A few weeks ago I was complaining because of how much work I always had to do. I thought I was in the busiest time of my life. Then coronavirus hit, and I found out just how wrong I was. Now, I think, I am in the busiest time of my life.
The world has changed a lot in just a few weeks. Many of us are either not working, or like me, are working as much as possible from home. Most of us who are going to school are now doing so online. Most of us are also social distancing and following “stay at home” orders, which means that we’re not seeing a whole lot of people these days. If you’re like me, it’s not too big of a deal. I kinda enjoy this new way of life. I got to report on school board meeting from my couch, in my pajamas last week, and I thought to myself, “I wish this is how it always was.” I prefer to be home quite a bit and way from others most of the time. If you’re not like me, though, you’re probably having a hard time, and for that, I’m sorry.
But I’d like to remind people of the good in all of this. Many of us spend our entire lives dreaming of getting away from work and just relaxing at home. Many of us dream of spending more time with loved ones and less time around strangers. These days, while that’s something we’re forced to do, we should try to cherish these moments before were are thrust back into “normalcy” (whatever that means anymore).
Some good things that this quarantine has allowed me to do is to spend more time with Caesar and Jeter. Caesar was recently diagnosed with Cushing’s Disease, and I had worried about how his medication would affect him. Now that I am working mostly from home, I am able to monitor him. Next week, he will have his first blood test to see how the medication is doing, and I will be able to spend the day with him when he’s done. Plus, we’ve been on a TON of walks during this pandemic. We are staying away from others while getting plenty of fresh air. Twice in the past week we’ve been able to hunt wood-carvings at Fox Island, something I was only able to do once a month or so before the virus.
Because I’m not driving to Fort Wayne four days a week, I’ve saved a ton of money on gas, but more importantly, I’ve saved at least eight hours of my time a week. I’ve probably spent this time working, since my workload has magnified these days, but I’ve also spent more time reading.
Before the library closed, I made sure to check out a bunch of books. My favorite one that I’ve read lately is called Dog Stars – a book about a virus that wipes out 99 percent of the people. The main character has a dog that he loves and travels with, so that was a major bonus. I spent hours reading it, curled up on the coach with Jeter under my heated blanket. That is one of my favorite things to do.
While I feel like I’ve been slightly neglectful of my blog, staying home has allowed me to write more stories than ever for the newspaper, which is great because I’m the only writer left! (I will say, the biggest negative to this virus is that my whole life feels like it evolves around it. But, I feel proud to be the leading source of local information regarding the coronavirus in Van Wert County.)
I’ve seen this virus bring the community together in beautiful ways. This past weekend, as Caesar and I walked around Van Wert, we saw windows littered with hearts and messages of gratitude and hope. Seeing people being creative during a stressful time is just wonderful.
While I could go on and on about the positive benefits of being ordered to stay home (shout out to mid-day naps!), I know the biggest one for me, of course, is the time I am now spending with my dogs. I can’t imagine how excited they are and maybe a bit curious about me staying home.
Whenever you get stressed about this virus, turn off the news, step away from your phone, turn on some good music, and just enjoy the time you are getting to finally relax a little. If the hardest part of this trying not to get virus is staying home and being around people you love, man have we all got it made.
