a family Skype for over an hour this morning which was awesome! We were to go and visit at the end of this month too :-(

It's just such a bizarre, disorienting time, isn't it?

Bonjour Diane.
Ici, c'est pareil depuis une semaine. Notre vie a profondément changé en quelques jours. Il faut prendre de la distance pour dire que l'on s'aime. Mais paradoxalement celà conforte les liens. Nous entrons dans un autre espace temps. Les jours récents où je suis allé photographier un arbre a quelques KM de chez moi m'apparaissent déjà comme étant dans une autre vie. On ne sait pas trop ce que sera demain. J'espére que nous sortirons meilleurs de cette épreuve. Prenez soin de vous Diane, c'est aussi une maniére d'aimer vos petits enfants. Amitié. Jean Paul

Yes, the world is a foreign place to us, now. I must go out in nature more, the only way I can feel normal. The future is uncertain and there was already so much upheaval, even before this virus happened! Thank goodness for Ipernity and the internet and my smartphone. ;-)
Take care, Jean-Paul, we will survive this of course!

The quarantine is difficult for everyone but it's the right decision, the alternative is frightening:
news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-they-call-it-the-apocalypse-inside-italys-hardest-hit-hospital-11960597

A nightmare. I'm afraid New York City is going to look like that.

I heard on the news today that 40 Italian doctors have died. I suppose even more nurses have died, too. Unimaginable, tragic! There is a real possibility that the US will be the next Italy.

We struggle here to keep an ignorant man with cruel tendencies from throwing us all into the volcano. Each state is making it's own rules, because there is very little leadership from the federal government. Every day is tense while he speaks his daily gibberish into the microphone. We also struggle to keep young people from ignoring the stay-at-home rule. Well, the world is just like this, and we'll get through it!

In a way you can be thankful that your states can decide independently because the one on top is absolutely useless...
Italy has been overwhelmed and the fact that the shutdown was leaked before it came has led to many fleeing the north so that the south is now suffering- with much worse medical facilities than the affluent north.
Other countries have had more time to prepare than Italy so there's no excuse at all for not reacting in time!
Stay safe!

I was walking back from the shop the other day along deserted streets, when suddenlyI heard this “Hello! Hello!Hello!” in the distance: a little girl was at the bottom of her drive waving and waving at me. I had to wave back and call out my “Hello!” It cheers me up every time I think about it now.