Inertia and Covid 19

Yesterday inertia had me in the shop sanding away until late at night. Today inertia has me sitting in front of the computer screen mindlessly scrolling through YouTube and Facebook. I did manage to take a shower shortly before noon and since then I have done little. It is a beautiful sunny day and the weather is warm. I could go for a walk. There are many things to be done in the shop and I know I’d enjoy them if I could just get myself in there. Despite the lovely weather and the blue sky and sunshine, I’m grumpy.

I also like this guy. 

Alberta had the highest number of new cases of Covid 19 in the country yesterday. IN THE COUNTRY! Higher than Ontario that has three times our population. Higher than Quebec that has twice our population. What is wrong with us? Is it selfishness: you’re not the boss of me and you can’t tell me what to do? Is it denial: I feel fine and my mother, father, sister, brother, friend, feels fine so we’ll just meet at my house for a coffee? Is it a desire to gamble: if you look at the stats only about 1% of the population has it so most of us don’t so I’ll just carry on as usual? Are there really that many of us who believe in conspiracy theories and discount science? I don’t know and it makes me tired thinking about it.

This pandemic is inconvenient. I’m not about to go wandering around the stores just to see what they’ve got. I’m not going for my weekly lutherie lesson. This is the second Christmas since I was 8 years old that I haven’t been practicing Christmas carols as part of at least one choir. I miss seeing friends in ‘3D’. I miss sharing a meal with friends. And here’s an extremely petty one: I’m getting really tired of seeing images on the news of people getting swabs stuck up their noses! But none of this is worth either catching Covid myself or being part of a chain of transmission so complex the people who are doing the tracing can no longer figure it out. So I’ve decided to do what I did my last year of teaching. I made a list of the things that I would miss and another list of the things I wouldn’t miss when I retired.  Seems to me I have a pretty good start on what I don’t like about Covid so what about what I do like?

I like not having to go anywhere after supper. I like not having to rush to appointments. I like being able to wear the same favourite clothes and not having to worry about being presentable for other people. Having less contact with people in general means I have fewer opportunities to be irritated by them. I can, after all, turn off the news. I like having uninterrupted time in the shop (once I get myself in there.) I know our neighbours better now than I have in the previous 34 years that we’ve lived here, and they are good neighbours. There are children around and, while I’m not big on little kids in general, I very much enjoy the energetic girls next door and the three kids across the alley who are a bit older. 

Yesterday the doorbell rang and when Richard went to see who it was he found a water-colour painting of a bunch of flowers in our mailbox done by the girl across the alley. We put it on the fridge.She is the same artist who painted a picture of Odie with a Santa hat and Christmas lights on her patio door. Each time I go out to shovel snow off the pad or put out the garbage I look at Santa Odie and I have to smile. I like spending time at home. 

I like having accumulated enough tools and materials that I can take on most shop projects I can think of. A couple of days ago I pulled out the pyrography set that I haven’t used for a few years in order to add detail to a project. I like having a variety of wood to work with. I’m discovering that all the trouble I was having with the scroll saw was likely due to operator error and I’m enjoying what it allows me to do if I take it slowly. Spending more time in the shop has me thinking about ways that I can rearrange it to make the most of the small space. That will be a huge undertaking but, bit by bit, I’m thinking it through.

Richard and I are pretty happy with each other’s company. We find things to laugh about. We rattle around the house occupied with our individual pursuits and then spend time at dinner and watch our YouTube favourites together. I’m grateful that I’m no longer on the front lines in the schools and I have nothing but admiration for those in health care, education and ‘essential’ jobs who don’t have the luxury of just staying home. Then there are all the parents who are trying to juggle working from home with keeping their children engaged when the children can no longer just drop over to a friend’s house after school, or participate in multiple extra-curricular and community activities. 

I do admit to wanting to slap people upside the head when they do things like move a volleyball team’s practice site from Calgary to Cochrane where measures are more lenient or lie about Covid symptoms and bring the virus into a hospital. The only way out of this is through it so may all of us be thoughtful, kind, and look after each other. Despite my crossness with people, I’m content and I need to take time to remind myself of this. I feel better now and may even go out for a walk. Thanks for reading.