COVID Life
So a lot has happened in the last 5 months and we haven’t really addressed it here on our blog, so I thought I’d take this opportunity, on the last day of July, to reflect on this current state of the world; Living a COVID life.
So back in February we started hearing about this coronavirus thing in China because someone “ate a bat in the wet market.” In March we heard 5 Americans might have it here on the mainland. We were aware of it, and still we went to Disneyland on March 6th but we were super careful about washing our hands, and I brought hand sanitizer to sanitize after every ride. (And yes, we got lucky enough to ride The Rise of the Resistance and Smugglers Run on our trip!)
Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge in Disneyland
But come the week of March 13th things got real! Schools shut down, we sent home most in-house employees to work from home, there were mask requirements, we stocked up on canned foods, water and frozen foods like crazy (or at least we tried, but often shelves were empty by the time we got to them…)
Fava Beans anyone? Anyone???
The world had changed overnight. Fear was tangibly felt all around. My friends were having to home school their kids, some lost their jobs while others were furloughed. Older friends stocked up for months to shelter in place and watched the news in horror as this thing was spreading like wildfire! Everybody got hooked on either an excess of Netflix, Hulu, Disney +, the news or video games and series like The Tiger King, or old episodes of The Office and Seinfeld exploded in popularity.
Check out our other blog on Tiger King
Others decided this was a good opportunity to get creative with painting rocks, baking bread, photographing nature, gardening, tie dyeing, pottery, soap making, story telling, knitting, graphic design or painting. Here’s one on canvas I started. :
Underwater Painting I’m working on
We took to video blogging and going on Facebook Live to make sure friends and family were doing alright. We walked a lot - since they can’t close down the neighborhood sidewalks… well, so far and we spent a lot of time at home with our sweet cat Poof.
Poof snoozing
I perfected home haircuts and manicures and cleaned and organized spaces in the house that hadn’t been fussed with in years - including scrubbing the fireplace walls and rearranging our tiki masks!
Our mask wall all spic and span!
We worked on listening to guided meditations, journaling, cooking and zoom calls. And we even tried getting out of the house to go to the Los Angeles Arboretum for our walks a few times.
Queen Anne Cottage - LA Arboretum
But what now? The virus is still here and we are not anywhere close to getting life back to “normal” as we once knew it. And people are tired of staying at home, working from home, teaching their children from home and vacationing at home. The restless want to go to the beach, attend barbecues, see their family and friends and get back to work. And I don’t blame them - well maybe I do if they don’t wear a mask! (That’s a whole other rant that I won’t get into right now…)
Like my coworker told me today: I hope in 10 years we can look back at this time in our lives and go “Wow, 2020 was wild. Glad we have those stories to tell!” So that’s part of why I’m writing this blog and also journaling for my own reflection on the state of things. I hope we can all take this time in our lives to slow down and reflect on what really matters. Do something creative. Spend time with ones we love, or reach out with a phone call to those we cannot see in person right now.
I wish everyone well right now, especially with their physical and mental health. Remember to check in on yourself every so often too and make sure you are doing what you need to stay happy, calm, well nourished, and well rested. And lastly, for Pete’s sake please wear a MASK!
On today’s walk
Thanks for reading, stay well.
-Crystal Olguin
July 31, 2020
