Twilight Zone-Corona Virus Version 2020

"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone."  Rod Sterling

Yup, that would were we are right now, and we have asked everyone to come along.    Usually, when I am blogging, we are traveling.  No, we did not have cruising plans for Spring.  We pushed pause last spring, but are scheduled to be in Alaska in August-time and temperatures (bodily, not land) will tell.  So, in that spirit, I am spending time writing.  Add in the fact that we are practicing social distancing...like on the second floor, while Eddie stays on first..doing whatever he does, putter, make stockings, read, drawing plans for Lucy and Grace's new dress and nightstand and vanity he is going to build...he has to have a pass to come upstairs and invade my world.  He wants to start practicing the piano and working on his spanish language software---both have not been touch since before Ike...No, I have enough unwanted noise in my own little head.  Me, I have my diversions---I have made face masks---there will be no more sewing project for the foreseeable future...no Etsy store.  Can sew, but don't love it.    Read...heck, we have the Book Ark on the second floor.I have my genre, Eddie loves them all.  Right now, murder is the word of the day.  We do have the Dean Koontz book on the a similar pandemic out of China book written in the 1980's...not quite sure if I will dip my toe in that pool...little too close to home.  Work on my Ancestry tree---will there be a "*" for those that catch the Covid19 Virus? Attempt to stay away from the News feed, etc. that is online.  George has already called me out passing along bad information. Reminding me that during this time it is prudent to practice social media distancing...and if it is BS, say something.   Sorry, to the 30 or so of you that received my "on good authority email" . We have never watched TV during the day, except on weekend--so, we aren't turning on to carpet bombing coverage of Coronavirus, CoVid 19, Trump, Trump, Trump....poor Bernie, he is barely a footnote these days...until 5:00.     Lauren has put us in lock down, since we kept popping out for just one more little thing---Toilet paper comes to mind.  We are not to leave the house except to pick of our standing Monday at 3:30 order--60 items only, no additions 3 days out, thanks for shopping HEB.  I will be allowed to go to Target/CVS on Wednesday morning during Senior Hours (8:00-9:05-pharmacy does not open until 9:00) to pick up any medication orders.   Decisions, Decisions. Bottom line I am getting antsy bored, and you simply can not organize and clean, take naps, or sit in a hot tub of Epson salts all day every day.   So, here I am on the  second floor which I might add is a relative safe distance from my hoarder stash of chocolate, but not the toilet paper that I have gathering.  Priorities, priorities.  

I think back over the years on the national or global humps/wars in the road...our parents were called the "Greatest Generation".  It was those hardships, those sacrifices that made them more mindful of what they had and how fortunate we are to live in this country with the opportunites and freedoms we take for granted.  That generation and those lessons are slowly fading...in all (yes, even us) of our collective memories.  Perhaps this is a huge reset button for all of us.  Time--- that our adult  children complain that they never have enough of....poof, you got it.  Use it wisely.    Our grands that are plugged in for dawn until dusk...reconnect, even if it is just watching a movie together on TV.  Bake cookies, make popcorn, play a game together.    Understand the need for delayed gratification, saving rather than spending. We have all become "grasshoppers" instead of the ant(s)---please read this to your young children...fables have great lessons in them.   Family, church and a strong old fashioned moral code, rather than peer or random social influencers, guiding our decisions. Face it, everyone one wants to sit at the popular kid's table.   For those that are attempting to "homeschool" with or without technology, this a chance to realize the value and worth of a teacher...then pay them accordingly when this is over...at the very least, work with them in shaping your child and thank/respect them for the job they do.  The lesson of Compassion...enough said, there are many that touch our lives that will not have a paycheck, perhaps a job in the coming weeks...what small thing can you do.  Small things make a difference.   While this is something that will go down in the history books, for sure, and not be deleted or minimumized in the future, I hope we will lean into it and help us all to be a "Better Generation", with new lessons seeded by the old.   

I catch myself in the crazy days thinking about what my Mother would have said about this.  Of course, there would have been "you know, this is all about our lax (non-existent, horrible---pick one, cause she used them all and many more) cleaning standards" and of course, her go to "this is casued by excess sugar in your diet".  That being said, sister Kathy and I remember getting in trouble for not wearing shoes outside.  Punished by a soaking in Clorox water and a harsh scrubbing with a stiff brush.  There were no nail salons or pedicure places, so a foot and leg massage was not happening. After all, let's be honest, that is why we love to have our toes done these days.    It was dyi, mom had a green handle paring knife and pumice stone in the tub so you could buff and cut your callous heel down.  We did not paint our toe nails, only "bad girls" did that.  Along with wearing a red dress on Friday.  Good girls, simply did not do that.  Yeah, Midwesterner "no-nonsense" transplanted Southern Lady...with a backbone of steel.  Gosh, I miss talking to her about all of this her... 96 years of wisdom would have come in handy...and a little more reassuring than the daily news.   

Next, when you did wear shoes outside, the soles were to be washed with a rag in the outdoor sink that had pine sol or Lysol liquid (in the brown bottle, full strength, no bouquet here---reminds me of a diaper pail), then left off when you were in the house...usually in the laundry room if you planned on going back out, if not, straight to the closet to be placed in a tidy row.    Your purse, pocketbook, book bag, backpack, man purse or whatever item had been outside was never to be placed on any kitchen surface. Period. No excuses, I am sure it probably got a heavy dose of Lysol spray (gold can blue writing-very no nonsense marketing) when we were not looking.  Hand washing was done only in the bathroom, never the kitchen sink.  Heaven help you if use the dish rag/towel to dry your outdoor cootied hand on...because 20 seconds is not long enough, and you now have to scrub the kitchen sink, because your cooties are there.    We washed our hands in the bathroom a lot back then.  When we would come home from the grocery store, each can lid received a hot water/Lysol wipe down before it was put away.  Fruits and vegetables were soaked and washed throughly before storing. Tell me you have not heard ot the "lettuce bug" that lived on the only kind of lettuce---iceberg---that we ever had.  If you accidentially ingested it or it larva, it would eat your intestinal tract.  Mom would make it out to be this 2 inch long bug, caterpillar like....I assumed I would see something in my bowl of salad, I did not need glasses then.    So, we would carefully wash every leaf of lettuce as if our life depended on it.  No swallowing watermelon seed (yeah, they had seeds back in the day), not swallowing gum, fingernails, or boogers---there were bad bodily malfunctions lurking in all those things that are not meant for consumption.   

Well, now that I have made you rethink how you enter your house, my work for today is done.  I guess it is time to wander downstairs and check on Eddie---in coming days, I am sure there will be Eddie stories. Meanwhile, I am filling my wash tub with Pinesol water and grabbing my rag for the bottom of my shoes---when I get to go outside.  Until, stay healthy, remain positive, and pray for this to be over soon...and finally, laughter is absolutely the best medicine...do it daily.