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.