Week Two Of Covid-19 Shelter In Place Mandate

Like many of you currently, I suspect, I have good days, and I have bad days. The good days, like today, are generally when I start off with lots of time outdoors spent either hiking, walking, or kayaking, plus avoid all news other than from my two preferred sources (LA Times and NY Times). The bad days are when I do the reverse - stay indoors all day, and read/hear too much news.

Where is this Covid-19 thing going, and how will our world be affected in the aftermath? I have no idea, and since I can't control it, I'm far better off focusing on those things I can control.

Such as . . .

Family- I've spent a lot of time talking to my dad by phone in Texas this week, gently pushing him a bit more each day, until it was clear that he understood how critical it was that he stay at home as much as possible, and work to avoid being around others when he did go out. He finally agreed to cancel all of his pending social plans, and to alert his neighbor that he could no longer accept her kind dinner offerings. And I've talked with one or both of my daughters every day, sometimes by phone, but usual by virtue of the video conferencing tool, Zoom, which is turning out to be the best thing since sliced bread.

Friends- I'm using FaceTime to make virtual coffee dates with girlfriends, and my husband and I are using Zoom to set up video dates with couple friends, primarily on Friday and Saturday nights, saving Sundays for family. And we have been able to retain our long-running book club during this time as well by using Zoom. It's working out great, and a real point of pleasure during this incredibly difficult time.

Physical Health - I'm continuing to do intermittent fasting between dinner and lunch, about 16 hours in all, and in addition to not feeling remotely hungry between meals, the weight is continuing to come off. Eating until I'm good and full once a day, lunchtime in my case, seems to carry me until lunch the next day, excepting a very light dinner (generally 1/2 of whatever I'm serving my husband). Since moving to intermittent fasting (which we initiated on our cruise, simply to manage the overload of food they serve) I've lost 12 pounds, and my energy level has been consistently good. I'm so thankful to feel like my pre-menopause self again!

We are walking and hiking many miles weekly as well, and I'm also lifting small weights in our garage since our gym is closed. We have 5#, 10# and 15# weights, so I'm able to do a decent number of upper body exercises, plus walking and in-place squats with weights for my leg muscles.

Mental Health- My best days are those spent outdoors. It's a tad bit tricky to get outside and have enough space to practice proper social distancing, but we've learned that it's best if we head out prior to 8AM, and stick to remote areas only on the weekends. We found a way to walk to one of our favorite trails from the house this week, and we also found the hidden entrance to a quiet pocket park on top of one of the trail's many hills, leading us to this little slice of serenity, where we sat for quite some time before heading back:

Intellect- Our Lifelong Learning programs have gone online, as has my art class. I listened to a fabulous lecture about the artist Cezanne, studied Spanish, and learned a bit more about the Spanish Flu of 1918 and how it correlates to Covid-19. These online lectures are continuing to roll out as our various organizations get up to speed on video conferencing, and I am here for it!

Creativity- I'm continuing to practice piano, working on some very basic compositions of popular songs. I will never, ever be ready for primetime(!), but it gives me immense personal satisfaction all the same. I've also started working on some needlepoint Christmas ornaments for my family, something I really enjoy. And lastly, in going through my freezer to remove items that were simply taking up much needed space, I defrosted some leftover ricotta cheese, and used it to make this truly outstanding Ricotta Orange Pound Cake. And don't even think of leaving out the amaretto - it really makes a difference in the overall taste.

Fun - A bit lacking at the moment, though our outdoor time, and out video time with family and friends probably qualifies. Fun isn't really where my head is at at the moment. I'm fine with simply being content for now. Fun has a place, but likely not until this virus has made it's way through.

Week One of Covid-19 Shelter In Place Mandate

We passed the two week mark yesterday, marking 14 days since we disembarked both our cruise and the subsequent cross country flight home, and breathed a sigh of relief as we did so. We understand that we are still 100% vulnerable to picking up the Covid-19 virus here on our home turf, but at least we can put the worry of having been in two very problematic confined spaces (ship and airplane) behind us.

Orange County, where I live here in California, went into Shelter In Place mode on St. Patrick's Day, likely a deliberate move to try and minimize the celebrations that would have occurred otherwise. That was a strange day, as workplaces closed and we began to think through the long term ramifications of shuttering California's enormous economy. That was also the last day I read anything pertaining to the stock market, because it is just too stressful to do so at this time.

