Reports from “the Front” & the House!
How are you all doing? For years I have loved doing my weekly blog post, but oddly, now I feel much closer to all of you. COVID19 has changed our lives, but also put us on common ground: we are all sheltering in place together, and therefore we have common fears and worries, common experiences that bind us. But I also want to salute all our health workers who every day are risking their own lives and futures to care for patients and thus help us. It is truly all about keeping the virus in check, about working together. It is all about HOW CAN I HELP?
WE REPORT TOGETHERNESS ON ALL LEVELS
Take the masterful literary agent from New York City. He writes a post every month on my favorite writers blog and I take his workshops and thus tangentially he knows me, knows my work. He wrote this to me:
Hey Beth, facing similar issues here: Family members with compromised immune systems, kids schooling online, trying to work while at home. We have all been “kidnapped”…so, you see? Your anxiety is ours and belongs in your WIP. Honestly, I am finding that work–especially writing anything–is the most calming activity of all.
I so agree with him and thus when our internet went down, my isolation increased. But I’m back and you’re here and all is good so far. And to continue on that note, today I’m sharing what OTHER WRITERS are feeling about quarantine.
1. From Chris Erskine, my favorite LA writer-dad, who lost his wife last year and writes about coping during Covid–he knows, it’s all on him.
My bored son and I pass long days practicing his driving…For a new driver, he’s doing very well, though I have to remind him that Audis and other luxe sedans ALWAYS have the right of way, at least here in California. And he doesn’t quite get stop signs. Once, he actually came to a full stop, and the driver behind him honked. “See,” I told him,”you’re just supposed to pause a little.”…My dog, White Fang, wonders why we are home all the time and not dropping more crumbs like we used to. She also thinks that we’re married. When I kneel down to futz with the dryer, White Fang will rest her chin on the back of my ankle. Sometimes I stall a little, so she can have her moment.
2. And this from a poem by Donna Ashworth:
History will remember when the world stopped, And the flights stayed on the ground, And the cars parked in the street, And the trains didn’t run. History will remember when the schools closed, And the children stayed indoors, And the medical staff walked towards the fire, AND THEY DIDN’T RUN. History will remember when the people sang o n their balconies in isolation, But so very much together, In courage and in song. History will remember when the people fought For their old and their weak, Protected the vulnerable b y doing nothing at all. History will remember when the virus left, a nd the houses opened, a nd the people came out, a nd hugged and kissed a nd started again– Kinder than before.
3. Finally, all of this boils down to doing what is asked of us. It’s not easy. I’ve been reading about women who are pregnant and about to deliver. So vivid in my mind was my joy, yet always the hesitation: how will it go; how will I do, but more importantly, how will my baby be? Now women are being told they might have to labor alone, without a spouse or partner of any kind. Maybe call the midwife. I would, depending on my pregnancy risks.
Trips to the grocery store are about protecting me from the virus, but also my husband who waits in the car. The immune system thing.
When we walk, we keep that damn distance and always wave.
I thank the delivery men, the mail delivery persons, and especially Pam in the grocery store.
I called my eye doctor with a question. He was kind. Where was he, watching his children at home.
Each of us has more responsibility RIGHT NOW–to family, to friends, to community and to ourselves. Stay safe. Follow the rules set in place. Prayer and mediation help, as do films. Today, make it a comedy. Laughter is good for your health and you might forget that symptom thing (I do it) swallowing to see if you have a sore throat, holding your breath to test your lungs, feeling your forehead. STOP IT!! BE SAFE, Beth
ART: From the Republic of Korea
