The COVID-19 Diaries: Here We Are

Can I tell you guys something strange? Ever since we bought this house I had a feeling I would have to be prepared to have to live through something while living here. I used to walk around and think about how the freeway wall looked sturdy and could feasibly keep zombies out for awhile, or at least make it look like this was just a commercial area and no houses and they'd pass us by. It was silly thoughts like that but after a few earthquakes and the birth of children Matt took it upon himself to make sure we were prepared for some sort of calamity and have to hunker down at home. Home is the safest place. I would sometimes in my fits of purging take time with certain items under the guise of "I might be glad to have a few extras of these". But nothing could have prepared me mentally for a global pandemic that has caused our state to close everything but essential stores. That right now everyone is staying in their homes and sticking only to their families. No one sees each other except by 6 feet away. Schools are closed. Churches are closed. Any public building is closed. The entertainment industry just SHUT down. No one is filming anything. Everyone is just... home.

The last entry I had posted here was optimistic about the unknown. I figured work was coming, warmer weather, flowers, birds, bees, ladybugs, my favorite time of year around the farm. And now, home is our whole world now. Right now it is our restaurant, our hospital, our spa, our park, our movie theatre, our art studio, and very importantly, our school. After they closed the schools, I spent the weekend preparing the office to become a classroom for Alice & Wally. I went ALL out, I'll have to post about it later. Mostly it was because I had all this nervous creative energy to burn and I wanted to pour it into something I could somehow make my own while the world was unknown. I think Olaf says it best: 'controlling what you can when things feel out of control'. 

It worked out for me though because Alice LOVED it. She loves to play pretend games and for her this was a big game which is how I'm playing it. She can tell how much work I put into it and she keeps hugging me saying she loves her home school. I've seen Alice's classroom in action and she loves that she gets to be the only person to do the calendar and weather bear every day. I know I don't have to put on all these bells and whistles but it's fun for me and for her. It was a lot of work planning the next day's lesson every night and you would not believe how long an hour is when you're trying to keep the attention of two small people. Week 1 is done and next week was her spring break anyway and we're keeping it that way. We all need the break.

We're used to being home, we're homebodies. But the fact that we HAVE to stay home for our own health and safety is a level we were not prepared for. The fact that going to the grocery store means waiting in line and wearing a medical mask we were not prepared for. The fact that we can't be around humans in any social way we were not prepared for. The fact that the only way my daughter can spend time with her best friend is through a video chat we were not prepared for. And as scary and uncertain as this whole situation is I mean we couldn't be luckier to have to go through this during the time of social media and the internet because we have the world at our fingertips. I've bookmarked about 17 recipes for making our own bread. Social media lets us all keep in touch and see what everyone is up to and I actually look forward to using video calling to actually see and hear people that I care about. People share home schooling sites and ideas and projects. Art and music. We're all staying home with our families. This is a best case scenario sort of emergency for now.

I started this post because I wanted to write about how glad I was that I hoard nice scented candles. In times like these when buying anything but food feels ridiculous I'm glad I have a hearty stash of something comforting that times being what they are feels absolutely luxurious. And incredibly important. Because we're all going to be home so much, it might as well smell pleasant. 

Hold tight everyone. Love and peace to you all.