Down East

Yesterday I went down to New Bern for my cousin Martin's funeral. He died of pancreatic cancer, after what could be described as a hard life fighting with substance abuse and many of the health challenges that come from it. My mom and I were both surprised at the the extent to which these dificulties were front and center in the minister's telling of his life, but that was the decision of my aunt Faith, his mom.

I had read about partisan divides around the topic of coronavirus and the seriousness of the threat it poses to Americans, and the eastern part of the state is pretty Republican. My relatives are no exception to this trend. So I was very happy to see how seriously they were taking social distancing, and in particular how much they appreciated our adherence to it. With Natalie only having come back from up north 8 days before, I was acutely aware that I was probably the most likely carrier.

On the way down, it was clear I was gonna need to pee when I got there. My mom (riding in her own car) called from the road to tell me there was a rest stop just west of New Bern, and at first I was thinking "that's ridiculous, I'll just go at Faith's house." But then I thought, no, a rest area's not a bad idea, though the last thing I want to do is bring the coronavirus into a public place where lots of people go. So I did the logical thing. I parked at the rest area and walked into the woods until I found a little clearing and took care of business there.