It's time to sit down and do a jigsaw puzzle. I have these random thoughts and story ideas that float to the surface of my mind as I'm driving around and I think I have to do a story about that and sometimes it's just a title. By the time I get back home and pull out the laptop and the stuff I've dictated into my phone, I have trouble actually pulling a story together.
There's something about jigsaw puzzles, or most any creative activity, that bypasses the logical part of the brain. I am always amazed when I'm in the middle of a pile of puzzle pieces and some part of me that I can never identify, and don't need or want to, says " Hey, that squiggle with the blue blurry color goes on the right side of that house". And I pick up this random piece that I wasn't even looking at and Whoa! - it fits. In the same way I might have a question about where to vacation next, or do I need get out and walk more, or maybe I should call someone I haven't talked to in a while, and I'll get related messages about these things from a dream, or a song I hear, or a memory that surfaces.
We are all connected was the theme of the original piece, but today I guess I want to talk more about where I've been these last few weeks since life has turned upside down. I am one of the fortunate "essential workers" that gets paid to leave my house most days to deliver auto parts on less crowded roadways, so that the really necessary folks can keep their cars in good repair to get to the hospitals or police stations or grocery stores. I leave my apartment weekly to go to the laundromat and I am grateful to be able to walk the trails near my home for quiet diversion and exercise. I have also been trying to support local dining establishments by ordering take-out once or twice a week, so in a lot of ways I don't feel life has changed that much.
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| Route 202 on a weekday afternoon! |
On the other hand, my Mom turned ninety-six last month and a dozen of us spread out in the field behind her home to sing Happy Birthday, instead of taking her out to dinner or having a party. I have only visited her three times since the stay-at-home started since she had just completed treatment for cancer, and I am out among the public, however limited, and don't want to risk infecting her. My sister, that Mom lives with, is working from home and feeling isolated and stressed and I feel bad that can't stop by as much to see them.
A part of me is truly grateful that I have not been in total lock down, but I have mixed emotions. I am concerned about trying to protect myself and others by social distancing, hand washing and cleaning my work and personal cars, as well as my apartment and I get aggravated when I see others being what I consider to be careless. I'm glad that I get to be outdoors, driving around for work and yet feeling guilty that I am not heading to the hospital or home care visits I would have been doing in the past.
When this whole thing started and people were not going out to get their cars fixed, we needed to cut back the hours of service for a few weeks, but this has changed again, so I have not had much difference in my income. We changed our routine to include disinfecting the cars between shifts and how we do deliveries in the shops we service, but again, I am so much more fortunate than friends or family working from home or working longer exhausting hospital shifts or unable to work and still waiting on Unemployment Compensation.
Summer is coming and I would love to be planning vacation or attending concerts, fairs and festivals, but all that is currently on hold until this situation lifts. In the meantime I'm staying grounded as best I can by connecting by phone and Zoom to family and friends, and talking a lot to God about what I'm thinking and feeling and asking for help and guidance.
We are all in this life together, so share what you can to touch lives nearby or far, send your light out to the world. Whether you're working or stuck at home you are a part of the whole of life. Peace and love to all.
So that's where I am today. I hope we can soon start to resume a more normal way of life.
