Sheltering at home

I’m nearing the end of my sixth week of sheltering at home. It many ways, the time has flown by. In other ways, time is moving so slowly.

I’m a very social, active person. I love the time I spend with friends and just out and about. I love my walks, going to the gym, having meals with friends, playing games with friends and generally staying busy.

I’m still finding ways to stay busy but I have to say, I haven’t watched this much TV since I can’t remember when!

I really miss seeing my son and son-in-law, seeing my friends, going to PFLAG meetings, going to other meetings. I especially miss the hugs.

I’m one of the lucky ones in so many ways. I live in a lovely home and I don’t live alone. I’m the extrovert, my husband is the introvert. I love having him around and I’m glad he has his space in our house and I have mine. I’m grateful to live in a house that accommodates that.

I love the neighborhood we live in. I miss my walks in nature, but I’ve been enjoying my walks around the neighborhood. I love seeing the chalk art all around the neighborhood and the painted rocks with inspirational messages on them. I love seeing the beautiful flowers and trees and landscaping in people’s yards.

This neighborhood is special. We actually have some nature trails right in the neighborhood. Today we walked on one and it was lovely. A dirt path by a stream with wild flowers and big trees.

Before I was sheltering at home, I walked three times a week with a walking group. We are not meeting now but 3 of us are walking together virtually. We each walk in our own neighborhoods and talk on the phone. It’s not the same but it’s really nice and I appreciate their wanting to connect that way.

It took me five weeks to figure this out. My son lives in our community, only ½ mile from us. Last week, we walked by his house and stopped for a visit. He sat on his porch and we stood against his car parked on the street and we talked. It was lovely and we did it again this week and will likely make it a weekly event.

I’m going to miss my grandson’s graduation next month and that means I’ll miss seeing him and that family. That’s hard and again, I’m grateful we are all healthy.

Sheltering at home has been hard in many ways but there are so many silver linings. I’m so glad I can see them and appreciate them.