Searching for signs and portents

Thanks for your wise suggestions and caring advice about our first-world dilemma. We remain uncertain about going to Long Beach, Washington next week, but we are leaning toward GO, despite some folks advising us not to. We reason that we can enter the motel room armed with wipes and alcohol and disinfect it thoroughly, and we are far less likely to encounter other people there than if we stay in Portland. We are both juggling numerous projects and commitments and have carefully carved out three days to recharge by the sea, and it doesn't seem so very stupid to go.

Today I was having my 18-year-old car serviced, so that we can safely drive it to Washington if we go. I spent the day at Sue's house moving a thousand photos off my laptop onto a new external hard drive for archiving: one thousand down, only ten thousand more to go. It's an endless job. And I laugh to myself, what possible use will these be to the world, really? Who will ever see them, and why am I doing this? I don't know what other people do to pass the time. 

I worry about all the unhoused people in Portland, over 6000 people with no access to handwashing facilities or hygiene, barely anywhere to relieve themselves, no shelter, no escape from the cold and the wet, no balanced nutrition or regular hydration. How will they avoid the virus? And then all the people like my adult grandchildren who drive for Amazon or Uber, or who make coffee for Starbucks, who flip burgers for McDonalds. No sick leave, no insurance. If they don't work, they don't get paid. If they don't get paid, they can't pay rent. Impossible, all of it. And I worry about whether it's safe to take a little vacation?