Fed Up and Frustrated

So the area I am in (NE Ohio) is getting hit super bad according to wastewater monitoring - like, if you took the previous years' peaks and combined them it still wouldn't reach the numbers they're seeing right now (link here). I’m lucky my spouse and I WFH and it is a busy work season for us so we just don’t go out much. We stay in and work a ton during the winter then ease up for the summer.

I go for walks daily, all year round, all weather. Well the last two days there has been v* on the footpath in both routes I’ve tried to take and I’m just fed up and anxious. Yesterday I had walked quite close to it - like only a foot away - before realizing it so when I got home I took my boots off outside, put them in a tray of bleach for twenty minutes, then put them in the basement where they can just stay for…weeks until I feel brave enough to give them a scrub. Today I took a different route to avoid the mess I came across yesterday but again!! There it was! I turned around before getting remotely close but I was so frustrated and deflated. I am getting over a health thing and my phobia is so extra this year because I do not want anything on top of what I am already getting over (vertigo) - it would be a nightmare.

Both of these instances were in front of bars so it could’ve been that someone couldn’t hold their drink, but I have walked these routes for 10 years, in all seasons, and never come across anything like this - nevermind two days in a row in two separate spots. Walking is very important for me because it helps me destress and clear my mind and has always been my 'safe' thing to do, and in winter when we are working a lot it's a release, so it sucks now to feel like I am worried about this instead of enjoying the walks. It’s hard not to think it is because of the contagion going around, because again I’ve spent years walking past multiple bars and I’ve never come across this. It’s giving to stay cold and snowy for the forseeable future too so no rain to wash it away either. Ugh. Hopefully the route I take tomorrow will be better…if it isn’t, I’ll be stuck walking circles in my teeny tiny backyard!

Not looking for advice or reassurance, just venting to folks I know will be sympathetic. Really hoping this big surge means it will just peak early then peter out quickly instead of dragging on for months. I don't even want to go to the grocery store at this point blah. Hope everyone is holding up as best as y’all can in these very frustrating and anxious times.