I know. I know. There must be at least a dozen of you wondering if I stopped writing due to a peppermint bark overdose or something more dire.
I am happy to report that it was neither.
I just took a long hiatus from writing this blog to start a podcast and focus on my life coaching business.
Meanwhile, haven’t we all been hiding for the last few months?
Covid-19 along with Quarantine 2020. It has been quite the rollercoaster.
For those of us lucky enough to stay healthy by staying at home, there were some real benefits to this bizarre period in history. Benefits like:
Deeply connecting with our families.
Taking more walks.
Cooking at home.
Spending less money.
But then there is that pesky Third Law of Physics:
For every action in nature, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
In quarantine terms, that translated to:
ONLY seeing your immediate family.
Walking the SAME path so often that you start to recognize the same piece of gum stuck on the sidewalk… and that empty beer bottle carelessly tossed behind a random bush.
ALWAYS having to cook every meal.
And for many, a substantial decline in income.
It’s Groundhog Day for sure… accompanied by a whole new vocabulary.
How often did you say words like Global Pandemic, Social Distancing, Stay Safe and Shelter, Shelter at Home, Coronavirus, Covid-19, Viral Load, and New Normal before this year?
The latest in fashion trends seem to totally focused on what kind of face mask you are wearing to the grocery store.
For me, quarantine began with high hopes of nesting and project completion.
But here is my report card from the last 9 weeks:
I organized my dresser drawers… but never filed a single piece of paper in my office.
I washed my dog once… it was awful for both of us.
I washed my car once… but since I only go to the grocery store twice a month, I didn’t bother to do it again.
I unclogged my OWN shower drain. Well, I didn’t actually do it. But, I did provide moral support to my husband while HE spent 45 minutes fishing out the most disgusting mass. My own hair causing the problem.
I hoped to finally start writing the novel that I have been meaning to write for 20 years… instead, I wrote exactly ONE blog. This one.
As for the title of this blog, did I actually learn to Quilt in Quarantine? That would be a big fat NO, I just liked the alliteration. The closest thing I got to quilting was making a face mask out of a paper towel with two rubber bands that I saw on Facebook. But I quickly learned this was not a viable nor safe option.
Here’s what I did accomplish:
I watched a lot of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime: Anne with an E (all 3 seasons), Homeland (final season), Ozark (season 3), Hollywood, Normal People, and way too many Two and a Half Men reruns.
I spent way too much time looking at social media. I am not proud of it, but in my defense, there were a lot of really funny memes and gifs to sift through.
I particularly loved the recipe for the new Coffee Margarita. It’s just like coffee, except with a margarita… and NO coffee in it.
My husband and I took long walks every afternoon and then implemented our own daily Happy Hour. The coffee margarita (with no coffee) is perfect for this daily celebration of surviving another Groundhog Day.
Aside from my family on the mainland, the person I miss most during this quarantine period is my hairdresser. How that is not an “essential service,” I will never understand.
But here’s the thing, no matter how mundane staying at home 24/7 is, I have never felt more grateful.
Grateful for the planet healing itself from the decline in carbon emissions.
Grateful to be healthy.
Grateful to live in a beautiful place with so much natural beauty.
Grateful that we have the technology that allows us to talk, text, email, and video chat around the world.
Grateful to those on the front lines who kept our food supply chain intact, kept our deliveries coming, and to all the doctors, nurses, fire, police, and other essential services that kept us safe.
May we all get through this with more appreciation for all that we have and can do TOGETHER… even if we never got around to writing that novel or learning how to quilt.
Stay safe. Stay healthy.
P.S. Forgive me for any typos. I am out of practice and rushing to a Zoom cocktail hour with my junior high school girlfriends. :)
