We knew things were changing. Who among us knew what to expect? March 12 th , Winnie and I were at the Chicken & Pickle, a pub built for games and a couple hundred people. We met there for lunch and pickleball with about fifteen friends. Yes, the earliest cautions suggesting social distancing, extra personal hygiene and not touching your face had already been hitting the news. When we texted our daughter about our plans for the day, she returned a text featuring an emoji with a scolding, frustrated expression. She thought the evidence was clear that her parents’ judgment had been mottled by senility. On that day, we didn’t think the risk was great. We took precautions. We wiped the pickleball paddle from tip to grip with a Lysol disinfectant wipe that claimed it would kill 99.9% of germs. That COVID-19 is a virus and not a bacterium was already quite clear so anti-bacteri...