It has been about a month, more or less, since many of our states in the US went on lockdown. Longer for some of our European members.
How are we doing currently? What have you noticed about life during a pandemic? What are you grateful for and what do you miss?
I realize many of you are located in states where the pandemic is shredding any sense of normalcy at breakneck speed and creating deep heartache and loss. I know that while cases in my state continue to rise, we have been very fortunate and have no real concept of what has happened in places like NY and Michigan. We are mostly dealing with current changes in what was normal living of life, not life and death matters on a 24-7 basis. For those who are dealing with this ongoing intense battle, I can only offer my prayers and my love.
Here are some of the things I have noticed over the past few weeks about myself and about dealing with the new normal. I have found that my days are much better if I can be in nature, even if it is my own backyard for part of the day. It reduces my stress. I also like listening to the sounds in my neighborhood. Children laughing, birds chirping, wind blowing through trees, even the ice-cream truck which is an "essential service" I guess. I imagine children coming out into the bright world from their "caves" to the sound of the musical ice- cream truck as it travels the neighborhood, a bit of sweetness in a dark time. ( Our ice- cream truck plays Waltzing Matilda, so I also think of Australia when I hear it.)
I meditate during my week more often which I find helpful for putting me in a good frame of mind.
I am still taking fresh lemons from our tree and making fresh lemonade with different flavors of honey. Right now peppermint honey is my favorite for adding to my lemonade. That is a delight and something I look forward to each day.
Toilet paper was found at Trader Joes's this week. That was a nice surprise, that and the fact that people were not swarming to get some. I like how T J's limits the amount of people in the store and has lines marked on the ground to guide you on where to line up ( 6 feet spaced apart) outside and by the registers. I also like their music, it is nice and calming with a bit of fun mixed in. They have wipes and will squirt you with hand sanitizer if you wish. ( your hand not the rest of your body, ha ha). It isn't as scary to shop there I have found. Half the people inside wore masks and all employees do too. I have one also.
I am grateful for more family time. I am grateful for the comfort of my goofy dog and all the love he continues to bring to our family members. I am grateful that I had a beautifully decorated Easter table and had that table filled with food we all appreciated and liked. I am happy my oldest daughter bought chocolate bunnies from the grocery story 6 weeks ago and before the lockdown took effect , knowing it might be difficult to find them later. They were fun to have on our Easter table and a nice sweet treat.
I appreciate how our family members are adapting to change and making do with what we have and what we can find or discover. We can be creative and have fun finding new ways to cook or get inspired.
I miss hugging people I know and chatting with random people I meet in my neighborhood. I miss having lots of choices. I miss being able to quickly run to the store to get something I have run out of at home.
I don't miss the stress of living a more complex life though. I don't miss traffic and air pollution. I don't miss being on a fixed schedule for most aspects of my life now. I wish there wasn't the fear in the whole collective of how to keep or get employment or how to pay bills and keep businesses afloat though.
We are already becoming different people, adapting to a different society. Some things will be forever changed. I am looking forward to some of that new change becoming our normal normal. I am looking forward to embracing the good that is coming from this time of great reflection and grounding, I am focusing on what I know to be good and inspiring and not the scary unknown.
May yo all find peace, a good night sleep and something to be happy and joyful about each day.
I haven't been on this website long, and we haven't interacted before but, from one human being to another, one daughter to another, I want to acknowledge the loss of your mother and say that my heart is with you, and that I send you support and comfort.
Oh, our new, simpler lives do have their charms. Like you, I miss hugging people and miss my normal activities, but boredom is not an issue and my days are full.
In my normal life, I painted in two studio groups every week and have painted with other artists for many, many years. In captivity (as I sometimes think of quarantine), I do paint alone, but have discovered online figure drawing sketch groups-one in Dublin and one in Barcelona. Artists meet online through Zoom and there's always a model to pose for us. We do the whole routine of sketching with 1, 2, 3 minute poses, then move to longer poses for painting. Art always takes me out of my head and I lose track of time because of the intense concentration. Painting is my happy place.
We have wonderful neighbors who have remembered us when they are going to the store and pick up anything we need from groceries to potted herbs and vegetable starts. Our closest neighbors leave offerings on our front porch, everything from piping hot cinnamon rolls to cookies and banana bread. Once an entire dinner arrived. So, of course, we reciprocate in sharing love through food and gardening.
The weather has been beautiful and I am outside as much as possible. It's flower season and weed season, so I enjoy the signs of renewed life in the trees, shrubs and flowers. The sound of birdsong has never been more lovely as I bend to the earth and pull shotweed and dandelions from the soil. Birds are enjoying the birdbath again and I watch them from my kitchen window as they splash and flutter and splash some more.
I'm using Zoom to catch up with friends and family. My sister keeps in touch with hilarious texts, memes and pictures. No one is enjoying isolation more than my sister. In her regular life, she deals with people, people, people and she regularly threatens not to go back when things open up. She's having too much fun painting (another artist), gardening and having time to think, read and listen to music.
Last week a friend came to visit at an acceptable social distance. We pulled chairs out into my driveway and sat far apart with our adult beverages. She brought her tumbler of wine and I drank Scotch. When neighbors walked down the street, we explained that we were day drinking because there are no rules anymore.
Zoom has been terrific for everything from our garden club meeting, to meditation with my yoga studio friends to Zumba dancing. Who knew?
On another personal note, we have a puppy. She's quite stocky and has the gait and heft of a Clydesdale. She's seven months old and 50 pounds, so there's more growing ahead. We are enjoying her everyday. Simple pleasures. Here's an image.
There's no posting about how I'm doing in captivity without a huge thank you to Jeanne and all of you members of our site and friends of my heart. You help me in more ways than you can ever know.
What an inspiration your 'captivity' is ... sending you my admiration and best for continued good health and high spirits ...??
I love our post and love the image I have of your socializing on the driveway and how people will drop off things. You are inspiring me. I did not know you were an artist. As we speak, my daughter is creating art with her acrylic paints.
And that dog, so very cute.
Love both your posts. Especially the part about day drinking. I'm all in for that! In fact, my 2 favorite cocktails right now are 1) a Ginger-Lime Margarita, 2) Watermelon-Lemon-Vodka (lemons courtesy of my tree). Vodka is good for draining lymph nodes and tequila has pre-biotics. "Can't hurt might help!"
I already posted my "Get-to's" a few pages back, so I'll just refer y'all back there for the long list. I did a great Zoom dance class today, and then I spent the rest of the day cooking, which always cheers me, which I needed today because tomorrow is our 25th Wedding Anniversary and we would have already been in NoLa by now, eating and listening to live music, and I was starting to feel a little sad about that.
So to my plan to celebrate how we can: I made jambalaya, rice, shrimp remoulade and dough for beignets today (gluten-reduced). This way I can relax tomorrow (also it's the start of our hot season tomorrow, so figured better to use the stove today). I have informed my husband, daughter, and her boyfriend (they were going to NoLa with us to celebrate), that everyone is to Dress for Dinner. I refuse to have 25th anniversary pics of us all in sweatpants and flipflops. Nope nope nope. I will put 2 tables ont he deck, separated of course, with proper linens. I am already chilling a nice bottle of Perrier-Jouet.
So my specific gratitude is that we're all still healthy, that I found all my necessary ingredients, that I have an antique cookbook from NoLa from the 1930s with authentic recipes, that my grandmothers taught me how to cook, that the Perrier-Jouet was on sale (it's what we had at the wedding), that everyone is on board with my plan, and that the weather will be nice.
Laissez les bons temps rouler...