| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- the line of demarcation Hello from quarantine. Yesterday marked six weeks since what I think of as the line of demarcation between Before times and the surreal After. It was six weeks ago yesterday that I had a rough day at work and came home exhausted. C and I decided to take a nap around 5 or so but I couldn't sleep very well. I think I got up around 6 and within minutes it felt like the entire world had changed. Tom H*nks and Rita W*lson had announced they had the coronavirus. The NBA abruptly canceled its games after it was reported that a player had tested positive. C turned on the TV and we watched our home team on the court at the local arena, everyone looking confused and then stunned. Since then, and I know I don't need to really even state such an obvious thing but whatever, life has been surreal. I mean we've settled into a routine and mostly we're getting by but that doesn't mean it doesn't all feel unsettled. We're settled but unsettled if that makes sense. And by "routine" I mean that I'm trying to practice self-care and so my earlier intentions to "stick to a school" schedule by getting up at the same time and working the same schedule every day are, shall we say, a bit off kilter. Mostly, I do wake up around the same time I would have in the Before times but then I let myself sit and drink coffee and scroll through social media or read. When I log on for work I mostly try to stay on pace but it's also OK to take a lunch break (something I never really get on campus) and then there's an afternoon nap and sometimes I get up and continue working. I try to workout every day. We go for walks in the evening and admire the chalk art that surrounds the hospital that is two blocks away (the hospital that, as it would be, had one of the first cases in California--that was eight weeks ago? I remember thinking it was surreal to see it on the evening cable news. That was then, this is now). I'm an introvert and I like long days and nights by myself or just with C. but we are certainly at the point where we are going a bit stir crazy. We're a little snippier than usual with each other. Yesterday was particularly difficult. But we try to get out of the house sometimes even if it's just to go to the pet store to get something essential for the cats, or a trip to drop off something for his mother who lives alone 30 minutes away. I would love to see my students, face to face. I would love a haircut (though, honestly, my hair isn't bad, I would just like the normalcy of sitting in the chair talking to my stylist). I would like a pedicure. I would like to go grocery shopping without feeling as though I've been dispatched to the front lines. I would love to stop worrying that someone I love may get this. Wouldn't we all love some sort of the normal Before times, though? Trying to remain grateful for the good things: *I've been writing a lot. I hope you and yours are all well. 8:47 am - 23.04.20
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girls like us are most perfect when we're biting off all of our finger nails - 21.05.20 - 3:14 pm i could join the circus when they come to town - 15.05.20 - 5:41 pm the good that won't come out, part 58 - 11.05.20 - 9:59 am if i were brave - 07.05.20 - 8:56 am the routine of it all - 01.05.20 - 2:39 pm |
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