Covidcoaster

Shelter in place. Coronovirus. Covid-19. These are the new buzzwords of my life. Gone are the 4:30 AM wakeups to work out at 5:00 AM before work. Now I go for a run at 7:00 AM and try to be online by 8:30 AM for work. My 10 year old beats me by being online at 8:00 AM for school. I’m learning to master Zoom and Facetime. I’ve had my kid do Facetime and Zoom with friends to a variety of success. We both like hearing voices other than our own.

I miss my Mom. She is 95 and stuck at her retirement community. She does take a cab once a week to get her hair done at her hair dresser’s home. When she comes back she asks to be dropped off away from the entrance to not get scolded by the facilities’ director. No one else lives with her stylist so I’ve learned to let her one break out go. It isn’t like she is seeing anyone else. She isn’t as connected as I am. My brother has helped the three of us Skype together, but it isn’t the same.

Everyone drives me crazy and I miss everyone all at the same time. My mood swings make PMS look like a walk in the park. Laundry has become a main event in my weekly routine. I look forward to my grocery outings even though everyone keeps their distance from one another and can sometimes get cranky. I just like seeing different faces.

My depression and anxiety have been heightened. My doctor has instructed me to limit my social media time. Of course my husband has encouraged this for eons, but I actually listen to my doctor.

My daughter seems to be dealing with this the best out of all of us. She remains upbeat, which I’m grateful for. I mean it isn’t like we are living in medieval times. Our roads are paved, we have running water and indoor toilets. Things actually seem cleaner than usual because people aren’t out driving all the time.

The first day of all this when I went running I waved at cars that went by or at people eating breakfast as I went by their homes. I haven’t done that recently. I don’t know why. Maybe I’m just scared. It is scary after all.

I told my husband last night I thought I had a cold coming on. When I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom he asked me to use ours vs. the one down the hall I usually use so as to not wake him. He had been awake for awhile. My mention of a cold got him worried that I might be infected and he wanted me to distance myself from our daughter. In the morning I was fine but I learned a lesson. Not everyone shares their fear but everyone has it right now. My peri-menopause hot flashes now cause me to take my temperature just to make sure it is a hot flash. They used to not bug me but now they make me nervous.

Everyone is on edge. We worry about our jobs and the small businesses of friends. That doesn’t mean we are ready to stop sheltering. We need the peak to pass first. California where I live is doing okay, but New York where my in-laws are is in much worse shape. I worry that they aren’t following the rules as strictly, but am grateful to live where I do. I continue to shake my head at our Nation’s leaders. The ones who want “the churches to be packed for Easter”. Not that I think they get the whole concept of Easter. You know the resurrection from death vs. the bunny. I love mass, but I’ll stay home this year. Catholicism has gone online. Churches are closed. Even my religion from birth knows when to listen to science if this President doesn’t.

These are strange days indeed. I pray we come out better for it on the other end.