LIFE AS IT IS

March 15, 2020 I have always followed good hygiene practices, or so I thought. However, after the World Health Organization began to share proper hand-washing techniques following the coronavirus outbreak, I realised that I seldom washed my hands for at least 20 seconds, and a lot of times, skipped the backs of my hands. Am I grossing you out? But did you know that 4 out of 5 people do not wash their hands properly? I did not, until recently. However, living and working in pandemic conditions are teaching us new things every day. At the time of writing this piece, the total number of confirmed cases has topped 182,000 with over 7,000 deaths globally. The schools in my state, Delaware, have been shut down. My husband's workplace has asked its employees to work from home. Bars, taverns and restaurants were ordered by the state's governor to halt their dine-in services. From today onward, the food joints in Delaware, Pennsylvania, California, New York, Michigan, Maryland an...

Location: Public park in Delaware Hubby, daughter and I have been at home since March 15, 2020. We left home on a few occasions, but those were to buy food and refill our water gallons. Oh, hubby also went out to get a new kitchen faucet, because it suddenly started leaking water. The timing could not be worse!   I went out for a walk with my daughter last week. We really needed some fresh air. There were other people at the park, too. Everyone needed some fresh air, I guess. People practiced social distancing, so did I.  Health experts say that it is good for your mental and physical health to go out for a stroll during this time of social distancing. One must avoid crowded places, of course. But this is definitely not the time to drive to Washington, DC to enjoy cherry blossoms, which some people are doing.  I don't know what these 'nature lovers' are thinking. These folks are not only risking their own lives, but the lives of others. The cherry blossom...

Picture yourself standing in half-darkness amid naturally-forming calcite columns, cascades, stalactites and stalagmites sixteen storeys under the surface of the Earth. It is eerily beautiful down there. The ambience is primitive, and your surroundings feel uncanny, because your mind keeps telling you that all of this had formed over an estimated span of four million years. The limestone formations you see around you are still forming and changing every day.   The Daily Star link Luray Caverns, in Virginia, USA, is an active cave system. Located in the lush Shenandoah Valley, to the west of Blue Ridge Mountains in Luray, Virginia, Luray Caverns was discovered in 1878. Today, it is a registered National Natural Landmark (NNL), visited by some 500,000 people annually from all over the U.S. and the world. Before we decided on visiting this awe-inspiring feat of nature, we had to find out if it would be too cold in February. We found out that the caverns' temperature remains...