Like most of the rational world, here at the Moran house we are staying in, working from home, distance learning, and only going out when necessary… or for socially distant walks around the ‘hood or nearby nature-y type places. We are ordering our groceries via Instacart, shopping on Amazon like it’s December, and doing our best to flatten the curve.
We were supposed to travel. We had Florida planned for spring break. Cancelled. I was supposed to go to Ohio for the Rogue Invitational in May. Cancelled (well, moved online). Our Alaskan cruise with my parents was booked for June. Cancelled.
School closed for The Girl as of of March 16th – a week before Spring Break. The Girl and I got out on a not so cold day and walked through the woods.
As the snow melted, we could see so many footprints – animal and human. The droplet of melting snow contains the tiniest (inverted) depiction of the trees in the distance. The Girl tossed chunks of snow off a bridge into the water, making a splash. I wished I’d had a polarizer for this, but it turns out I love the combination of reflected trees and seeing the leaves coating the bottom of the stream. The Girl found a GeoCache under the bridge. She used her phone to sign up for GeoCaching online.
By the end of the week (March 21st), our governor issued a Stay-at-Home order for all non-essential workers. That means Hubs is now working from home. We are grateful that his job is solid, as so many are not as fortunate. But, boy oh boy is this a lot of togetherness.
So far, the SAH order is set to last until April 30th, but I’ll bet it’ll go longer. I can’t help but be reminded of my incineration days, feeling stuck, useless, frustrated, and lonely… endlessly! Seriously. Even though I’ve said the dates above, I feel like this has already become normal. I miss my friends. I miss running out to the store to pick up last minute items. I miss my CrossFit Kilter family. Oh, but I’m so thankful for the programming our head coach is providing for us. And for the loan of a barbell and plates from one of our members. At least, for an hour, I can put on Jock Jams Radio and get my sweat on. It feels closer to the old normal, but not quite there. Still, it’s better than nothing.
I think I speak for all of us when I say that the days are all blurring together, separated only by details like “that day the sun came out, it was 77 degrees, and I got a sunburn (!) sitting on the porch.” I didn’t even plan to do anything for Passover. I had considered hosting an online Seder via Zoom, but my heart wasn’t in it. For Hubs’ sake, I made a brisket (the world’s smallest brisket, as that’s all I could get), for The Girl, I made an apple matzo kugel. It was not as good as my cousin Michelle’s, but it wasn’t bad. I thought I had a box of matzo ball mix, but realized that I used it when The Girl and I had the flu in January, so we didn’t even have balls. I did make some mashed potatoes (not at all a traditional Passover offering in our fam, but these days, we make do with what we have). Hubs found a recipe for matzo toffee, and it was da bomb. We read the speed Seder, recited the four questions, drank the fruit of the vine, and that was that.
After dinner, we watched the rest of The Breakfast Club. If nothing else, we will provide our child with a social education according to John Hughes. Also lots of clay. And paint. And packing tape. And sidewalk chalk. These are a few of her favorite things.
If you want to see some of her awesome creations (and other ways we’re navigating this crazy-ass landscape), head over to check out my Instagram feed.