Sheltered at Home

I haven't written much in the past several years.

I mostly isolated myself following my divorce.

And being remarried and blending has enough issues let alone all the time spent having four teenagers in the house.

But now we're being "quarantined" under the Shelter at Home directives by our governor during the Covid 19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.

The world has changed. We haven't seen anything like this since the influenza pandemic of 1918. And the world is much different now than it was then. People aren't as self-sufficient. Travel--at least commuting--is a part of life. Technology has changed.

This week our kids started distance learning. It had been three weeks since they'd been to school. It's been two and a half weeks since I've worked. My wife has been working from home for the past two weeks. While we're not all in this house all the time, needless to say it can be stressful when all six of us are here for a few days. Not to mention that it's not easy to work online with most of us needing to be at the same time.

The kids miss seeing their friends. I think that's been the hardest for all of us. But we've all be learning to use things like Zoom and Google Hangouts to connect with others. We're finding ways to worship at home with our church communities online.

Several puzzles have been done. Basketballs have been shot in the driveway. We've had some walks and bike rides.

But the world is different. There are uncertainties. We don't know how long any of this will go on for. Groceries and switching with the other parents' houses are about all we get out for. And the grocery stores are hit or miss on what can be found. Toilet paper aisles have been empty for weeks. Bread and pasta are there one day and gone another. Skim milk (which my stepdaughter only drinks) seems to be out of production.

Changes bring stress and anxiety. They also bring growth and new things. The warm weather outside reminds us of this, as the geese have returned to the lake and the tulips are thrusting up out of the ground. Change isn't easy, but it can be beautiful.