Was it a Chinese plot? Was the Illuminati behind it? Did utterly incompetent leadership make it worse? The answers to these questions are irrelevant, because we've got it, it's here, and the population of the Earth is spending a few weeks or months or years "hunkering down", isolating ourselves to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, COVID-19.

In my case, the closing down of Corporation Earth coincided with a long-planned move to remote property on Maui. Although it wasn't because of the coronavirus, by some bizarre set of circumstances, during the worst of this we're going to be living off the grid, with very limited exposure to other human beings but also very limited access to modern conveniences (such as electricity and running water). While others are worried about no toilet paper, we had no toilet.

But it occurs to me that people might find interest in the building of a life that's mostly off-the-grid, as we're doing, whether in the time of the coronavirus or not. And I have fewer distractions than I did living in Arizona. So I figured I would blog my experiences, dark feelings as well as light, and with lots of photos.

January, 2020: Moving to Maui

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 1/1/2020		Page Views: 975
A little piece of Heaven on an island in the sea.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (237 words)

My daughter, Jenny, has purchased land in Hawaii, on the island of Maui, of sufficient acreage for the whole family to retire on someday. And, since I'm already retired, that means, me, first! The property is approximately 28 acres just northwest of the town of Hana on the Maui Coast. Here's a quick look at the property.

March, 2020: Isolation First Month

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 1,003
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
While Resident Trump knew about the Coronavirus last year, he sat on the information while the rest of us went about our lives. And then...
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (186 words)

As previously mentioned, we intended all along to move to my daughter's property in Maui. In fact, we'd hoped to be there last year! But Jenny was having a fancy bamboo hut made for us, and there were design and technical issues that prevented that from happening any time soon. She and the kids (adult grandson Zach and toddlers Gianna and Dominic) came out for Spring Break. They had constructed some metal-and-plastic sheds, large enough for a tiny home, and my husband, Keith, and I made final plans to leave.

April, 2020: Isolation Second Month

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 1,271
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
Keith and I settle in.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (74 words)

We spent most of the month of April, Maui's first full shutdown month, exploring our property and getting used to long-term camping, as well as saying goodbye to Jenny and the kids, who found a way to return to Arizona. Also, I got sick. At the time I thought it was simple food poisoning and it may well have been, at least, partially. But months later it would come back to haunt me.

May, 2020: Isolation Third Month

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 1,019
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
Home improvements.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (188 words)

With my daughter's family in Arizona, which I was watching with increased concern as its Republican governor Doug Ducey was in lockstep with Trump, pretending that nothing was wrong while allowing people to not use masks or, indeed, take any precautions at all, Keith and I settled in to making use of the various resources on the property to make our living conditions more enjoyable. My left foot remained more swollen than usual but other than that I felt great, getting tan and losing weight by virtue of actual, real-world exercise. But inside, germs were percolating.

June 2020: Isolation Fourth Month

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 977
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
Many projects come to fruition, new ones are started and we add a medical emergency for spice.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (54 words)

By June Keith and I were settled in for the long haul. We've accepted that this will be our way of life indefinitely. Of course, when one's way of life is in paradise, that's hard to complain about! However, the month ended with me in the hospital. Still, it was a hospital in paradise!

July 2020: Isolation Month 5

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 1,014
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
The month began with a life-changing realization and ended with a hurricane.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (60 words)

I began the month of July with my coming to a chilling realization as to how close to death I had actually come. But I also recovered quickly, which allowed us to spend some time at local beaches (virtually deserted). But the month threatened to end with many deaths as a hurricane followed a rare path to the Hawaiian islands.

August 2020: Isolation Month 6

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 1,010
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
The month began with planting bananas, and ended with cows attacking them.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (88 words)

This was the month that the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was held despite all warnings, producing an extra 250,000 coronavirus cases and costing us taxpayers something like $16 million in medical costs, not to mention an additional 1000 deaths, thus proving that #Trumpsters are, indeed, the selfish fucking bastards we all knew they were. However, here in Maui the disease seems to remain pretty well controlled, thanks to our Democratic governor and mayor, and a cooperative populace that has always understood the value of living together without harm.

September 2020: Isolation Month 7

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 1,270
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
This was the month tourism reopened, slightly, with the expected result of increased new cases.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (225 words)

By the end of September, Hawaii's Governor David Ige signed a 13th supplementary emergency proclamation that extended the COVID-19 emergency period through the end of October. The emergency proclamation left in place the 14-day mandatory quarantine requirement for out-of-state travelers. However, beginning October 15th, a pre-travel testing option will allow travelers an alternative to the mandatory 14-day quarantine (much as happened with our dogs).

