Last weekend the kids and I were stir crazy, so we leashed
up the dogs and headed out the door with G to go for a walk in the woods. There’s a cool little waterfall and state
park just a short drive from our house, and since it was a sunny, beautiful
day, we needed to get out of the house.
We go to this little park often, and there’s never more than one other
car in the parking lot. When we arrived,
we found a full lot of cars, and a whole crowd of people playing in the
waterfall area. I’d like to tell you
that the reason we circled through the lot and kept driving was because we were
honoring the social distancing thing, but the truth is, we just don’t like
people that much and neither do our dogs.
We did find a nice little spot to pull off the road just outside the
park area, and we were able to spend a few moments out at the river. I haven’t left the yard since we got back.
G is a nurse, so she’s one of those “essential employees”
you’ve heard about. When it snows and
the entire South shuts down, she goes to work.
If she doesn’t think she’ll be able to drive to work because of icy
roads, she must spend the night in her office.
That’s what “essential” means.
I’m lucky enough to work from home, and I’ve managed to find my way
through the maze of technology and restructure my classes to fit this new
temporary reality. My kids are also
doing school at home.
This puts us in a summer situation. During the summer, I’m home with the
kids. They have a list of things to do
each day before they can goof off, and usually so do I. Last week they received a list of assignments
for school. Blue did two weeks of schoolwork
in about three days. Violet has a
different approach to lists and is still working on hers. I’m doing ok with my daily tasks, but most
days I feel like I’m barely keeping my head above water.
I miss the daily interactions with my students. There’s an energy that flows in the studio
and that energy is transferred through words, high fives, and silliness. I do not miss that 5:25am alarm, nor do I
miss running 3 miles in the dark with wild animals, but I do miss the routine
of going to school each day. I miss how
my days were broken up into classes. How there was a very clear divide between
work and home. All those lines are
blurred in this new scenario. I’m tired
of sitting in my desk chair.
I’m making efforts to break up the monotony of being at home
all the time. I’m trying to stay active
on Instagram in the hopes that I can make other people a little less
miserable. I’m pretty sure everyone’s
screen time has gone through the roof these last couple of weeks, and I want to
make sure they see something other than gloom and doom. I’m posting daily photos of my dog Zeke. He’s a beautiful creature. I’m also posting “today’s beautiful thing”
each day. This forces me to really pay
attention to the details around me and to find something visually beautiful to
share each day. I hope this will cause
others to pay more attention, and to seek out the beautiful things in their
quarantine environment.
Another thing we’re doing each day is “Quarantunes With
Violet”, a video post of my daughter singing a song. We’ve been able to share these cover songs on
Instagram and YouTube. We’ve had a lot of people tell us that they look forward
to it each day. This has been a daily
bright spot for me as it forces us to spend some time laughing together. Being silly and giggling through several
tries at nailing a song is a good way to destress and break up the boredom. We’re trying to find creative ways to involve
Blue. Like me, he doesn’t sing, and I’m
sure his friends think I’m a freak.
They’re probably right, but we’re having a good time.
When it comes to the daily tasks, I’m trying to stick with a
regular-ish routine. I’m still setting
an alarm to get up, sometimes still early.
I do my run first thing. Some mornings that still means running in the
dark. Then I try to do a PiYo workout
before having breakfast and coffee. I’m
still meeting with my classes at the regular times, but in an online video
format. It’s not the same as being in
the studio, but it allows us to interact a little. I end up spending a lot more time working on
school things than I did when we were face-to-face. Perhaps that’s the nature
of the classes I teach or perhaps I just haven’t found the most efficient way
to do things yet. I will say this: meeting with students through video chat has
allowed me to see a lot of great dogs, and I’m not complaining about that. At night I’m cooking dinner, washing dishes,
and trying to make time to work on drawings just like usual.
My students see me by video, and I’m all happy and amped up
to see them and talk about their projects.
People online see the songs and photos posted. They probably see me at my
absolute best. Truth is, I’m just as
bummed and stressed about all this stuff as they are. I’m struggling with my daily routine just
like they are. I’m looking at the
tightening restrictions on where we can go and what we can do, and I’m
realizing that we’re still on the upward climb of this whole thing. The peak may still be a month away, and then
we still must move back down the other side.
Those weeks ominously looming ahead promising more of the same are
messing with my joy. I’m going to need to
get creative to keep myself up until we can return to a freer lifestyle. I bet we’re all going to need to do the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment