I decided today that I am suffering from empathetic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or EPTSD. This is a term that I have not heard used. I am coining it. It refers to a condition in those who empathize heavily with someone who has just suffered severe trauma.
In this instance, I am in some ways reliving what just happened to my sister, Eleanor two days ago. She was bit by a dog who crushed her tibia. She’s been in the hospital for a few days now and was released today.
When she told me about this I said I was very upset. She said (as I said yesterday) that “I am not responsible for your emotions.” I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why she said this. It seemed uncharacteristically cold hearted.
I am trying to make sense of what happened. Again, odd, that she was born

One doesn't need to travel by air

in the year of the dog and under the astrological sign of Libra. She was also bit by a family dog, Blackie, when she was a kid.
EPTSD – it is real. We seem to have an uptick on the number of dogs in our nieghborhood. The person who purchased the house on the hill above the upper road owns two dogs, one of which is a pit bull. Then the people in the house on the corner of the upper road have two large dogs. Pete and I first rode by both places. Then after, I took Tinni for a walk. In both instances I was more fearful than I usually might be.
I don’t know why people let their dogs run loose, but this is the case here. Pete, when I mentioned this said that we are just going to continue to walk around the loop. Well, I just know that I’m not going to do this alone.

I was going to go down and give El a much-needed assist, but I have been having second thoughts about this. I live in a semi-remote location and don’t venture far, so Covid concerns are not on my radar to the degree they should be. But I got to thinking about this today – Covid is carried in air droplets. Planes are confined spaces where there are many air droplets, some infectious, some not. Now if I caught this virus, I might infect El who is recovering from surgery. I might also infect her friend Jerry would be taking me places in his car. Or, I might, after arriving home, infect Pete. And right now, Covid cases are on the rise in Alaska. I’d also be subject to a two-week quarantine when I got back, which would mean that I would not be going to the recycling center, attend dog training classes, or facilitate riding instruction classes.

Of course, I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t. If I do go, I might infect someone. If I don’t, I might be perceived as irresponsible and uncaring. What to do? I’ll talk this over with Eleanor tomorrow.

Next: 279. 10/9/20: The Dog and Pony Show, for Real