Here we are, five months into a pandemic that is ripping this country to shreds. It feels as though the Trump Administration is following advice from a book called 101 Bad Ways to Deal with a Pandemic. Seems as though they’ve pretty much worked through the list. Deny science. Check. Inadequate testing. Check. Encourage people to not wear a mask. Check, check, check.
Nevertheless, despite the disastrous leadership, Clif and I, like many others, have adapted. We’ve figured out how to order most everything we need online. (Thank you, Instacart.) We’ve only gone to a store once since March, and when I hear tales about how too many people have decided that masks are for sissies, I’m not eager to go back.
In truth, I really enjoy having my groceries and other goods delivered, and I’m wondering if I’ll ever go back to in-store shopping. We shall see.
Because of our age and our health issues, Clif and I haven’t strayed too far from home. Every few weeks, he takes rubbish to the Transfer Station. I’ve delivered cards to a friend. We’ve talked about having people over for a socially-distanced cocktail hour on the patio, but we haven’t done it yet, and I’m not sure if we ever will.
Because as it turns out, Clif and I are doing just fine at home by ourselves. We each have our various projects, and we are busy and engaged every single day. We are two introverted elders who think home is best, and this makes it much easier for us to self-isolate. And, we have each other. I really do feel for those who are alone and for extroverts whose joy comes from being around other people.
We are also lucky to have technology. While I know it has its dark side, for us technology has made staying at home not only bearable but also fulfilling and creative.
Because of technology, every day I start out the morning traveling around the world as I check out what my blogging friends are doing. I go to New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, France, and to many places in the United States. Always, I am inspired and moved by what these wonderful friends write.
Clif and I belong to a virtual film club sponsored by our library, and every other week we get together to talk about a movie. What great discussions we have.
Our library also sponsors a virtual trivia night and book group. Clif and I are terrible at trivia, and last week we came in last. No matter. We still had fun. And book group is just as thought provoking as film club.
Once a month, I Zoom with friends from a media group I used to belong to.
Once a week, we Zoom with “the kids.”
Streaming services provide us with plenty of good entertainment—movies, docs, and television series.
NPR offers so many excellent Tiny Desk Concerts that I could listen for quite a while and not hear a repeat.
Naturally, if I were granted a magic wish, I would use it to dispel Covid-19, which has torn lives and economies apart. I might be a homebody, but I would rather not have to be compelled to stay home because of a killer virus.
Plus I miss my kids like crazy.
But I don’t have this power so all I can do is adjust to the situation.
I hope you all are adjusting, too.
Notes From the Hinterland 
I’m happy to hear that you and Clif have found your place of living in the times of COVID.
Thanks, June!
You are very philosophical about it all, well done for making the best of bad job!
Thanks, Susan!
You really have adapted! The things I do still go out for are prescriptions and groceries. I cannot get used to the idea of someone else picking out my avocados, bananas etc., plus I’m quite sure I’d forget a lot of things that I notice I need while cruising the aisles! Now that masks are mandated (finally!) here in Texas, it feels a little safer. Our local supermarket has done a really good job through all this.
Yay for your supermarket! And I must say it doesn’t bother me at all to have someone pick out my bananas and avocados. 😉
I can share your view about getting settled into this current way of life.
It was either that or go quietly crazy and eat way too many sweets.
Great post, I am also more on the introverted side so this new normal isn’t terrible for me, however I feel for those suffering and like you, wish COVID-19 be gone.
It will be interesting to see how long this plays out. Might be the new normal for quite a while.
It sounds like you have settled into a routine, albeit one that you have been forced into. Like you I enjoy seeing what people are doing and experiencing around the globe – which we can due to our blogs.
Indeed I have! And thank heavens for the wonderful world of blogging.
Hi,Laurie – I love how well you and Clif have adapted, and your very positive lens. Staying busy and engaged every single day is good advice for all. Thank you for sharing this. Stay well!
Thanks so much! And the same to you and yours.
Well put, Laurie, you’ve summed it up perfectly. We don’t like it, but we are adapting, because that is the reality of the situation. 🙂
Yes. Int the early days of the pandemic, after wolfing down an inordinate amount of chocolate, I realized I had to get a grip. 😉
🙂
Yes!
Most clouds have a silver lining, and the return to a quieter life during the pandemic is one of them. Somehow I am busier now than before the pandemic overran us here in the States. I am not sure how that came about, but perhaps I now have the time for more things that weren’t getting done. Technology is indeed a two-edged sword, but as long as we have it, the new normal is within range of adaptability.
There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t give thinks to the technology that allows me to stay in touch with so many people.
It is always interesting to read about how fellow bloggers throughout the world are coping with the pandemic, and it seems you and Clif are doing really well! I’m not surprised as you have so many interests. I like the idea of a film club, what a great innovation from your library. I think the hardest thing for us would be not seeing much of our adult kids, and also having a new Lockdown in Melbourne, (the state of Victoria) which means we cannot see our daughter and granddaughter…for a while.
