Keep on the Sunny Side

In this episode, we consider the intermittent, nearly imperceptible, tan on beige, potentially lovely elements of the pandemic. It is a stretch, I know, but it’s expected, de rigueur for a calamity, for us to be juicing the lemons even if they’re withered and turning brown in the bottom of the fruit bowl.

So here goes.

I cut my husband’s hair today. I’ve never cut anyone’s hair but the result was quite spectacular and using the clippers was hypnotic and deeply satisfying.

Social distancing is forcing those who are community organizers and political activists to come up with new ways to create a stir. While it is great fun to make big signs and chant, it often rains and you march too far from your car. Digital is where it’s at right now and it makes me glad I’m not a Luddite.

Dot’s Pretzels and Kodiak Cakes are wonderful.

Ordering groceries on the phone from the local fruit market and having the nice clerk bring them out to the truck is lovely. Someone else can ponder over the blueberries, decide which melon is better. I just take what they give me and it looks dandy.

Carnations, never my favorite flower, have moved to the top of the list because they last forever.

My Target bill this month was $0.

I’m finally getting out from under the massive anxiety that has been wrapped around my chest like a bad bra for the past six weeks. I’m learning how to calm myself down – you know, like teaching a baby to self-soothe. I have found my thumb.

It’s oddly entertaining to have doomsday prepping discussions, although when it got to the point of talking about whether we should buy a gun, we dialed it down to considering if an additional Spam purchase would be wise. We already have a lot of toilet paper.

I have work to do. And I have this blog. That means that there are always words to put on a page, to arrange and rearrange, and nothing is better than writing when it feels like true craft.

So that’s my lemonade. I forgot to mention our back porch, our parlor and cocktail lounge, dog grooming area, and bird watching perch. I ordered new chairs for the porch today. Proper chairs so we can put the old dining room chairs back in the basement from whence they came. How about that?