Quarantine Rhythms

Quarantine Rhythms

So. Seven weeks into this COVID 19 mess, how is everyone doing? Have you figured out a pattern to your lives yet when the days just run together?

I'm finding a rhythm to life without anything scheduled and am quite enjoying it. Although I fear my brain will have turned to mush and I will NEVER be able to complete a thought again once we come out of all this. And we WILL come out of it. I predict a new normal, but there will be a normal once again.

Are y'all getting dressed? I read in the Wall Street Journal yesterday that deodorant and shampoo sales were down.  I am still getting up and getting dressed although I have the leggings and sweatpants in high rotation.  Every morning I put on my perfume and mascara. And I AM using deodorant so I'm not responsible for the sales decline.
The perfume may seem silly but I've always worn it for myself and besides, one of the first signs of having contracted this virus is losing your sense of smell. I figure if I spray on my perfume and can't smell it....better be checking my temperature.

My two perfumes.

Corona virus testing at its finest.

Not that I've been going out a lot but the grocery store needs to be visited at least once a week. No point in not eating well while sheltering at home. We have experimented with sour dough and actually got a starter up and running. Our combined attempts at making bread have been less than successful. While edible, they have been a bit dense. At least the flavor is there! I did print off a high altitude recipe to try, thinking that may have been part of the issue. Also, apparently the older your starter, the better the results and this starter has not fully matured yet.  I'll let you know.

No-knead sourdough.

Also, no-good sourdough.

Entertainment has had to include binge watching  Tiger King because...of course. It's Quarantine 101. Such a train wreck and did Carole Baskin really feed her husband to the tigers? Who knows?  Since then, not much TV.

My amazing and talented nephew photoshops these pics.

You want a pic with Joe Exotic? 

I can hook you up.

There has still been snow here in Colorado, garden planting can't start for another month, so the outdoors, while tempting, has not been my first choice. If it is a good day, the dogs get walked.  Other days I sew. This afternoon we are going to get the bikes out and see if I remember how to ride one.
(Edited to add: I got on the bike. I fell off. Seriously. Skinned my knee. Guess I don't remember.)

My sewing machine is here with me in Golden and it's been getting lots of use. Masks are required to go out in the Denver area and I'm not going to wear just any old thing...I had to make some. I tried a couple of different patterns before settling on one that is more fitted rather than the more ubiquitous pleated pattern.
And then I had to make them for friends. And family. At this point I'm ready to start a mask making company...looks like we will be wearing them for a while. One for each outfit.  (Ha! Like I'm wearing "outfits".) Hit me up if you want one!

See why I put on mascara every day? 

My eyes are the only thing you see.

I carried on a wonderful one sided conversation with a stranger at the grocery store the other day because everyone looks the same. 

Although he looked at me like I was crazy.

And then the big treat is going out to lunch. Now...don't get your panties in a twist. Denver doesn't have a secret stash of open restaurants.  I wish. Lunch out is now driving through McDonald's, eating it in the car or bringing it home. Or picking up lunch somewhere and finding a not blocked off picnic table to sit at.  The other day we drove over to Idaho Springs which is just about 20 miles west and picked up lunch at a microbrewery, Tommyknocker. Best BLT ever. Then we drove up into the mountains to eat. The plan was to find a picnic table near Echo Lake but it was snowing at that altitude, so we ate in the car and watched the snowflakes. Amazingly these simple acts of "getting out" make the days pass quicker and give me a sense of some normalcy.  Taking a drive still qualifies as social distancing as far as I'm concerned.

To mark the end of the week we've been trying to have at least one nice dinner some night during the weekend. As in, maybe get out the good dishes. Definitely find a decent bottle of wine. Eat in the formal dining room. Put on real clothes. It's good to make an effort. There needs to be a way to mark time.

And the nicest thing? Sunday's are a day of rest. No projects or effort required.
Maybe make a big breakfast, stay in bed, online church (honest- I know some of you are giggling), read the Sunday funnies. Zero expectations.

I hope everyone is managing. It's such an amazingly interesting time in the world. Document this quarantine, for yourself, for your kids.  All at once, the entire world is in the same boat.  The level of creativity and ingeniousness arising from everyone being at home is astounding. Great works of art being recreated in homes. Howling at 8:00pm just to communicate to the neighborhoods around us. Everyone, every age learning how to use Zoom. As much as we are physically apart, the world still strives to connect.

Stay safe, wash your hands, wear your mask.

Greetings from Isolation...

Greetings!

It has been soooo long.

Last time I posted it was right after Thanksgiving and the hospital stay and Oregon beach trip that accompanied that week.

Since then we have had Christmas and New Years and job upset (always job upset- my only constant for the last 2.5 years) and a trip and ....COVID-19.

Where to start?

