Pandemic Social Distancing – Page 2

Pandemic Social Distancing, Centennial Edition

Posted on June 24, 2020 by sassysheisme

It’s Day 100 of social distancing/working from home/protecting myself from COVID 19. I celebrated with a glass (or two) of wine, homemade turkey meatloaf (with feta), and an ice cream sandwich.

While COVID 19 cases continue to climb where I live in Texas, I still see people outside in groups without masks. ICU beds at the Texas Medical Center are at 97% capacity. I think the evidence speaks for itself. It’s serious, y’all.

I know humans can be selfish creatures, but politicizing mask-wearing seems almost criminal. The science says we’d save thousands upon thousands of lives for this supposed interference with personal freedoms. If you can’t find it in your heart to do something so simple to help your fellow man, well, search your heart. We all can do better by each other.

It’s been rainy, so I haven’t been out for a walk for a while. I try to keep busy reading, working, cleaning, writing. As the news pours in that COVID is holding my freedom hostage (not the masks, the disease), I get discouraged. I want to take a vacation – visit people, places. I want to not be afraid to go to the office. I don’t necessarily want normal – I never relish normal – but I would like some freedom to return without having to put my health at risk to have it.

Yet there are people in my life who tell me it’s not real. It’s not serious. I’m overreacting. Well, I don’t believe that and I’m sorry you do. Really. I hope you and your families stay healthy. It saddens me, though, that if you cared a smidgen about the people around you, wore the damn mask, all this would be over all that much sooner and all of us could move on.

I’m tired of bargaining with people. I’m tired of presenting facts and being met with cognitive dissonance so deep I know there’s no hope of reaching a person. Most of all, I’m just tired.

Fortunately, I still have my sense of humor, and social media, Teams, FaceTime, and texts keep me connected with the outside world. I’m grateful for all the people that are sincere with, “how are you doing?” and for the ones that send me jokes that make me groan. This is what community is all about.

flowers, Pandemic Social Distancing

A Day Out

Posted on May 22, 2020 by sassysheisme

I had the day off, so I decided to get in the car and drive. My chosen destination was the Attwater Prairie Chicken Nature Reserve near Eagle Lake, Texas. It was an hour’s drive out there, and I enjoyed all the country scenery on the way.

Eagle Lake is one of the largest natural lakes in Texas. It also boasts some history, including being a major sugar refinery some 100+ years ago. I also passed a rice-drying facility as well.

I ended up at Attwater Prairie Chicken Nature Preserve. Honestly, there’s not much to see there. Unless you go early in the morning, you will miss most of the bird activity, and it is a flat, nature preserve that is a host of chaotic plant growth. Most people would yawn at spending any time there.

I am one of those people, however, that will find beauty in almost any situation, nearly every seemingly boring situation or place. I can’t help myself. I am blessed to see objects, sticks, bugs, rusty beams and flowers as opportunities for art.

I spent about an hour out on the reserve’s auto tour. I stopped every twenty feet or so, that’s why it took that long. I kept finding beauty to photograph. I saw several types of butterflies and dragonflies. Definitely the best kinds of flies. I saw many types of birds (alas, no prairie chickens, but they are rare and endangered) and even a doe as she ran across the open field.

I wish I could have captured the movement of the prairie grass. It was quite breezy, and I was thankful, because it was so hot. The breeze also made some of the photography a bit more challenging, as most everything I saw was moving – swaying, flying, landing.

On the way home, I stopped by In-N-Out. It was nearly 2 PM and the line was super long – I’d say nearly 40 cars long. Anywhere else, I’d have left, but the people at In-N-Out are so efficient, I was on my way with a double cheeseburger in about 15 minutes.

I felt renewed and rejuvenated when I got home. A day OUT was exactly what I needed.

Pandemic Social Distancing, Uncategorized

Pandemic Social Distancing, Day 59

Posted on May 14, 2020 by sassysheisme

I was going to write this tomorrow. A big milestone epic thing. I just don’t think I could do it without being maudlin. It hits me harder some days than others – the news changes daily. The main message I hear is that this is still the beginning and the end? No one really knows when that will be.

I came home March 13, for what I hoped would be a few weeks home alone. It’s been two months now. TWO. Two months without a hug. Two months without greeting all of the people in my department as I do every single morning. Two months without the familiar scents of our farmland location, or the the dust of all the construction around it. The auditory motivation during the the 45 minutes in the car each way listening to whatever music I need to get through those moments.

I am, however, okay without the anxiety of bump-drafting on I-10 every morning. I could list many positives, and trust me, I look for them each day as I am working from home in my pajamas with unlimited coffee and snacks. There are two sides to the COVID social distancing coin. It flips, it flops, but I do ok.

I remember coming to terms with my new normal after cancer. Those changes and losses were mostly in my personal life, but work was the constant. It was the place I went to every day, even as I went through treatment. I left the apartment to go there. Now every part of my life feels like it’s on hold in the same 700 ft space that I’m in every day for hours right now.

If I’ve learned anything, however, it’s that change is a constant I’m ok with most of the time. I think that’s where I’m stuck – two months with very little change except perhaps the color of my pajamas and the flavor of my coffee beans. Very little change, even in the work I’m doing. Everything is static – stagnant – and I need something new, and I’m not going to get it any time soon.

One day, I’ll return to that cubicle past the suburbs. I’ll see those gorgeous sunsets and enjoy my concert ride to work. I’ll get hugs. I’ll see smiling faces – people who are glad to see me (and some who aren’t – ha) and no one day will be like the other. I didn’t realize how much I’d miss that, but I really, really do.

Tomorrow will be Pandemic Social Distancing, Day 60, and I will be okay.