My intent was to maintain a regular chronicle. The realities of quarantine life blew that idea out of the water. I’m going to do my best.
Laura and I are both healthy and safe. She has had to go into work a few times, but mostly works from home. I’ve not had to go anywhere except our few errands.
Our only recent human contact was at the veterinary clinic when we raced our dog Ana who was screaming from some sort of leg pain. There was no way to safely transfer her from my arms to the vet tech or back. I was genuinely shocked that the vet techs were not wearing gloves and masks for that sort of contact. I couldn’t put her into a crate, but I could have put her in a gurney.
She is better, but apparently tore something muscular in her thigh. Bedrest, heat, meds.
I asked around my vet folx friends and discovered that they are mostly not wearing masks. That’s insane. If the contact with the public is distant, fine. But hopefully veterinary staff will get masks soon.
We’ve been sticking with our routine here just sleeping in maybe 30 minutes. Breakfast for us and critters, then Laura works in the kitchen. I do some of my own work, then do a round of critter care aka scooping litter, filling bowls, etc.
We wind-up around 5ish. I go feed our temporary feral cat colony, we eat dinner, watch the news, etc.
What I realized late last week is that this is not my routine. I usually watch streaming shows to help me manage my mh symptoms, I usually take a nap, I do other things. That’s gone out the window because we need to prioritize Laura’s work needs.
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So one thing different in week four will be my going upstairs to binge watch with ear buds. I’m glad we talked through the situation to see what was working and what not. Our house isn’t very large so carving out little sanctuaries is very important.
Today was a little unique. We went to pick up groceries, then drove to a County park to see the cherry blossom trees while remaining in our car. On the way home, we got Starbucks and gas, fed our temporary feral cat colony, ordered Thai food, and then ended the night with a fire pit lighting where we practiced social distance with a neighbor.
It was therapeutic to burn stuff, vent about the state of the world, and just do something new with our evening.
Now we’ll be home bound for another week. This is allegedly a two week crisis arc for Pennsylvania so our only contact with be a possible trip to the pharmacy and Laura going into her office for work reasons. She’ll go in at 10 PM to minimize contact with other people.
This is hard. We are fortunate, but it is still hard.
