Covid Journal, Day 60: 2 Months Later

42 and chilly, overcast this morning. No rain in the forecast, but it's not a pretty day. Perhaps the sun will show himself later in the day.

We have been sheltering at home for two months now. Some thoughts about these past days:

1. I've been off our land about 10 times in the past 2 months: 3 foraging trips along our road; 3 medical-related trips; 1 trip to our booth in Marietta, and 3 to our Ravenswood booths; and our visit on Sunday to the wetland. I haven't been in a store or any other building except the antique malls. Larry's been out more than I have--two trips to the grocery store, and 3 to the feed store, two to fill gas cans for the tractor and mower, along with a couple rides out to a neighbor's to drop some things off. I think he misses going out more than I do. He wears mask and gloves, carries wipes to clean gas pump handles, his card, etc.

2. We have been out so little our gas points at Kroger have not even reached 20 in two months. We've saved a lot of money on gas, and put very few miles on our van, which is good since it's got over 250,000 miles on it now.

3. I've learned a lot about ordering online, and about price-gouging. There are some not-so-nice people and companies out there. But it has been fun to find ways to work around going to the grocery store.

4. I'm reading more--whole books instead of dipping in here and there for research. I've even enjoyed reading novels again, a pleasure I lost while working on my degrees. Even though I worked in a library, the only novels I "read" were the ones I listened to on my commute. I've ordered several books, read them and mailed them off to friends and sisters. I still enjoy a good biography more than most novels, and especially like diaries of ordinary people.

5. We cook more. I've always cooked from scratch, but I'm making more things that we were usually buying--noodles, bread, even blending my own herb teas. I have always loved to make things myself and am glad to have time again for this.

6. I'm paying more attention to foraging and harvesting. Again, things I've always done, but sometimes I have been too busy to catch things at the right time. There's a satisfaction in seeing jars of dried herbs, and bags of frozen greens, or making wild salads. I've missed making some jellies I might have made but I don't have a lot of sugar on hand so I've opted to skip making jellies right now. We have plenty in the cellar that needs to be used.

7. I have enjoyed reading about what friends are doing, seeing many returning to old ways of doing things--making bread, drying laundry outside, getting out their sewing machines. I've especially liked all the sharing of ideas, failures, successes. We're all in this together.

8. Quiet. The world is so much quieter. Except, of course, that kids are out of school and in this rural area that means a lot of them are out on their four-wheelers, motorcycles, etc, and some of them are obnoxiously loud. But most days it's just so quiet, no jets overhead.

9. Rest. I go to bed earlier, have even taken a rare nap, take more time on the porch, having coffee with Larry, or reading in the evenings. The pressure to plan programs, learn stories, research, etc is off.

10. Talk. Visits online with family, phone calls, all have become more frequent, and conversations seem to be leisurely and no one minds being on the phone for long talks. Instead of quick texts, we're having real conversations.

My third son calls often these days, now that he's single again, and we often talk for half and hour or more. Yesterday he said he hoped that this pandemic changes our outlook on how we buy our food, and how the nation as a whole looks at food distribution. Maybe there will be a return to small farms, and more people seeking local sources? I sure hope so. I know I am re-thinking how I buy, and where. While we raise a lot of our vegetables, eggs, and herbs, and provide most of our own meat, we could do better. Don't I wish dairies could sell directly to consumers again! Might this be a change we'll see? I hope so.

What things have you noticed that have changed in your life, either for the better or worse? Do you think the pandemic will change your habits in the future? Do you think my son might be right and the small family farm will return?



Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.