FREE MASKS, Insta-pot Merit Badge, A Message of Hope, Wearing the Life You've Lived
"I've enjoyed every age I've been, and each has had its own individual merit. Every laugh line, every scar, is a badge I wear to show I've been present, the inner rings of my personal tree trunk that I display proudly for all to see. Nowadays, I don't want a "perfect" face and body; I want to wear the life I've lived."
We did it, we made it to Friday, can you believe it, we got through another week of isolation. I do not know about you, but we are finding ourselves out more and more. The kids went to the condo to work yesterday, they ran errands, masked and gloved up, but we are returning to a state of semi-normal. My Queen and I ran to the grocery, masked, gloved, a safe distance people are behaving well.
We had a couple of folks join our group of five. Nick and Baily's mom and dad arrived from Indiana last night. It was good to see them; the kids were happy to have Mom and Dad "home." They will be here through Sunday, and then those five will leave to go back east and leave my Queen and me here (alone) to fend for ourselves. I'll miss the kids, but alone time with my Queen is not a lousy alternative.
We plan on working until noon today, taking the afternoon off to take our guests on a very cool hike about 15 minutes from our home. We have planned out a menu for the next three days. I'm doing a shrimp boil tomorrow night; the Queen is making a slew of amazing dishes. As I have written before, the food at our prison is not bad.
I think the fear is subsiding; the numbers seem to favor a return to seminormal. I don't see concerts happening this year; I think they will wait, sports will return but with no fans only the players and coaches. We can sit at home and watch on our chosen device. Testing is now being rolled out in a significant way.
I'm not a doctor, but I did play one in a commercial one time. With that said, it is my understanding there are two tests available regarding Covid19. The first is the swab test that goes in your nose to determine if you are positive. The second is a blood test that can see if you have the antibodies to fight the disease, an indication you already have successfully won the war. We are getting the second test next week; I suggest you do the same.
Once you know you have the antibodies, I suggest you glove and mask up and get back to work. But I don't think you need to go back like before; our company has proven a work from home strategy can be useful. We do have some team members that want to return to the office; we plan to reopen our physical offices in June. We plan to return to Indiana that first week of June, we miss our family, team, clients, and vendors.
So another month here, alone, isolated on top of a mountain, I think we will make it. But we now see the light at the end of the tunnel; it is getting brighter, there is hope. We destroyed our economy in a few weeks; chances are we can put it back quickly, I'm not a doom and gloom guy, you'll only get opportunity laden thoughts and prose from this human mind.
I have masks if you would like one. One of our teammates makes them; we ordered 50, I've already given away five, they are funky, cloth made, but effective, to protect your face. Send me a message with your physical address, and I'll get a couple out if needed.
I picked up a merit badge yesterday—I successfully cooked bacon in our insta-pot. I then took a 3-pound hunk of steak, seasoned it, cooked, it, shredded it and will make steak sandwiches for our crew and our hike. I have not earned a merit badge in years; I need to find my old boy scout shirt and sew that little guy on!
I bought some playdough yesterday. First time in years, I wrote down seven things, all items you can make from the colorful gooey mixture. Tonight each one of our group will draw from a hat one thing to make, and then we will compete to see who makes the best version of their pick. I also bought a puzzle and some crayons to use to address our mask orders. It's a fun time to let your creative juices run a little wild.
The sun is up; the weather is beautiful; these are the days we dream of in the winter. Do not waste this day, lean in, embrace it, work hard, but take some time for yourself and get some vitamin D. Meditate, pray to something bigger than yourself, work on becoming your best self. This is not the end of the world. It's the beginning of a new way to live, work, and play. The lessons we are learning during this time will reshape our future, and I don't think that is a bad thing. The lessons given during these last few weeks will enable us to reshape and remake ourselves and society into a better functioning caring, joyful community—cheers from that happy shiny guy.
"I've enjoyed every age I've been, and each has had its own individual merit. Every laugh line, every scar, is a badge I wear to show I've been present, the inner rings of my personal tree trunk that I display proudly for all to see. Nowadays, I don't want a "perfect" face and body; I want to wear the life I've lived."