how is everyone?

How is everyone doing?

Me? This is not how I thought 2020 was going to go. I definitely was not expecting the year to begin with a pandemic which required cities to shut down and for everyone to stay 6 feet away from each other.

But when my governor issued a stay at home order, I knew the next few months were going to be different.

I’ve been staying in my apartment as much as I can and maintaining social distancing when I do go out. I’ve been washing my hands more times than I can count.  

I know I’m one of the lucky ones because I still have my job and my employer allows me to work from home. I try to go outside once a day to get fresh air and exercise and I try to go to the store only if I absolutely need something.

But I’m going a little antsy spending all this time inside my apartment.

I wake up in the morning, get dressed, and walk the 10 steps to my desk to start my workday. At 5 o’clock, I turn off my work computer, get up from my desk chair, and walk the 10 steps to my couch where I hang out for the rest of the night. 

I miss my daily walks to and from work so instead I’ve been walking at lunch and after 5. But even my walks are different. It’s quiet outside with hardly any cars in the streets. The buses aren’t running as frequently and there are not as many people outside. Restaurants and stores are closed and some are even boarded up.  

The days are kind of blurring together and I can’t tell you how many times I check the calendar to see what day it is. 

Is this the new normal?

Other than working from home, my life hasn’t changed that much. I’m an introvert and love to read so a lot of my time was already spent at home. I guess I miss not being able to go out if I wanted to. A favorite pastime of mine was to go to the bookstore or library and just browse the books but I can’t do that right now as everywhere is closed. I used to take the bus to places and just wander around, window-shopping, but I haven’t been on any public transportation in weeks (and again, everywhere is closed). 

But it’s weird.

The situation is definitely not business as usual because stores are shut down, and restaurants are closed, and you see people walking around with masks on. I went to the grocery store yesterday and almost everyone, including me, was wearing some type of face covering or mask. The streets are deserted and it’s quiet outside my windows.

Om the other hand, I can still go to Top Pot and grab a donut and coffee if I want. I can order pizza from Zeek’s and go pick it up. Target is still full of people shopping. When I walked down to the lake earlier this week, there were people just hanging out and riding bikes and enjoying the view. 

Every time I think about living through a pandemic I think about the books Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel or The Stand by Stephen King. I think about movies like Contagion or Outbreak. But then I go outside and it’s nothing like that. We may not be living in worlds those media portray, but we are definitely living through something.

I am in no way trying to make light of what we are living through. It’s just strange because my brain has a hard time reconciling there’s a pandemic, but let’s go on a bike ride.

I’ll just continue to keep my distance and hunker down. In my spare time I’ve been making lists of things to do and places to go once isolation is over. 

I am extremely thankful for the hospital and healthcare workers, and the bank, fire, police, and grocery store workers. I’m thankful for everyone who is delivering packages and the mail. I’m thankful for the workers working at my local coffee shop that is still open. I”m thankful for anyone who is working outside of their home right now.

I hope everyone is safe and well and that you are all getting through this pandemic as best as you can.