There’s something in the air and it has turned the world upside down.  Regardless of your political position, religious affiliation, ethnicity, sexual orientation, social or economic status, the bottom line is we are in a pickle.  The common denominator that we all share is that we are HUMAN BEINGS.   As members of this Humanity Club, we are called to strive to recognize being human is sometimes difficult.  Humans can be mean, rude, self-centered, judgmental and careless.  I am guilty of all of these.  Fortunately, as human beings we also have the ability to be kind, polite, generous, accepting and prudent.  Some of us have to work harder at being a good human (guilty again).

On a good day, the world is filled with blame slingers, mud slingers, and shit slingers.  Let’s face it; the world isn’t having a very good day.  Now is the time for us to be better, stronger, and kinder.  I worry about my parents and other family members of a certain age and the parents of my friends.  I worry about my kids who are out in the world.  I worry incessantly about the residents in my Long Term Care communities and how we can keep them safe.  I worry about my sister who has an autoimmune disorder and my husband who is a cancer survivor.  I worry about my friend who was recently diagnosed with cancer and my other friends who are in the middle of battling cancer.  I worry about all the people I love who are on the frontlines taking care of others.  My faith should be stronger.  I am human, my faith is wobbly.

It is a strange time.  It isn’t about you and it isn’t about me, it is about BEING HUMAN.  It is putting us aside for the wellbeing of everyone.   I get it.  It is hard.  This social distancing is hard.  I love my husband and I love my dogs, but for the love of GOD…you get what I am saying.  For those of you who are geared to be completely content to curl up with a book or a marathon NetFLIX series or have a natural gift for napping—well GOOD FOR YOU.  I am sure you are embracing this “stay at home order” with gusto and grace.  For those of us who struggle with appreciating the finer art of relaxation, we need your prayers.

Hopefully my lessons with learning to do nothing will make you smile.

1. Dogs don’t appreciate my singing. Yesterday morning I was singing a song (a Karri Thurman original by the way) about how we were all going to get through this together.  My daughter’s dog took her paw and whacked me right upside my head.
2. Our hot water was out for several days. Kevin took a cold shower every single day.  I didn’t.  I chose to bathe with a makeup wipe and hope the issue would be resolved soon.  It wasn’t.  Kevin’s cancer has stolen his sense of smell and I hate the idea of showering in ice cold water.  He couldn’t smell me—no harm, no foul!  It is fixed.  I am clean.
3. I am not a pioneer woman. All this cooking three meals a day is wearing me out.  Pre-Covid, if I made dinner three nights a week, I was killing it.  Now it is like I am Caroline Ingalls over here slaving over my Whirlpool!
4. Puzzles are for people with stamina.
5. Writing the lyrics to a number one Country and Western song is harder than you might think. Anyone know a word that rhymes with truck??  Yeah, I thought of that one.  I can’t use it.
6. When taking a dog for a walk on the farm after days of rain, one must be prepared for the cattle guards. Carrying a 30 pound muddy dog over a cattle guard sucks a little of the joy from the adventure.
7. Cheese popcorn is sexier than I am. I was changing clothes and was standing in the living room in my undies and Kevin comes around the corner with a bag of cheese popcorn. He says, “Whoa is it sexy time?” I reply, “Well, it is either sexy time or cheese popcorn time.”  His response, “There was a time I would have picked sexy time, but I am going to go with cheese popcorn for now.”
8. The virus saved a crackhead. After beating on our door, a wayward “traveler” of sorts entered into our garage through the side door.  When Kevin confronted her, she said she was out of gas.  He told her barging in was a good way to get shot.  Then he put gas in her car (she wasn’t out of gas, she was going to steal our stuff)!  Kevin was home and intercepted her.  He is kind.  I would have panicked and shot her.  I watch a lot of true crime and I struggle more with being human than he does.  Side note: As head of security, I feel that Kevin needs to be more diligent about ensuring the doors are locked.
9. Having 100% of the laundry done has not brought me the sense of accomplishment I expected. After decades of battling load after load of endless laundry, I thought that an empty washer, dryer, and hamper would bring me unspeakable joy.  Gazing into the empty hamper I am questioning everything.  Who am I?  Why am I here?
10. Watching replays of sporting events can be a trigger. Evidentially, 28 years is not enough time for Kevin to get over Christian Laettner’s overtime shot in the Duke win over Kentucky in 1992.  He took it really hard…again.

The situation sucks.  Find joy where you can.  Wash your hands, be kind, and stay home.  Be patient with one another as we all grapple with being human.