Fancy Coffee Friday: Strange Days

March 20, 2020

The Amusing Muse : Strange Days blog title post image woman meditating Strange days, these.

We are fine here, and thus far none of our household has shown any signs of infection from Covid-19. However, we are all resigned that at some point, we will likely be infected. We are doing all we can to practice smart social distancing and next week launches us into three introverted adults all being home five out of seven days of the week (my job still requires in-person attendance).

One of the things I’ve observed in the last several weeks is that it is very easy to succumb to negative thinking. People rarely like change, and this has been a huge change in a very short period of time. So many people were highly-stressed before now, and now we’re dealing with high-stress and fear.

I’ve been trying to come up with silver-linings for this pandemic, and some have been a stretch, but others have been easy. Some things I’ve come up with:

My classes have switched to all online curriculum and that saves me two hours and 84 miles of commuting on class days.
We were already prepared for natural disasters and weather emergencies, so we had a stock of food in the house already.
Spring is here! The plants will be growing, the garden can go in, Spring edibles will be shooting up soon.
The “To Do List” will get tackled faster!
We have a lot of skills that come in handy during times of difficulty.

We hope everyone stays safe, healthy, and keeps practicing smart social distancing. Support those small businesses you love when you can – they are all struggling.

What silver-linings are you finding with current social distancing and quarantine rules in place?

The Amusing Muse is a student, drinker of herbal tea, and lapsed writer living in Southern Wisconsin. She is looking forward to the first Spring Edibles, like Lambs Quarters and Garlic Mustard. She looks forward to spending time in her garden.

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7 responses to “Fancy Coffee Friday: Strange Days”

John

March 20, 2020

The “to do” list, at home, is actually getting done. At the start of every summer, we always have the stuff we hope to manage around the house (as my wife and the kids are home). Yet, despite the good intentions – little of it actually finds it way to the “done” side. This year, we’re mostly through the “summer” list.

I’m driving 400 miles less/week . . . when you factor in that I drive a gas-guzzler, budgeting has gotten a fair bit better.

Once the next winter storm blows through (anticipated early next week), we’ll start the groundwork on the garden.

I find myself playing more & more piano.

The dogs are getting extra, daily walks.

Reply
1. The Amusing Muse
  
  March 24, 2020
  
  That is fantastic! Congratulations on getting through most of the summer list! The “To Do” list here is perpetual, I think I add another item for every one that gets checked off.
  
  Save that money you’re not spending on gas for the coming months! I suspect things will get pretty hairy financially.
  
  And Hooray for gardening! I can get the peas in the ground along with some of the cooler crop greens, but we were too busy with other things for me to get them planted last weekend.
  
  As for playing more piano – that’s a great thing! I’ve gotten a good section of a large embroidery piece worked. There is still a lot more to do, but I’m finding that shutting down social media in the evening and stitching helped dampen my usual anxiety.
  
  Reply
sassycoupleok

March 20, 2020

The one positive we have seen is families spending more time together. Plus getting those needed things around home taken care of that have been put off because we were busy with work and our social lives.
The really ugly negative is going to be all the service people who are going to lose their jobs due to business failures among the small business community and also those business owners who will have little to no income.
The “silver linings” are going to few and far.

Reply
1. The Amusing Muse
  
  March 24, 2020
  
  I feel for the service folks – technically, I’m in the service end of things, but my job is “essential” at this point. I know that there are a good number of other places which are considered essential that were short on employees BEFORE the pandemic, so I know that IF people choose – there is work out there.
  
  I’m really enjoying seeing people post about how they are teaching their kids crafts, from woodworking to knitting, baking to sewing. It warms my heart.
  
  Reply
  1. sassycoupleok
    
    March 24, 2020
    
    I’m in sales as factory rep and territory mgr for 8 commercial food service manufacturers. I have a very technical background since I spent 35 years in the automotive industry working my way up as a technician, a parts tech, service mgr, parts mgr and a parts and service director for a couple of large dealerships. I also stuck my toe into car sales on days off to learn about how that was done. So in reality I’m a very technical person who is now in sales. However when I raised my three children, 1 girl and 2 boys I showed them as they grew up how to take care and repair their own vehicles and how to diagnose and repair things around their homes so they don’t have to rely on others for those services. I smile inside as I watch them succeed in life as well as being self reliant. Yes it warms my heart as well.
    
    Reply
Pat Meiers

March 20, 2020

I, too, am working on the to do list. Granddaughter is spending more time with the ‘new’ hound dog and we are discovering just how smart that pup is! Gardening catalogs get routinely viewed, but it will be a while before the ground is ready, now if we could only figure out how to grow TP. Oh well, I still have 2 Sears catalogs on the bookshelf, just in case. LOL

Reply
1. The Amusing Muse
  
  March 24, 2020
  
  Soon! Peas and cool season greens can go in the ground as soon as you can poke the seeds into the soil. I didn’t get those crops in last weekend due to working on other things, but they COULD have gone in down here. I’m trying to work through a lot of other seeds that have been around for a while, too, so lots of vining crops will be planted this year!
  
  As for the TP…. you could always go forage for some lamb’s ears/mullien. SOooo soft! LOL
  
  Reply