“I learned there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead, others come from behind. But I’ve bought a big bat. I’m all ready, you see. Now my troubles are going to have trouble with me.”
Dr. Seuss
The Coronavirus pandemic impacted just about every person on Earth. I was no exception, although it had less of an effect on me than most people because of my lifestyle. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I spend most mornings working out in the woods and afternoons writing. I’m also an introvert, so I don’t go out to social gatherings very much, making it easy to stay away from others. Net, I count myself in the relatively unscathed category of people.
- I grew up when vaccines were eradicating diseases. I still remember the polio commercials. I’m a believer in them, so my wife and I got our vaccines as soon as possible, and got our boosters. The vast majority of our extended family did too, but not all.
- We didn’t eat out for over a year. We still don’t eat out much.
- We limited our trips, including drastically cutting down on how often we shopped and how often we saw family members.
- We wore masks whenever we went out and just recently stopped wearing them in public.
- When we did go out, we timed our trips so there would be few people wherever we were going (this usually means earlier in the morning). We liked the less-crowded stores so much that we’ve kept this up.
- We started doing more home shopping. There are limits to how much we use this service, though. We live so far out that only our Wal-Mart deliveries get delivered to the house. Our FedEx driver is great, but we have to drive half a mile for all our other home deliveries.
The pain of the pandemic
Sadly, we didn’t entirely escape Covid’s reach.
- We had one death in our extended family (siblings, kids, cousins, in-laws, etc.).
- We also have one long-term covid family member. What’s especially painful is that this person eats healthy, is very active (has run lots of marathons, some less than 3 hours), got his vaccines, etc. But he got it very early on – before they were testing for Covid. He visited once during the middle of the pandemic, and it was painful to see him taking afternoon naps. Luckily, he’s mostly recovered, but he’s not fully back to his usual self.
- Over a dozen family members got Covid, including all three of our daughters. One has gotten it twice (once before being vaccinated and once after). Sadly, she lost her taste for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups :(
- Some of our family members have struggled with the isolation the pandemic has caused.
- Covid has also impacted my writing. My travel guide daughter and I were planning to go to Greece and Italy for research for books 5 & 7 but had to cancel when the third pandemic wave reared its ugly head. We’re hoping to reschedule for this fall, but it will be much more expensive with inflation.
Benefits
Yes, there have been some benefits, although not many.
- I lost about five pounds from eating out less, healthier eating habits, and more working outside.
- We stopped going out as much, so our gas bills plummeted.
- My wife’s dog, Mutley, enjoyed my stay-at-home time because it meant he could go out in the woods more often with me.
- And importantly, it was a reminder of how precious life is.
Below is a picture of Mutley and me out in the woods on one of the few snowy days we get each year (the snow is almost always gone here in a couple of days). I’ve lived in upstate New York, where we had to use snowshoes at times to get out in the woods, so this is nothing compared to those years.
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