I think with the job upset since that has been such a constant refrain in these posts for the last couple of years. At least when I bothered to post, it was a constant.   Mid February our doctor called an office meeting and announced he was leaving our office to work for the only competition we had in our little tiny Colorado town. He was gone after the next day.  The following week the Powers-that-Be from Colorado Springs drove in, took us out to dinner and gave us the news. The office will close in 2 weeks. No doctor, no office, no job. Effective March 2, I became unemployed. I had never been laid off before...always trying new things!

Surprisingly, I was pretty calm about this turn of events. Work had been so stressful, every time I got the hang of whatever the new normal was, something else was added to my position/office/situation. I was exhausted.  My mom in Texas was going to need some help with her house since she had moved to Assisted Living so I had been thinking I was going to need to take some time off anyway.  Truthfully I was relieved. The timing was impeccable. How perfect though, I had no idea.....

My retired friend suggested a quick trip before heading to Texas to help mom. Even though we had been hearing reports of a virus in China, it really had not hit home that it might be an issue.  We scheduled flights out on March 7 after briefly discussing the possibility of "maybe we shouldn't go". We were headed to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico and figured since the virus had not been reported there, we would be fine.

We stopped in Texas on the way and attended the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. (Previous experience at the rodeo here.) There were plenty of people in attendance although we did notice more hand washing stations and hand sanitizer.

Maren Morris at HLSR

a VERY pregnant Maren Morris

The flight attendant on our flight the next morning assured us the seats had been sanitized for our protection, although we did  do our own little wipe down with the Clorox wipes.   Just in case, you know.

Once we got to Mexico, our only exposure to the Corona virus was through our morning emails and news updates. March 11 we heard that the Houston Rodeo had been cancelled, 11 days early.  Friends were asking where was I, was I safe?

The only Corona we ran into.

Honestly we felt much safer in Mexico than we would have in the States.  The virus had not traveled that far and restaurants and the state of Guanajuato were already being pro-active BEFORE they had any cases. Most places required hand sanitizer upon entry, restaurants removed tables to distance patrons and the fact that most everything was open air added to our sense of security.  A decision was made to extend our stay. We had zero desire to return to the panic in the States.

Enjoying a margarita before all the restaurants closed down.

Our original return date had been March 17, but we moved it to March 31- the last day before the airlines were supposed to start restricting flights. As the week wore on, the news from the States was looking more and more grim while Mexico was beginning to shut things down around us. On March 22 the Mexican government closed the churches. No more Catholic Mass. The church bells in San Miguel rang all day long to spread the news. We started thinking maybe we should leave sooner as our entertainment options were becoming limited. Many restaurants had already gone to take out only.

See that rope hanging down? 

That's how all the bells get rung- by hand. 

Every quarter hour.

We scheduled a flight on the 26th only to have it cancelled, twice. We managed to get to Texas on the  afternoon of the 26th. There were 15 passengers on the plane plus crew. Customs was EMPTY. Amazingly, coming into the country was a pieced of cake. No one asked if we were feeling sick, took our temp, nothing. Maybe they trusted Mexico to do that before we left- which they did. We filled out a form regarding where we had been, how we had felt and had our temp taken before boarding the plane in Queretero.  On the 27th we flew back to Denver on a slightly fuller plane. I had a moment of panic on take-off as I had to move my seat. My seat belt was stuck so I had to sit next to a complete stranger for 15 minutes.  I realized for the last 3 weeks I had basically only been that close to one other person, my traveling companion.  Thankfully, the seat belt was freed and I got to return to my seat once we were in the air.

An incredibly empty Houston Intercontinental Airport

Once in Denver a decision was made to stay there.  I made a quick trip to the cabin to get the cat and some warmer clothes and returned. Colorado had a Stay-at-Home order at that point and I was anxious about getting stopped. Fortunately the trip was uneventful and I have been here ever since. I am quite grateful to be in the city where there is food delivery. Door Dash! Uber Eats! Amazon Fresh!  Things ordered actually show up within a couple of days. I did not want to be alone in the middle of nowhere with few resources, especially if I ended up getting sick.

And the job situation? I suspect you know how that goes. As I said, the timing was perfect. I am eligible for unemployment. Unable to search for a job, I am 100% enjoying the time off, although feeling a tiny bit guilty about how happy I am about it all. The government even deposited $1200 in my account... a welcome boost for the unemployed.

I'm hoping to use this Stay-at-Home time to be creative. I've been sewing (masks, working on a quilt) and done a bit of drawing. Without my computer I was unable to write which was totally driving me crazy. I sprung for a simple laptop so I could reconnect with my blog. More posts to come. And if this goes on much longer I'll be getting the jewelry making supplies here, also.  Maybe I can even figure out a way to make money creating... wouldn't that be lovely?

Incredibly messy mask making.

Everyone stay safe, wear your masks outside, wash your hands and enjoy the enforced break.