Living amongst Covid-19 Northern Michigan

The World has changed.  Life as we once knew it is now, different.  Not all in bad ways either.  Brutally honest post regarding my Covid-19 times of 2020.

Leading up to the Covid-19 quarantine, life was changing for me quickly.  I found myself as a single dad, with three kids, a dog, and a house.  It was a tough transition that took lots of mental toughness, therapy, soul-searching, good friends, family, sometimes a few drinks, and really being grateful for what I have, not what I don’t.

Then the schools suspended briefly, then stay at home orders, and I found myself in “Summer vacation mode” without warm weather, any helpers, and unable to go anywhere.

The daddy instincts kicked in and, with the help of my amazing kids, suggestions from teachers, family, and some cheerleading from the peanut gallery, we are making this work.  So much so that it almost seems “normal.”  Like this was really destiny and we are just living it through.

Going back Twenty-five years ago in my Environmental Class at St. Norbert College, we were talking about overpopulation and how the Earth has a way of healing itself.  Might this have been a way for Mother Earth to heal?

My days have been filled with my children, online activities, zooming, hiking, biking, dog walks, reading, journaling, art class, some social media, lots of hugs, learning to play piano with Simply Piano app, working on the house my brother purchased in December, planning for the future, cleaning, more cleaning, lots of dishes, hoards of laundry, some baking, good meals sometimes, lots of bad meals, puzzles, dancing a little, watching movies, crying a little, laughing a lot, purging more, dreaming big, doing my best at sleeping, and most of all making the best of the hand we have been dealt.

With the exception of one run into a small store for a birthday cake and a hardware store for a battery, I have not stepped into a store in two months.  All of my groceries have been curbside pickup with massive cleaning before storing.  Masks are the new norm.  My hands don’t have skin from all the washing. 🙂  Are we all turning into germaphobes?

My business has suffered a huge hit from this pandemic.  I will survive thanks to some foresight and planning.  Unfortunately, there will be a lot of people who’s businesses have suffered fatality from this disease.  This is unprecedented times.

At this moment in time, there are 61,000 people who have perished to this disease in the United States.  That is in basically two months, with quarantines in most states.  Had we not heeded the advice that number would have been different.  My heart goes out to everyone suffering.  I know that it is tough.

I am learning a lot about myself, my beautiful kids, this amazing dog, and what I want in this thing called life.  I wake up every morning being grateful for the life I am offered.  I’m not going to say that I haven’t experienced some depression. We are probably all in this boat.  That just shows that I am normal. What seems like the absolute worst time to be alive is actually really a simple time.  For that I am thankful.

The things that I miss the most are my family being able to visit, hanging out with friends, shopping/living without masks, not washing hands obsessively, traveling, daily interactions with others, my photography, the kids going to school :-), and warm weather.

Even before this pandemic, there was a lot of crazy in this World.  People are losing their minds about almost everything.  The blame game was the new norm.  Instead of coming together, we were coming apart.  There really was nothing United about our States.  Now we can have a new beginning.  One that emphasizes our strengths and similarities.  Just because we think differently doesn’t mean we hate each other.  Let’s bring Empathy back to the present.  What are you grateful for today?  Who is a person out there that you could contact and it would make their week?  Smile more and people will return the favor.  Kindness will always prevail.  Maybe the single thing everyone can learn from these times is SLOW DOWN.

Thanks for reading.  Enjoy a look at my life from the past couple of months.

Brutally honest post regarding my Covid-19 times

This is a phone image record of my life in the past couple of months in no particular order.  Sorry for the maybe sub-par images at times.  Life moved quickly, then slowed to a halt.  Now we are taking baby steps to find our new normal.

Covid-19 suggestions from the CDC here

A blog I wrote a while ago about my winters here.

Single dad during Corona virus Covid-19 times