January 20, 2020 was the first recorded case of Covid-19 in the United States in the state of Washington. By my count, we are 216 days into the pandemic with 5,725,758 cases and 178,068 deaths.
It’s taken both a personal toll in death and sickness and recovery as well as financial, all across the U.S. I am, so far, one of the lucky ones. Even though I had emergency surgery in April, I tested negative on May 5th. Financially, other than poor financial decisions about a public adjuster, I have a steady income with state of Florida retirement and social security.
I do admit to cabin fever. A trip to the pool supply store seems like a grand outing akin to one of my cross country trips. Each and every time I leave the house, it seems like I have to relearn how to drive. I forget to unfold the mirrors, I don’t recognize the beeping from the backup camera. I am not alone. South Florida drivers, already considered as some the worst in the U.S. (number four by one account) have gotten even worse.
The pool store doesn’t deliver so I have to get out of the house and physically go into the store. I take that opportunity to shop with pleasure at Publix, do doctors’ visits, and whatever else I can cram into one day in the outside world. I think my record so far is four stops in one day.
I also admit to one fairly severe case of depression a few weeks back and a couple of mild cases over the last 216 days. I consider my self much better off than most people even with my downers.
Then there is the deconstruction and reconstruction of my floors and kitchen. Part of me appreciates the human contact that comes with various representatives from Citizens, Baxter Restoration, and the construction crew and part of me considers each human interaction as a potential threat to my health. Since I don’t consider the pandemic anywhere near over, such will be our lives probably until at least the end of 2021. And that supposes the virus doesn’t mutate into something more lethal or longer lasting.
It also looks like the construction at my house will last as long as the pandemic. As you probably know, it’s the little things. Hardware for the cabinets. I have shelves and drawers I could use but I can’t easily open the doors or drawers because of no hardware. One door on one cabinet is the wrong size so the doors don’t meet correctly. I ran into this with Kraft Maid when the original cabinets were put in in 2001. The installer sent one door back for replacement three times. I finally, on the fourth attempt at installation, agreed to let the door be installed. It was basically a door that had so many knots in it that it detracted from the others.
In any case, my kitchen is spread across three rooms. When I cook, at least I get in my requisite number of steps on my IWatch.
I can only assume the construction crew will be back on Monday. They were scheduled (by their own admission) to show on Friday but they didn’t. Rome wasn’t built in a day and south Florida has only in the construction phase for the past 100 years.
I assume I’ll be able to adequately clean house sometime in 2021. There is dust everywhere. Even the walls are dusty. The last time I had major construction at the house was the installation of impact windows. You could draw a finger down a wall in the house and see where you finger had traced in the dust. It took me two days just to clean the walls. It was another two weeks before I had everything else cleaned.
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However, since I have reflux disease, I go through a period of coughing every morning. I try not to schedule doctors’ visits in the morning for fear they will quarantine me for coughing. Some mornings it sounds as though I hacking up a lung. I don’t want to scare the nurses.
I would love to say I’ve been stimulated to be more productive during the pandemic but the opposite is true. I have become extremely lazy. I do only the minimum. I can’t really clean the house to my usual standards because of construction. I have given up mowing the lawn and have given over that task to my neighbor who gives neighbors special rates. I do the least amount of yard work possible – partly due to temperature and partly due to lack of incentive. What I do do is read – a lot.
My cousin Jimmie turned me on to Bookbub. Some days, their email provides notice of free books, some cost as little as 99 cents, and the most expensive are $6.99 for Kindle/IBooks editions. I love history and biography and there’s plenty of that but my major source of enjoyment has been gay romance novels. I can usually read one or two a day. Sheer escapism.
I’ve also shifted over to a vegetarian diet which entails more cooking on my part, as well as experimentation with desserts. I’ve invested in a bundt cake pan and have tried three different recipes so far. Even with the desserts, I’ve lost six pounds which amazes me since I’ve had to stop exercising.
Social interaction is restricted to Zoom meet ups. I have two separate Zoom sessions a week with friends. Although not ideal – you end up talking over someone and not realizing it – it helps keep your sanity and you realize everyone is going through the same thing as you. By the way, I can’t imagine conducting a class over Zoom.
I’ll try to post daily for as long as I can until I can get back to my travels and camping and hiking. Stay safe!
