The Coronavirus Diaries: what a difference a year makes

I woke up slowly, as I have for past week or so, and got dressed, putting on a long-sleeved t-shirt extolling the accomplishments of the Wright Brothers – First in Flight. I bought this shirt approximately one year ago while my husband and I traveled Ohio and North Carolina in the footsteps of the illustrious Wright Brothers on a spring break trip.

What a difference a year makes. A year later, and we are sheltering at home, because of world-wide pandemic. Is that redundant? World-wide and pandemic? Probably.

A year ago, my dad was still with us. My brother was still with us. My mother’s aging Schnauzer, Hansi, was still grumping around her condominium; my sister’s Westie, Wylie, would still let you pet him, as long as you didn’t step on his toes.

And now, here we are, self-quarranting or whatever we’re supposed to call it, trying to stay healthy, trying not to attract the attention of germs they say can hang in the air for three hours and live on surfaces for up to eight hours.

Last week was incredibly hectic. I spent Monday and Tuesday frantically trying to get ready for KidsPlay’s Tuesday night Photo Night. Wednesday and Thursday, I visited my mom up in Fort Wayne. Good thing, huh? Friday, Saturday and Sunday, John and I went off on a strange and secluded weekend trip to the Clifty Falls State Park Inn courtesy of the KidsPlayers. And in between all that, I wrote up my last Just 4 Fun pages for the paper for awhile, although I didn’t know it at the time.

I said to my mom, as I was frantically packing up to get back to Greenfield in time for a 6 p.m. rehearsal: “You know, what I want is time. Just time. To take care of myself, to read, relax, watch a movie, sew for myself.” I was thinking of the dozens of things I wanted to do – to write in my journal, to finally find the quiet to make a decent website for KidsPlay, to clean my house.

And now, curiously, it seems I’ve gotten my wish. Our front room is cleaned up. The costumes that have been hanging in the hallway for weeks are sorted and put away. And I’m embarking on some creative projects that I’ll write about later. Time. Time to blog about what is happening around all of us. Time to remember what boredom is like. Time to cherish my husband and pet my doggies. To write responses to 10 years worth of Christmas letters. Lol. I’m not going to end this with some sappy quote about time, but, nerd that I am, I DO love this exchange between Frodo and Gandalf….

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.

“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”