Mar

22

The hum of traffic

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Spring weather in Oregon can be a real mixed bag but it has been glorious recently, like every day since our house went into shutdown has been fantastically sunny and warm and I am so deeply grateful for that. I have been on what seems like about a million walks and everything is blooming and it’s been enormously cheering, the only thing that would make it better is if my state would go ahead and let its citizens buy the real Sudafed again because as long as everything has been turned on its head can we at least enjoy the drippy-nose-stopping effects of legally acquired pseudoephedrine?

Okay, I guess that’s not the only thing that could make it better, I can think of one or two other improvements as well, such as my friend’s restaurant business not having to lay off half their employees last week, but I’m just saying: seasonal allergies are salt in the wound right now, Sudafed prohibitors.

We drove to the cabin yesterday, figuring that would be okay as long as we didn’t stop on the way there or back, or do our usual visit to the little nearby store for snacks, and that ended up being a much-needed break from news and worry. The boys went out target shooting, and I spent my time sitting out by the river. There are buds and flowers everywhere, and a mother goose who has made a nest on the riverbank and sits there, waiting. She watched me carefully as I briefly approached to take a picture, and I tried very hard to send her some sort of mental message: I come in peace, fellow mama.

I’m very glad to report that little story did not end with a righteous goose attack because I probably would have deserved it (wings beating me around the head, hissing beak in my face: HOW’S THIS FOR THE ‘GRAM, STUPID CONTAGIOUS HUMAN?), but there was something so bolstering about seeing her there. Life goes on.

The flow of the river felt medicinal too, as did the ongoing hum of traffic. If there is one downside to the otherwise idyllic cabin setting, it’s that the property is right on a fairly active highway that connects I-5 and the coast. Oregonians have been heading to coastal towns in droves lately (I can’t point fingers since we also did not stay home yesterday, but the photos of crowded beaches sure don’t seem very socially distant), so there were quite a few cars adding to the calm peace of river noises and birds.

Instead of wishing as I often have that the rumble of a logging truck was not competing with the call of a hunting osprey, I found the traffic sounds pleasant in their own way. None of us knows what tomorrow will bring, but for the time being, life goes on.

Mar

20

Spring break forever

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Those of you with unreliable lower backs are probably intimately familiar with the sensation of a warning shot across the bow — like, your back isn’t out, but it’s really unhappy with you and now you have to do that pinched-butt shuffle when you walk because Shit Isn’t Great, Bob.

(I didn’t even do anything. I was turning around in the bathroom to get a towel and my back was just like NOPE. That’s some annoying old person crap right there.)

It’s better now but I was quite worried for a bit that I would be laid up and wouldn’t that just be the icing on the crap sundae, ongoing long walks have suddenly become one of the most important parts of my day right now. If nothing else this strange way of life has certainly made me appreciate the things I can do, and that are available to me — although I must say that my reaction when my streamed movie kept glitching out two nights ago was not exactly full of generous-perspective patience (it was a shameful combo of “Is this regular Internet trouble or is civilization as we know it officially in the process of permanent collapse” and “WHY GOD WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME PERSONALLY??”).

I am slowly losing that dreamlike feeling where everything felt like a Hollywood script (cue the spinning large-print headlines and somber news anchors!) and I guess this is what it’s like to move past total disbelief and into the land of Okay, What Now. Dylan was with his grandparents most of the week and now that he’s home the boys are back to fighting over every tiny blessed thing and so I spent some time last night working up a schedule for them:

8 AM – 9 AM: Free screen time
9-9:30 book reading
9:30-10: Khan academy math (Khan is free)
10-11: Watch an episode of Crash Course in World History
Write a short presentation of what you learned and present to Mom & Dad
11-12: break for walk/bball/outside stuff
12: lunch
12:30-1:00 journaling
1-2 Khan academy grammar
2-3 Research and science: Keep track of the news and how the various countries are responding to the pandemic. Create a daily presentation of news and updates for mom and dad.

It doesn’t seem hugely strenuous on their end but is probably comically optimistic, we’ll see. Both kids were like “Wait, I thought school was canceled, this is bullshit,” but the alternative is me slowly spiraling into madness while James Franco’s gold teeth intone “Spring break forevaaaaa…” over and over.

Stay sane out there, friends.

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