Sanibel During Caronavirus Times

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Santiva Chronicle publishes opinions and letters on topics that are important to Sanibel and Captiva. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the Santiva Chronicle.

submitted by Elaine Pace

We are seasonal Sanibel residents, having visited the island for more than 20 years, and we are now fortunate to own a condo here. Our usual stay of four plus months stretched to nearly six this year due to the Coronavirus threat, but during that stretch we learned more about the island we love and its residents and visitors. Before we depart, we want to share what we experienced.

We learned that strangers we passed on the beach now waved from their safe space nearly every time we passed them.
We loved the daily “A Poem and a Prayer” from John Danner.
We were grateful that Linda, the nurse at the Sanibel Congregational United Church of Christ, made masks for us.
We appreciated the extraordinary outreach of F.I.S.H.
We loved the “shares” from Wendy at Big Arts and from Ellen, our chorus director, and from the funny “shares” from friends.
We were grateful for the calls and emails from Sanibel friends who shared with us their tales of venturing northward.
We were heartened that restaurants offered take-out although we didn’t partake because
We loved creating new recipes and cooking for ourselves.
We noticed that Baileys stayed open and kept its employees even with reduced customers and workforce.
We were thankful that Ace Hardware stocked a large supply of gloves.
We zoomed with island organizations trying to make the world a better place.
We walked the beautiful gulf outside our condo every single day.
We loved being able to navigate Periwinkle at all hours during March and April without the typical suffocating traffic during those months.
We got to better know neighbors who shared with us their feelings about being “stuck” here.
We learned that the sunny days of January through April turned to daily rain and humid, cloudy skies by June. But that will not deter us. We shall return, perhaps even longer next year.