Saturday, May 9, 2020

I Miss... (A Side Quest of the Corona Chronicles)

That's the prompt for today's picture of the day.

Yes, I'm doing it again. But just for this month. FMS did a monthly Isolation prompt and I thought it would be kind of interesting to capture things with that filter on.

Today is I Miss...

I'm having a hard time with it. First off how do you take a picture of something you miss? If you are missing it you don't have it so you can't very well take a picture of it. And she already had a throwback prompt so using another previously taken picture doesn't sit well with me. Though I was pleased that I was able to tie the throwback into the Iso situation...

But now all of that fat and sassy is draining away as I think...I miss...

What do I miss?

Well I miss Christopher. But that's not due to Covid. That's an all the time thing. There is always a part of me that wishes he was closer. But even if we weren't on lock down this isn't a time of year we normally see him. We did last year when we back to New Mexico to see Mom...

And yes, it's been a year since the last time I saw my mother. Which was the last time I will ever see my mother. And it's Mother's Day weekend so I miss my mom. But, as those of you know who have been reading this blog for awhile, I was losing my mother for years before she passed. So missing my mother isn't tied to the pandemic either. Or new.

I miss...

We are really well suited for isolation. Brent's job is portable and working from home hasn't been perfect for him, but it's completely doable. No loss of income so we aren't stressing financially. I stay home and write and clean and read and do whatever the hell I want* all the time so I was already prepared for staying at home. No change.

We are each other's favorite companion. We do most everything together all the time anyway. We are also not super social. We're both loners who are fine being alone together. Or with C. But we live a really quiet, small, life normally. It's our preference. So I'm not missing big social gatherings. And honestly, aside from my boys a lot of the people I'm closest to have all been online more than normal because they are bored so I'm actually getting to talk to them more than I would have before the virus. They might be hating being alone but I'm liking that they are posting more. So...

I'm a good cook. And as you all know I am always thinking I should cook more because I'm a good cook. I just hate planning* so I always find a reason not to. And right now I don't have the option not to do that. So I've been cooking and we've been eating well. It's about to get trickier as the supply chain for meat is breaking down and I'm not super well versed in vegetarian cooking but I'll figure it out. I think if you were to ask Brent he'd tell you that he's liking this a lot more. We eat well, we know exactly what is going into everything we eat, and it's super easy with him working from home.

I love going to movies. Normally on Mother's Day weekend we go see the first of the season blockbusters. Some sort of action movie is usually out right about now. But we have the basement set up so well now that watching movies there is actually really nice. The screen isn't as big as a theater, the sound system isn't as good, but we never have those annoying people talking during the movie, or checking their phone screens, or kicking a seat or chewing loudly. It's really nice. So tonight we'll go downstairs and watch Extraction and that will be great.

I miss my pedicures and my haircuts. I like getting my toes done all shiny and pretty. It makes me happy. I like getting my hair cut and colored and looking pretty. I am vain about my hair. But I'm making it a game. How long will my hair be before I can get it cut again? What style might I change to since it will already be longer and I will have some other options? What color is lurking in those roots? Could I go back to my natural now? Is there enough gray? It's fun. I also get to visit with Sara online so though it will be nice to see her in person I still get to visit with her and pretend I look better for it as well, all without risking her and her family's health.

The weather is super warm this weekend. So we might have gone out early this morning and hit the zoo or the Japanese Garden or headed to the beach. But this weekend is super warm and it's Mother's Day and it's been raining on the weekends even when the week has been nice lately so EVERYONE would have headed to the zoo, or the garden or the beach so we might have decided to stick around home instead...which is what we are doing.

I could get existential. I miss thinking that when faced with an actual BIG problem we would be able to drop our tribalism and work together. I mean when you have people not wearing masks to make a political statement? Honestly...why is your political statement I don't give a fuck about anybody but myself? That's such a bad statement to make. So I miss thinking that but honestly there wasn't a huge part of me that thought that anymore. I mean when you have people actively rooting for another Civil War you have to know we are way far gone.

I could think I miss thinking that everyone on my friend list was too smart and too full of common sense to fall for Plandemic. But I've been arguing with Anti-vaxxers and Clinton Hitlist believers and fucking Birthers for years so I already knew that wasn't true. People believe some bonkers shit and there is nothing you can do except shake your head. And call them names when they can't hear you. Allegedly.

So what do I miss?

*Hmmm...what is this?

Oh there it is. I miss options. I might choose to do the same, or close to it anyway, even when this is all over but I'd like to have the option to do something else.

And that is something for all of us to think about. We are at a point right now where we are seeing what we actually do miss and what is working better for us right now. What do we want to add back into the mix when this is all over? And, understand, this isn't anywhere close to all over no matter what that screaming memies on TV want you to think. The virus is still out there. We still need to be cautious as things open back up. The shutdown and isolation was to give our healthcare workers a chance at not being overwhelmed. If we try to slam back into life full throttle before we have a vaccine, before most of us have caught the virus, we are back to square one. We need to SLOWLY ease back in. Add one thing at a time. Wear your damn mask to protect other people. Wash your hands to protect yourself.

We need to think about what our new normal will look like, because the old one isn't coming back, and honestly do you want it to? What do YOU miss? What don't you miss?

Anyway...

So yeah, I think what I miss is options. The knowledge that I can decide on dinner or breakfast right before I go get it instead of having to plan and shop and defrost and... The let's go to the movies. The let's go to the beach. Just the let's see if that's at the Mall and then get soup dumplings...

I miss having options.

Not sure which ones I will pick back up (option my options?) but I will be glad to get back to having them.



No comments:

Post a Comment