Surviving 2020: The Year That Almost Was

[mrdreamjeans]

 Like everyone else, I’ve struggled with social distancing during the Pandemic, trying to find ways to overcome the emotional impact of the pandemic and the crazy-making of our political environment. In no particular order, this post details some of the adjustments I’ve made in order to cope in these challenging times:

• A weekly hour-long call with Jon Hayenga (thespian15)


• Saturday Distance Dining with Steve Backoff


• My part time work as Concierge in the Building where I Live and the resulting interactions with my neighbors.


• Occasional Face-Time sessions with Family in Texas. 


• Routine phone calls with my sister Colleen. She supports and understands why masks and other precautions must be taken to prevent spread of the Covid-19 virus. She understands Epidemiology, the science behind what is necessary to stop this pandemic.


• Practicing Safe Shopping ... A Mask or Face Shield goes on every time I leave the apartment; hand washing is now routine upon return.


• Watching my diet. 


• Compliance with my routine medications.


• Georgie! The discipline of taking care of another life besides my own is such a blessing and an escape.


• Switching apartments in my building. It was a major project on which to focus, demanding very detailed planning and organization. It was accomplished with no outside assistance. A lovely woman and her canine companion already occupy my former unit.


• BOOKS! This year, I’ve often traveled to Quebec experiencing 15 adventures with Inspector Armand Gamache, a fascinating character created by Canadian author Louise Penny. I’ve helped track a serial killer in North Dakota thanks to David Baldacci and his brilliant, odd FBI agent Amos Decker. I’m currently time jumping between 1787 and 2019 in Crozet, Virginia with my old friends from Rita Mae Brown’s Mrs. Murphy series and I recently explored parts of Northern England, helping author Ann Cleeves’  (Shetland/ Vera) newest character, a married gay police inspector, solve a murder involving Vulnerable adults. For more than 60 years, books have been my constant companions, forgiving friends, an engaging escape through mysteries, crime fiction and other works of imagination. My current travel is via literary flights of fancy.

 

This year especially, books are a comforting substitute for the many trips, missed theatrical experiences and cancelled social events of 2020. What are you doing to survive and thrive in 2020: The Year that Nearly Was? I’m solving crimes ... and planning to vote!

Comments

[billeyler]

See? Life isn't so bad!

I can't imagine talking on the phone for an hour at a time. I think 10-15 minutes is my limit.

[mrdreamjeans]

In my lifetime, I can count the number of people on one hand that I can carry on a conversation with for an hour ... Jon is one of them and it's really been a blessing during this pandemic.

I'm much more of a one-on-one, in person sort of communicator. I hide behind a camera in large groups.

We've been interacting so many years, I have to remind myself we haven't met in person, though we have many friends who do know both of us ... Chip and John, Evan come to mind right away. Aldo, Steve and Jack ... I'm sure you can think of others.

[cjsmith]

This is a great list! None of them by itself seems large, yet taken together I can imagine they're very helpful.

[mrdreamjeans]

It's kept me going ...

I have to acknowledge it irritates me a bit when people are frazzled by three months of restrictions. I remind myself of how are ancestors sacrificed during WWI and WW2. We have cell phones, can order food and everything else we require online; We have Zoom; we have cable; we can work from home.

I've never been known for my patience, but if I can be celibate for 14 years; if I can wait 40 years for an AIDS vaccine, people can wear a mask and physical distance for more than a couple of months during this pandemic.

I wrote the following on Facebook yesterday:

1980 - PRACTICE SAFE SEX
2020 - PRACTICE SAFE SHOPPING
BOTH REQUIRE PROTECTION!

[cjsmith]

I honestly do think people have gotten less resilient, and I wonder whether that is a situational thing (this is their first pandemic and they weren't being bombed in the last war) or a sign of changes in society as a whole (economic situation pitiful for many, social support crumbling, people truly are simply out of emotional cope). Maybe both.