Mary Anne Poarch shared this photo of the quality time she’s spending with her grandchildren, which is Christmas in April!
What is everyone doing?
It’s a simple question, but one that takes on a whole new meaning during these strange times, because times like these, these so-called “black swan events,” breed ideas that one might never have dreamed of before.
Out there, right now, there are people and children discovering and rediscovering things that they’ll carry with them for the rest of their lives, be they hobbies or books or wisdom or time with their loved-ones they might have missed in the humdrum hubbub of their everyday scheduled lives. There are people doing and learning things that will continue to affect them long after everyone has gone back to work and this time has been scratched into the history books.
Dr. Jeff Maxwell, veterinarian at the Norris Animal Hospital, examines Cash, a 3-year- old Beagle mix, in the parking lot of the clinic on Friday afternoon (April 3). Looking on are, from left, Danny Frazier, 10, and his grandmother, Rita Graham, owner of the dog; and Taylor Cook, a veterinary tech at the clinic on Andersonville Highway. - G. Chambers Williams III
Some of our pets will continue to need medical care during the coronavirus crisis, so veterinary clinics are among the “essential” businesses that Gov. Bill Lee listed in his recent order seeking to limit the spread of the virus in Tennessee.
But that doesn’t mean that local veterinary facilities are going to continue operating “normally” while the governor’s order is in effect.
A check of the four animal hospitals in the Clinton area – two in Clinton and two in Norris – found that the clinics are limiting or banning clients from bringing their pets into the waiting rooms.
Instead, they are asking people to wait with their animals in their vehicles in the clinics’ parking lots after calling to let staff know they have arrived. In some instances, pets are treated at their owners’ vehicles in the parking lots, and in other cases, clinic personnel are coming out to get the animals to take them inside for treatment – without their owners tagging along.
Payments for services are usually being taken only over the phone, by using debit or credit cards.
While we’re generally supposed to stay at home, there are exceptions.
But guess what? You aren’t actually required to stay home under Gov. Bill Lee’s recent executive orders, especially if what you’re out doing is on the list of essential activities.
Here is that list, which allows us to go riding in our cars, even for sightseeing (just don’t get out and mingle):
Essential Activity. For purposes of this Order, Essential Activity means:
a. Engaging in activities essential to a person’s health and safety or the health and safety of family or household members, persons who are unable or should not leave their home, or pets, including, but not limited to, seeking emergency services, obtaining medical supplies or assistance, obtaining medication, obtaining non-elective medical care or treatment or other similar vital services, or visiting a health care professional;
