How are y’all doing?
If I had hair, yesterday I would have probably cut my own
bangs. Does that tell you anything about
how things are here?
It’s week 4 of self-quarantine. Everyone here is healthy. We’ve probably dodged our first exposure to
the plague. School stuff is rolling on,
and that at least helps me to keep track of the weekdays. I’m having critiques, grading projects, and
trying to find ways to entertain my friends through Instagram each day.
The plague is set to hang out for another few weeks, and
that has me feeling down. I was not
thrilled with leaving campus and switching to online learning. I was really not thrilled with the
cancellation of all of our fun spring school events. I was deeply not thrilled to have to move the
Sand Sculpture trip to the fall. This
week we lost our annual early summer family vacation week at the beach, and
that may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. After the camel’s back was broken, COVID-19
stepped in to beat the camel to death with a big stick when the hospital sent G
home with an 8 week furlough.
We’re both a little angry about this, and I realize we’re
both also taking it personally. It’s
really hard not to do that. She’s been a
faithful employee of this particular hospital for 27 years. For 27 years, in
the midst of southern snows and terrible ice storms, she’s been told that she’s
essential to daily operations. That she should report to work no matter
what. For the last few years she’s been
in a position that calls for her to be on call 24 hours a day 7 days a
week. That seems pretty essential to
me. It certainly feels that way when she
has field calls, emails, and text messages at all hours and on family
vacations. But now with the hospital
reeling financially because of the virus, suddenly she’s seen as a way to cut
spending. Not cool. That’s not how I would treat an
employee. However, we can drop that in
the file of “Things Beyond Our Control,” and get over it I guess. Not a lot of other choices.
You know how once you’re irritated at something, every
little thing seems to irritate you? At
least 143 times this week I’ve opened the cabinet door to throw something away
and discovered the trash piled up 6 feet above the top of the trash can. And for there to be so much trash in and
around that trash can, it’s amazing how many empty wrappers and napkins I seem
to find placed randomly through the house.
Apparently when we finish using something the only option is to leave
that thing right where we finished using it.
I counted 7 pairs of shoes with no humans in them scattered across the
house walking to my computer moments ago.
Clearly I need to get outside for a while.
So how do we stay sane and not make our families hate us
during this quarantine? Well, here’s
what I’m choosing to do:
Every morning I get up and run before I speak to
anyone. This lessens the chances I’ll
say something devastatingly cruel to them.
For about 25 minutes I run on the trail alone with my thoughts. I pray and plan. I can’t describe just how much this helps me
mentally and emotionally every single day.
If you don’t hate me, this 25 minutes is why.
Some mornings I’m following up that run with a PiYo
workout. But every morning the run is
followed by a big cup of the best coffee you’ve never had. You’ve never had it because I make it here at
my house. It’s really a religious
experience and I don’t even mean that as a joke. There’s a liturgy in the process of grinding
the beans, tamping the grounds in the holder, warming up the machine, steaming
the milk, and stirring the white steamed milk and the brown coffee foam into a
swirl. Then there’s that first sip. Oh
my goodness. It touches my soul.
All this is time I’m alone, but in addition to this, I take
some time to myself every day. If I
must, I walk around outside. I work in
the basement studio on 3D projects. I’ve
also been lucky enough to spend time each day in my drawing studio. Sometimes I sit in the silence of the studio
and listen to the sleeping dog breathe.
Sometimes I listen to a podcast or some music. But generally speaking, I’m by myself on my
tiny hermit island at these times.
I also practice absurdity.
God help my kids because of my ridiculous ideas. I may decide we’re going on a 4 mile backyard
hike or we’ll take the dogs in the car for a 10 minute drive to the mailbox,
which is only a 30 second drive to the actual mailbox and a 9 minute 30 second
drive around the yard. I’ve also been
attempting to recreate famous works of art in and around the house. The kids have both had to assist me in
various ways. Both have been disgusted by the costumes I’ve had to wear for
these photos. They both complain a
little when I drag them away from their screens and devices for these crazy
exercises, but they both laugh a lot while we do it.
And then there are the waffles. Once each week we have a waffle morning. I
get up and after that run and that first sip of coffee I’ll slap some fresh,
hot waffles on plates, yelling for the kids.
My waffle creations are sweet, wonderful, and delicious. They are love on a plate; a warm waffle
covers a multitude of sins.
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