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.