Very hard not to see our children. It will be especially bad during the holidays. Again, thank goodness for Zoom. Hope you can see your family soon.
You are doing well and are fortunate to be able to find contentment in your own company and interests plus, thanks to the internet, you can at least be in visual contact with ‘the kids’. I’ve been in a very similar situation – although I have had two or three meetings with friends recently seated outside restaurants and, of necessity, with some estate agents 😒 In France masks are obligatory on public transport and only ‘advised’ in shops. I see they have just made them obligatory in shops in the U.K. (from next week). I find them uncomfortable and, when we eventually move back there, I shall become more of a recluse and do even more of my shopping online to avoid the necessity. I’ll probably save a fortune 😉
You are right Laurie, we are all adjusting to our new normals. Humans have always tried hard to ensure their survival and well being. This time shall pass or this might be a new beginning of a totally different era. We will face the storm and move forward.
Stay safe and healthy.
Let us live in hope, Rupali.
You and Clif have this new lifestyle down to a science, and I’m very happy that all your needs are being met, well, except for real hugs from the kids. 🙂
For the first month or so we alternated between feeling panicked and feeling frozen. But, life goes on…
You are both so well adjusted
As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention.
Yep
I went into the nearest big town today to get my hair cut, knowing that my stylist, who owns the salon, would have been very careful to research how to do everything safely. It was a weird experience! I dislike wearing a mask – it tangles in my hearing aids! And the one I have got is not a good fit so I will have to replace it. I will be quite happy to stay home now for a while – I quite like the peace and solitude and I haven’t time to be bored!
Some of us are focused on home and various projects. It is easier for us.
Like you I am pretty much enjoying staying locked down while the world around me seems to be going a bit crazy. As a child I always longed to be by myself and I am treating this as a prolonged crafting retreat – a little slice of heaven.
I suspect it would feel tougher without all my wonderful blogging and Facebook buddies. I enjoy my online social life to the max!
I go shopping as little as possible anyway and I have been wearing a mask in shops out of respect for others, for weeks. My glasses steam up and it feels hot, but at least I don’t have to wear them all day at work.
I am not going far until I have had the vaccine, however long that takes. 🙂
Same. I will not going far until there is a vaccine.
Your attitude sounds much like mine, Laurie. We are fortunate in having space around us and in being able to appreciate the simple things. Like you, my days are full, and like you I miss my children. I had to visit our little local town yesterday – just on the edge of it – to collect some library books which we can now order online and which are handed to us at the door by appointment once they have arrived and been ‘quarantined’. I waited there long enough to watch the hoards of people who are now visiting Cornwall, not a mask in sight, on their way into the town where they will be filling the narrow streets. It’s good for the economy but there may be a high price to pay later. I am very happy to remain at home.
Oh, gosh! Minus the hoards, the situation in Winthrop is not unlike Cornwall’s. I had the same experience when I drove into town the other day. Not a mask in sight. Yes, there will be a high price to pay. Sigh.
I’m glad you and Clif are making the best of a bad situation and delighted that you have each other. I do pretty well too, but have to push aside moments of panic if I think too closely about the what-ifs of what is going on and I have to try to resist continually warning people to be careful. As one of nature’s worriers, I am of the shut down earlier, harder and for longer schools of thought. It’s a disease that only responds to repression. But we are where we are and that option probably isn’t available to us any longer in England and America. But we did have the option and I could weep that we chose not to take it.
Susan, I know just you mean. I, too, am one of nature’s worriers. I joke that I have an infinite list of worries. Not true, of course, but it sure feels that way sometimes. So true that it’s a disease that only responds to repression. Would that our leaders had that emblazoned somewhere where they could see it all times. Yes, we did have that option, and it is heartbreaking that we chose not to take it. Sometimes I feel as though I live in a country of dum-dums.
Thank you for sharing your calm in the midst of a maddening world.
I look forward to visiting your blog because I always feel so comforted and reassured after I visit.
I echo many of your thoughts & sentiments – I pray this threat away, but I embrace the time I have with my daughters at home (they are young adults who would be out otherwise) and husband, and I enjoy the excuse to be apart from social engagements & requirements. I, too, wonder if I would return to more of the world when this threat recedes.
Thanks for the kind words. Not easy to keep one’s balance during this horrible time, especially in this country.
We consider ourselves very lucky that we have been able to ride out this storm in relative comfort. I hope it stays that way, for Judy and I and our loved ones, but it pains me knowing that there are so many people who are hurting out there.
Same for Clif and me and the ones we love. But so many people are indeed hurting. So many at risk.
I was adjusting well when we were staying home. Being back to work makes me wish we were still staying home. I am happiest when not leaving my property but I know my extrovert friends are having a hard time. These days, “people who need people are [in some ways] the unluckiest people in the world.”
So true! I am also an introvert, but I do miss, especially, my family. And my friends.
I miss having friends over for a campfire. I thought about doing it more often than I actually did it but it was nice to have the option