October 2020: Isolation Month 8

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 973
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
With tourism reopened, I was able to make money Doordashing. But the number of new cases has also gone up.
Estimated reading time: 2 minute(s) (340 words)

This was the month Donald Trump pretended to have caught COVID-19 so he could brag about how he recovered from it faster than anyone in the history of the Universe. Meanwhile, however, half of his staff and family caught it for reals at his superspreader event in the White House Rose Garden.

November 2020: Isolation Month 9

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 981
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
I spent half the month waiting for my grandchildren to visit, and the other half enjoying their visit.
Estimated reading time: 2 minute(s) (356 words)

This was the month Donald Trump lost the election—not just once, but nearly 50 times, as one frivolous lawsuit after another was ridiculed out of court. And, often by judges Trump himself had appointed!—which made it all the more delicious.

December 2020: Isolation Month 10

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 979
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
It's beginning to feel not at all like Christmas.
Estimated reading time: 4 minute(s) (743 words)

While the cynic in me says this is just "God's way of getting rid of the stupid ones", the empath in me is broken-hearted that such stupidity mixed with arrogance can exist, and furious at people who should know better. What's worse, the #Trumpsters have turned it into a political statement and refuse to mask up on that basis. While this is actually a good thing—the more stupid racists who die, means we'll have fewer stupid racists to deal with—it still means that smarter, masked people have to be extra careful to avoid these Typhoid Marys (COVID Donalds?).

January 2021: Isolation Month 11

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 976
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
It's a new dawn, a new day, a new life.
Estimated reading time: 2 minute(s) (374 words)

The good news is, we now have a President who doesn't seem to be doing his best not to kill as many Americans as possible. And this, despite Trump's failed revolution and the desperate moves of his seditious followers. By the end of January, President Biden had undone most or all of Trump's "executive orders" and demonstrated a reliance on science instead of wishful thinking as the best approach to dealing with this pandemic.

February 2021: Isolation Month 12

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 1,026
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
Happiness is elusive, even in Paradise.
Estimated reading time: 2 minute(s) (374 words)

The good news is, we now have a President who doesn't seem to be doing his best not to kill as many Americans as possible. And this, despite Trump's failed revolution and the desperate moves of his seditious followers. By the end of January, President Biden had undone most or all of Trump's "executive orders" and demonstrated a reliance on science instead of wishful thinking as the best approach to dealing with this pandemic.

March 2021: Isolation Month 13

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 938
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
And the pandemic continues...
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (231 words)

On the world stage, the United States continued to lead the world in COVID-19 cases and deaths. Every country in this month's top fifteen list of worst hit, are countries with conservative leadership when the pandemic hit. Every other nation on Earth has it coming under control.

April 2021: Isolation Month 14

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 966
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
Cases continue to decline in some places while increasing in others. Guess what kind of leadership sees declines?
Estimated reading time: 4 minute(s) (804 words)

Here in Hawaii, on April 23, 2021, the state Department of Health reports that there were 122 additional COVID-19 cases reported in Hawai'i on Sunday, including 98 on O'ahu, 12 on Maui, six on Hawai'i Island, three on Kaua'i, and three in Hawai'i residents diagnosed while out of state. There were a total of 1,109 cases logged over the past two weeks, 211 of them in Maui County.

May 2021: Isolation Month 15

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 1,249
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
Complacency sets in.
Estimated reading time: 4 minute(s) (926 words)

Here in Hawaii, through May 28, 2021, an estimated 1,513,894 doses of vaccine had been administered statewide, including 248,047 pharmacy doses, 154,801 federal agency doses, and 1,111,046 state doses in Hawai'i. The state's total population is 1,415,857.  The Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) reports that 58 percent of the state population has had one dose of vaccination, and 51 percent have completed full vaccination. That puts Hawaii just below Vermont in terms of getting vaccinated.

June 2021: Pandemic Month 16

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 975
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
You would never guess to look around that people are still dying of this thing.
Estimated reading time: 2 minute(s) (341 words)

I spent the month in Arizona, where no one wears masks and new cases are soaring. Here in Hawaii, cases are few but everyone is still required to wear masks indoors or in crowds, except when eating. Our statewide vaccination rate is near 60%, and only vaccinated people are allowed in the state without quarantine.

