Quaratine Update

I want to remember what nearly three months of COVID-19 looks like when we read this decades from now. This is something nearly no one alive has ever had to deal with. And the hope is: we won't have to live with it again. 

Our grandchildren will ask us "about the quarantine." And I want to remember what it looked like.

For a solid two months nearly everything that wasn't "essential" was closed. As of today, things are opening more, in different ways but it depends on where you live -- how strict your government is and how bad the virus is where you are. Mostly ... the world is trying to avoid big groups and limiting indoor activities. 

We've done everything with the Kotysnki family, and we've decided to take another month before doing any real emerging. We are taking kids to the stores more often just so that they don't get too "afraid." We are wearing masks when we go out. The kids are too. But a lot of people aren't. When you go into stores now, there is always hand sanitizer and masks available.

So for March and April, here is what we have been doing:

• Church: We watched at our house in the beginning but the last few weeks, we've been going to the Kotysnki's house and watching the 10:40 service live online. The church has done a lot of "fun" things to make this incredibly unique thing ... feel less isolating. For example: each week there are videos of fellow congregation members reading the memory verse and things like that.
• Ballet: Abigail and her cousins (Kari and Ana) have been taking online classes. I actually helped the director, LoriAnn, set up a quick Facebook page where they could record classes live. The girls have done a lot of those, but they actually really missed the interaction that classes offer. So the last month, we've been doing "Zoom" classes with our friend Elizabeth, who just graduated from high school and Central Ballet a year ago. The ballet studio has opened for small classes (under 10 people), but we've chosen not to do any indoor activities for another month.
• Karate: I've tried to keep the boys doing stuff at home, but it's hard. So this past week, we've started doing private classes with our friend Ky-Le (a second-degree black belt) is coming to the Kotynskis and leading a class outside.
• Homeschool Co-op: Like all schools, it was cancelled for the rest of the year. We are hopeful we can go again in September, but right now, no one knows.
• JB Work: JB has continued to work as normal. 
• Shopping: We try to avoid shopping too often and to be very deliberate when we shop -- getting what we need in a "safe" way. 
• Restaurants: We have not eaten in a restaurant since all this happened.
• Take-out: A lot of people have continued to eat take-out. Living out in the country, this isn't really possible. In the last few weeks, we've grabbed some pizzas a few times, but otherwise, we are mostly still just eating at home.
• Trips: We had a LOT of things planned for the last few months. Ballet camps, conferences for JB, getaways for John and me. But everything has been cancelled. We are hopeful we can go to Vermont this summer (our happy place) but we are taking it week by week.

The one thing that really "sticks out" to me during this time is the fact that the only way to not worry about getting behind or having a FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is to have everyone feeling the same way at the same time. And that's what this quarantine has done. It's made EVERYONE stop. I mean, the Olympics were cancelled. There was NO March Madness. All major sports teams are on hiatus. When else has anyone witnessed an entire country (and a LOT of the world) shutting down ALTOGETHER! It's just crazy. 

It's odd. It's surreal. But it hasn't been bad. In a lot of ways it's been nice. I've tried to get a lot of cleaning up done and organizing and things that have been put off. 

We are doing well. I miss my friends and seeing them, but overall, most of us here on the farm don't feel in a hurry to get "back to normal" anytime soon ... we miss a few things but we actually have enjoyed just BEING.