Observations

 *Originally published on my Wordpress blog 04.19.2020

What I have noticed during this pandemic:

• I was highly anxious about the whole thing at first.
• The community was highly anxious about it too.
• Over time, I have adapted to what is.
• The community seems to be adapting too.
• I was angry and disappointed.  I’m still angry and disappointed but the emotions are softer.
• I missed the beach terribly at first.
• I still miss the beach terribly.
• I was angry about the loss of the bike trails.
• I’m still angry about the loss of the bike trails because I think it’s unreasonable but I have created a different route that seems to be working for me.
• I miss seeing my brothers but I am managing. I email them even more often.
• I don’t miss the yoga class.  I do yoga by myself now and I like it.
• I do miss the occasional one on one yoga instruction but I am managing without it.
• I don’t particularly miss either one of the two book clubs.  I don’t need a book club to inspire me to read, although the discussions are good.
• I don’t miss the writing group.  I have a lot of writing inspiration from myself but the discussions are interesting.
• I used to drag my feet when it was time to go to my art class.  Now I miss going to art class.
• I rather like having nothing on the calendar.
• I miss getting my hair cut not because I like getting a haircut but because I don’t like my hair hanging in my face.
• I miss going grocery shopping, not because I like grocery shopping but because I like to be able to make food decisions in the minute, not necessarily ahead of time.
• When someone else does my grocery shopping, it’s pretty easy to adjust to whatever they bring back.
• Who knew that Excedrin Tension Headache medication was so popular that it’s not on the shelves right now?  And who knew I would end up running short on that common OTC medication?
• If possible, I think I have more headaches now than I did without a pandemic.
• I am annoyed with how our street has become a pedestrian freeway.  I can live with it though.
• I can be more cynical than I ever realized. I am also not the most compliant person in the world.
• I miss driving places in Oskar (my car).
• I’d rather read than watch TV (but I already knew that).
• I like spending time alone (but I already knew that).
• If I look for it, I can find the silver lining to most things.
• In the beginning, I listened to podcasts about COVID-19.  I stopped listening to those podcasts after about a week.  How many times can they tell me the same thing?
• I’m surprised at how little contact I have had with some local friends. I don’t reach out to them and they don’t reach out to me.  It’s not a problem, merely an observation.
• I am surprised at how interesting my on line community has become.
• I miss the library.
• I miss riding my bike to the library and to downtown.
• I miss walking on the Laguna trails and out at River Front Park.
• I mss being able to go to my sister’s house in Redding.  I used to dread that drive over.  Now I would do it tomorrow if I could.
• Some people have really gotten into cooking during this enforced home confinement. Not me.  I am as adverse to cooking as I ever was.  Maybe more so.
• I think the house stays cleaner these days than it did pre-pandemic. Go figure.
• I am not even remotely interested in trying out the new gadget Zoom.
• I don’t mind shopping for household goods on line.  I’d much rather shop at Target on line than go there.
• The longer the shelter-in-place goes on, the less I care and the more I withdraw.
• Some things that seemed important in February don’t seem as important in April.
• I’m not as worried about dying from COVID-19 as maybe I should be.
• I’m not particularly worried about dying at all but I am worried about someone I love dying.
• It’s true.  Life can change faster than I ever would have expected.