July 2021: Pandemic Month 17

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 987
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
And relief from the evil of the Republican Party comes from an unlikely source: Republicans.
Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s) (523 words)

The state Department of Health reports that there were 485 additional COVID-19 cases in Hawai'i on Saturday. Today's total is the largest single day total for Hawai'i since the pandemic began.

August 2021: Pandemic Month 18

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 986
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
The calm before the predicted September storm.
Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s) (669 words)

Cases have increased recently and are extremely high: The total reported for the past week was the highest of the pandemic. The number of hospitalized Covid patients has also risen in the Maui County area. (Maui County includes the islands of Maui, Lanai, Molokai, and uninhabited Ko'ohave.) Deaths have remained at about the same level. The test positivity rate in Maui County is high, suggesting that cases may be undercounted. Because of high spread, the CDC recommends that even vaccinated people wear masks here.

September 2021: Pandemic Month 19

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 1,242
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
New case numbers began to fall, worldwide.
Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s) (523 words)

Here on Maui, I observe probably half the tourists on the street wear masks (especially in Pa'ia); and everyone in the stores does, as is required by Maui's mayor. Business owners detest him because he has put the safety of Maui citizens ahead of their short-term profits. Consequently, whenever we have an anti-mask/anti-vaccine rally, they are attended entirely by privileged white people who assume they own the island because, you know, they should. And the only reason they aren't already dead of the disease is the fact that, thanks to the Mayor's wise decisions, Maui has come through this relatively unscathed.

October 2021: Pandemic Month 20

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 953
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
The rich get healthier while the poor die.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (204 words)

There are a total of three individuals hospitalized in Maui County with COVID-19 (one is vaccinated and two are unvaccinated), according to counts last updated on October 29, 2021, from Maui Health. Of that number, no COVID-positive individuals are in the ICU and no COVID patients are on ventilators.

November 2021: Pandemic Month 21

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 1,004
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
And then came Omicron.
Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s) (664 words)

I'm so pleased to report that Maui is doing very well. The latest data represents a total of 1,581 "active" cases statewide over two weeks. Maui County's seven day average of cases peaked at 57.6 per 100,000 on August 25, and has been on a steady decline since the beginning of September, dropping to 7.9 per 100,000 this month.

December 2021: Pandemic Month 22

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 959
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
Deadly Holidays.
Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s) (514 words)

Cases on Maui have increased recently and are extremely high: The total reported for the past week was the highest of the pandemic. The number of hospitalized Covid patients has also risen in the Maui County area. Deaths have remained at about the same level. The test positivity rate in Maui County is very high, suggesting that cases are being significantly undercounted.

January 2022: Pandemic Month 23

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 927
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
Sudden change of venue.
Estimated reading time: 2 minute(s) (283 words)

In the United States, we've lost nearly a million people to the disease; the number is expected to exceed 1,000,000 deaths by early March. As in the rest of the world, people are getting weary of the pandemic (sadly, it isn't getting weary of them), and many places are not enforcing (or even allowing!) mask mandates. As before, vaccinated people don't get very sick, even if they catch the thing. So, more than ever, it is the unvaccinated who are dying. (Regarding the willfully unvaccinated, as opposed to those unable to take it for pre-existing health conditions, this can be thought of as God's way of getting the stupid ones out of the gene pool.)

February 2022: Pandemic Month 24

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 930
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Arizona
It turns out that being an American in a pandemic is bad for your health.
Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s) (562 words)

In the United States, we've lost nearly a million people to the disease; the number is expected to exceed 1,000,000 deaths in another week. 65.2% of the population is vaccinated, well over the global percentage but still leaves about the same number of unvaxxed Americans as "Americans" who voted for Trump…and are largely the same people.

March 2022: Pandemic Never Really Said Goodbye

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 767
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Arizona
My last Coronavirus Entry
Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s) (680 words)

Exactly two years after I moved to Maui (only partially to avoid the plague), I am back where I started from—Arizona—, and so are the maskless masses shopping and hanging out in restaurants. Everyone who is going to get vaccinated already has; those with an immune deficiency still wear masks (I assume, because I do usually see one or two masks when I shop.) When I do see someone masked, I whip mine on just to be supportive; but I don't feel a pressing need to wear one. Certainly not out of fear of catching COVID-19; I am fully vaxxed and will be receiving my second booster in about a week.

Cottage Progress (May)

By: Paul S Cilwa	Occurred: 5/6/2022		Page Views: 693
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
Just two weeks from completion!
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (97 words)

The guys erecting the bamboo cottage on Maui are still at it, and it's still supposed to be finished in two weeks! (That's what they said two years ago.) Anyway, it is starting to look like a dwelling, at least.