It's been an interesting week of self reflection and re-evaluation. I've gone from mourning the loss of our relatively carefree, pre-Covid 19 lives, to a renewed appreciation of simplicity. I am ever so thankful that we moved to our coastal location in 2017, and came to the conclusion that if we never traveled outside of the US or Canada again, I would be fine and at peace with that decision. To a certain degree, travel has provided a convenient distraction from doing the work of finding serenity within, and Covid-19 has finally forced me to do something about that.

Already, we have been told by two recently retired friends that they plan to reenter the work force once businesses reopen. I am saddened on their behalf, even as I appreciate that they are likely still going to be better off, financially, once this is behind us, than their younger counterparts, many of whom may be laid off without the benefit of a substantial nest egg to buffer them.

Our usage of video conferencing has zoomed this week. Think FaceTime, Skype, Google hangout, and Zoom. We've used all four to set up virtual face-to-face get together's with family and friends. We've been doing so, in particular, with our two granddaughters on the east coast, both to stay in touch, as well as to try and give their mommy, our youngest daughter, a bit of a break as much as we can. Her husband is a naval officer currently on deployment, and therefore she is the current sole entertainer for her two little ones. It's been a joy for us to have so much time with our granddaughters, as we alternate between reading to them, having them pretend-read to us, watching them play, and newly this past weekend, having joint coloring sessions where we color and chat together, pausing occasional to show each other our coloring progress via our respective webcams.

We've also been walking or working outside of our home every day in order to take in as much fresh air as possible. As a result, we've seen some wonderful wildlife - two osprey being chased away from nests by a pair of determined crows, a dolphin feeding just in front of a line of paused surfers, , and last evening a Cooper's hawk landed on a post in our backyard and gazed out over our canyon while I watched from within.

We've been eating well, and are trying to make it somewhat of an occasion by having our lunches outside when the day is nice, and dinner in our dining room. As much time as we are spending at home, I want to utilize more of it in order to feel like we are changing up our environment on a regular basis.

We miss the privilege of biking, hiking, kayaking whenever and wherever we want, but we are thankful for what we do still have - the ability to walk from our home and select from among a variety of routes. Today, for example, we are going to do a circuit that will provide both ocean and canyon views on our way to the market, where we will do some limited grocery shopping before walking back home.

I don't know yet what our post-Covid 19 lives will look like, trying to prepare mentally as best I can,  but I have been able to experience periods of peace and serenity as I move throughout my day. I didn't get there overnight, for sure. I started from a place of pretty much shock. But some two weeks in, I am experiencing serenity via my daily check-ins with family, my online dates with friends, working in my yard, taking care of deferred household chores, cooking up nutritious meals, and re-establishing a sense of normalcy via technology. We quickly began utilizing it to stay in touch with family and friends, as mentioned above, and now our spiritual community, our Lifelong Learning community, and bits and pieces of our arts and culture community are up and using it as well. It's not at the all the same thing as being together in person, but it is a thousand times better than not having it available at all.

I am no Pollyanna, but there is enough craziness out there without adding to it here, so instead I would love to hear how some are you finding peace, happiness, or serenity at this moment in time.

Hoping For The Best, Preparing For The Worst

We are preparing for, and coping with, the Covid-19 outbreak as best we can, similar to all of you I am sure. I will say that I am incredulous at how quickly things have unfolded here in the USA over the last seven days. I am thankful we arrived home when we did, so that we could get to work replenishing our pantry, fridge and freezer before the recent panic buying set in and grocery shelves were left bare. From last Sunday, when we first arrived home, until today, just one week later, things have been moving fast.

I have the same fears that everyone else does, but I remain hopeful that we will come out of this stronger and with a renewed sense of what matters to each one of us in our individual lives. In my case that would be family, friends, and community. Nothing else seems terribly important at this point.

Per the graph above, we are focused on social distancing in order to slow the spread of the virus to others that might be highly vulnerable due to age or underlying conditions. Nina Fussing over at Wheeling It has put up an excellent blog post that I would encourage all to read, detailing what we may all be in store for in the weeks ahead if we don't start practicing social distancing NOW.

In the meantime, stay safe, and be kind to your fellow citizens. We are all in this together.