04/11/2020

Well, here we are in day twenty three of this semi-isolation, COVID-19 pandemic, world shutdown.

I was talking with a friend tonight about where we were emotionally twenty three days into our radically altered lives. We are both planners, travelers, love adventure and the loss of these things is real and we grieve them. It got me thinking about the 5 stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance which are a part of the framework that makes up our learning to live with the one we lost or in our case the thing we lost. They are tools to help us frame and identify what we may be feeling.

Denial – oh yeah baby…this isn’t happening, can’t happen to us, won’t affect us… was where I was most of February and into early March. Anger…yep, started the first week into this crazy lockdown. Bargaining…We want life returned to what is was, we want to go back in time…if only, if only, if only. Depression…absolutely, I felt abject depression. So here we are at Acceptance… begrudgingly, I would say I am there. Not happy about it but at the same time, very grateful we are healthy, financially okay and haven’t lost anyone to this monster virus. It doesn’t mean I am okay with this current/new reality or not knowing what the future looks like it, but trying to learn to live with it. Instead of denying our feelings, we should all be listening to our needs; we change, we grow, we evolve. Perhaps in this altered universe you have started to reach out to others and become involved in their lives. Or perhaps, with all this extra time you are reinvesting in friendships or in your relationship with yourself. None the less, don’t discount that you too may be feeling grief and may be somewhere in one of these stages.

So here is how day twenty three of our sheltering in place went:

• So my new reality seems to be sleeping until 9:00am or 9:30 am. It could also be I am staying up until midnight or perhaps it’s the new edible I am taking for sleep. None the less, not sure why I would be feeling any guilt about it.

• Bentley and Wally went to the desert for their walk and also made a drive – thru stop for french fries. I am starting to think this outing is all about the fries and less about the walk!

• I puttered around outside, pulling all the covers off the furniture and blowing all the debris off the patio. It felt really great to relax in the sun again today.

• It was finally warm and sunny today so Kristen and I got in 2.8 miles walking around the resort. The face mask thing is really hard to get used to but we are trying to be good and wear the damn things. I took a few photos around the resort…it is so quiet at club houses and pools. It certainly feels strange not to see anyone on the golf courses or at the restaurant by the pool.

• We had a nice Sesame, Black Bean And Avocado Salad for lunch on the patio.

• After lunch, I took an 8 mile bike ride with some friends. I was able to sneak up on my duckling friends and get another picture. It’s kinda blurry and another reason I need a new camera with better zoom capabilities.

• Dinner tonite went un-photographed again. We sat out on our shelter in place friends patio for cocktails and decided to order dinner from Tony’s Burgers. After my disappointing burger bun baking episode I was still in the mood for a burger. The Food Network loves this place and that’s how our friends Kristen and John found it. The Mini Blue Moon Burger with garlic and sweet potatoes fries was d’bomb!

• The veggie selection in the fridge has taken a big hit. The chicken I took out of the freezer is thawing so I am still planning to make a Warm Quinoa Salad with Carrots and Grilled Chicken for dinner on Sunday.

• A friend told us that the local farmers market is going again and was very well done. There were no long lines, people were required to wear a mask, stand 6 feet apart, the vendors wore masks, you could point at what you wanted and the vendors bagged it, cash was handled with gloves and they said the produce was awesome. Sounds great so we may venture out next Saturday and check it out.

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• Worked on this blog post and edited pictures.

Day twenty three was a very nice day indeed … we stayed home and it felt great to be back outside in the sun.