CoronaVirus Isolation- The First Week

​Coronavirus, COVID-19, The Wuhan Flu, whatever you want to call it has sure been a disruptive virus. It has brought a lot of fear to the surface in a lot of people because of the uncertainty of how long this will all go on. Will there be enough food? Will the money hold out? So many people live from paycheck to paycheck. Will there be enough room in the hospitals to treat all the patients both from this and other ailments? Will the stock market completely crash and hurt everyone’s retirement? Will I get it, or a family member who’s in the high risk category? What can I do to help? These have all been things that have unfolded over the last couple of weeks and everyone is affected by it, life as we know it is about to change or has already.
Today is Saturday the 21nd of March. Spring, according to the calendar is finally here. One week ago today is when we put ourselves in isolation. I have been out once to get some supplies, other than that I have been home with my husband and Jack the dog. So what has this past week looked like?  For us, not much different than normal, I might add- yet. We live out in the country on 8 acres of land so are often socially distanced from others naturally.  We take walks, when it’s not raining- which is all it’s been doing lately- so we try to go between showers. Jack doesn’t care how wet it is, or if the ground is spongy, or if you slip in the mud and fall on your arse. He’s just happy to be out and walking with his two favorite people in the entire world. Warren (my husband) and I, even have to spell out W-A-L-K when we are talking about when to go because Jack gets so excited he starts running crazy circles around us and jumps off the porch like he was Underdog and can fly. I guess I am dating myself, I’m not sure today’s young people know who Underdog is! Google him, he was amazing. Back to Jack- he is a mix of hound and Labrador retriever who showed up here on our hill when he was 4 months old, he is now 10. We thought he was a pure bred Black Labrador until the first time that he opened his mouth. He doesn’t bark, he howls or sings depending on the circumstances. When he showed up my middle son, Brian was here and I still think he brought the puppy home and acted innocence about it, knowing we would fall in love and that would be that. He has never admitted to it but I still think that is what happened, Brian just smiles. Jacks first night was spent in our garage, by the second night there was a thunder storm and he found a way out of the garage and onto our porch, where drenched, we let him it and that was that. He adopted us. So this time of isolation is Jack’s idea of heaven- he has us all to himself.
Besides walks, I have been taking the time to try some new recipes, some of which are time consuming but oh so worth it! Dinners have been fabulous. So far the two new recipes I have made are Caprese Chicken Lasagna and Lasagna Roll ups. I had to make the second because the first called for too many noodles to be cooked and I wanted to use them up instead of waste them. The roll ups had spinach mixed with the ricotta and were also wonderful. These are just two of the dishes I made this week; I won’t bore you with the whole week’s menu. I do want to bake something though- muffins maybe or a coffee cake.
Each day I have been trying to make some jewelry. My creative juices are not really flowing right now so things are moving slower than I would like. I think part of the reason is the overload of doom and gloom out there and I have been fighting with allergies. With all the rain and damp weather the leaf mold in the country is strong and I have been dragging a little. It has interfered with sleep, which is also important for mental attitude, so the combo has taken its toll. Still, my stock of jewelry is growing so when I can finally get out and sell it, I should be ready!
Cleaning, straightening up, are also two of the things I have been doing more of this week. The one area I made sure I cleaned was our porch. It is under roof and has been warmer so I vacuumed the rug and brought the lounge chairs down from the garage so I can sit and listen to the peepers at night. I love the spring peepers and the summer night sounds. It’s better than TV. Actually I was forced to clean the porch. We have a swing that I cover with a tarp every winter to protect it from the elements and we have a very persistent Phoebe (bird) that every year is determine to have her nest there. The first year I missed it and had to let her raise her family before we could uncover the swing, now I watch for when she starts to build and foil her plans. She spent the last two days squawking at me for having the audacity to remove the tarp. I also have a war going on with stinkbugs and ladybugs both of which are just fine if they stay out of my house! I hate to be working on something and be dive bombed by either a ladybug or stinkbug. I can handle a lot but I don’t like bugs getting caught in my hair. Yuk. Just a thought for you – why are ladybugs not called stink bugs too? They stink and yes I know these aren’t the true ladybugs but imposters taking over, they also bite I can attest to that, the buggers.
Sitting here writing this, a commotion just happen outside my window, and I looked out to see a squirrel climbing up my window screen. I am sure he is letting me know that his stash of seeds is empty and to please fill the bowl. Squirrels are Jack’s nemesis, he hates them, and the squirrels like to torment him- ahh life in the country. I’m glad he missed seeing this one or I would be holding my hands over my ears while he howled his fool head off. It takes a while to get him settled down again.
So my week in review has not been very exciting but we are all in the transition stage right now. I want to record this time though so will be posting here. If it bores you and you have something better to do, like hoarding toilet paper, you don’t need to read this. I might be writing day by day, might be writing once a week, I’m not sure but I do know I will be writing. This is what country isolation/social distancing looks like. Talk to you soon-Christine