This time last year, we were still in Costa Rica. This time last year, Covid 19 was on the horizon, and becoming a concern. We were washing our hands like crazy every chance we got as we traveled. When it was time to leave, we got on the plane, wiped down everything with hand sanitizer and hoped for the best. We arrived home on March 9, 2020. I went to my part time job on March 11. That is the last time I went to work. After that, as panic ramped up, everything shut down.
About a week after the shutdown, I got a call from my supervisor. She was calling to inform me that I had been exposed to the virus on that last day of working. I was exposed by a co-worker, who was now very ill and hospitalized (she recovered and is fine now). Of course, at that time there were no tests to be had so I just had to wait to see if I got sick.
About 3 days after that news, now over a week post-exposure, I got a call from the county health department, during which they directed me to isolate myself in one room, use a separate bathroom and have someone leave meals at the door. Since I had been already staying home, and had already exposed my husband, and was more that one week post exposure without either of us being ill, I chose to ignore their directive. I did stay home, which I would have anyway, but did not go into extreme isolation. And by the grace of the divine, we both stayed well. It is now almost a year since those events.
When the “home confinement” began, I was briefly ambitious about tackling years of clutter in many parts of my house, barn, attic, garage, basement. I dragged some boxes of papers to sort out into the living room. Almost a year later, they are still there. Obviously, TIME was not the problem.
We Zoom weekly with our friends and Alan zooms almost every day for work. Ironically, after 25 years working as a consultant, this past year has been one of his busiest. The two writing conferences at which I was scheduled to teach last summer did not happen in person – so I did those workshops on Zoom. I have been running a weekly writing group on Zoom for Foothills Arts Council since last April. I have been making art and writing. In October, I quit the job I loved, doing expressive arts and recovery writing groups at New Choices Recovery Center in Schenectady.
Somehow, after I formally quit the job, even though I had not been there for months, I found myself putting much more time into my art and writing. Nothing changed except my mental state – somehow knowing I am “really” retired now has given me a burst of creative energy. I now have about 20 new works of art and some new poems, all ready to make their way into the world.
In July, I finally went into my computer and pulled up my full length, completely edited poetry manuscript, finished putting it into manuscript form and sent it off to three places. It was accepted within a week by Finishing Line Press, my previous publisher. On March 15, the “pre-sale” period for my book, Geography of Loss begins, and I find myself now getting ready for a Facebook, email, Instagram and post card publicity blitz.
It has been a tough year. Once spring came last year, there were outdoor walks with friends. As the weather got summery and the numbers were down, there were even some rambles in the car with friends and a few art-days. Always careful, but not complete isolation. We took the trailer out three times during the summer – a week at Watkins Glen, four nights at Lake Luzerne and a week at Fishermen’s Memorial State Park in Rhode Island.
A bright spot in this difficult time came in August, when our son and his wife became first time homeowners. They bought a house on 24 acres not far from the north end of Sacandaga Lake in Saratoga County. Their place is inside the boundaries of the Adirondack Park and we can get there in about an hour and fifteen minutes. We have had quite a few visits up there since and it is always a welcome change of scene to drive up north and spend a few hours with them.
When fall came, we kept hiking, visiting outdoors and even occasionally eating at restaurants with outdoor seating. I was even able to do a solo retreat at Still Point in October. Then it was winter with cold, cloudy weather, snow and ice and a lot less daylight. We went from hardly ever turning on the TV to me watching 3-4 hours of whatever I can find on Netflix or Amazon Prime every night—I have blown through quite a few multi-season series. Our main entertainment outside the house now includes “rides to nowhere”, walks along the road and once in a while at a nature preserve. The confinement is getting very old.
Spring IS coming, but I am weary as we all are. I am tired of being in the house. Tired of my own company. Tired of the isolation and the inability to travel, see friends, read poetry in person at an open mics. Tired of the restrictions on live music, art museums, live theatre, indoor meals at restaurants.
I am grateful that we have remained housed, healthy, financially OK despite this national and global calamity. I am grateful for my health, for poetry and art and for Zoom. We got vaccinated on February 21 in Syracuse and our second jabs are scheduled for March 14. My plan after shot # 2: wait a few weeks so the vaccine is solidly in my system, then – ROAD TRIP!!!!
Loved your blog and how you and John are dealing with the Pandemic. It’s hard for everyone, but somehow we manage to stay safe. I will be getting my 2nd vaccine on March 17th (Happy St. Patrick’s Day!). then after 2 weeks it might be safe to visit with my brother and his wife who have already been vaccinated. Luckily, Spring arrives on the Calendar date and not a month or two later out here in the Willamette Valley. Trees are beginning to show signs of blooming and the daffodils are in full bloom. This year I will be able to enjoy the changing of the Season a bit more as I moved from the apartment my sister-in-law had gotten for me into my new space on March 20, 2020. Love to you both!