Mark Twain

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do ...
Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Narrow and Wide

Twelve short days!
How the world has narrowed down!
And how it has expanded.

At first it was all about "awareness" - watch where you put your hands, don't run short of anything, don't forget the hand cream for those over washed sore hands, keep your distance even from everyone outside your front door, Clorox wipe down surfaces at home every night, and watch your calendar disappear before your very eyes.  Very narrow close to home pursuits.  Awareness becomes habit after a bit.

But the narrow focus of a 'home bound' person is new to me.  I am not clamoring to get in the car and go somewhere ... so I am not exactly suffering.  Staying at home day after day might be a problem for some, but I enjoy my home and I like the feeling that it is safe (hopefully.)

There is the down side ... being kept within 4 walls with TV and the news as your wider view of the world - which is dismal still.

The latest news flash this morning is a story out of Denmark - a message to the US - "Do More -- Fast.  Don't Wait."  And India has locked down it's country.  Imagine that if you can!  But the latest "news flash" from our President (if you want to call it that) is - "We can do two things at one time and we must 'open up our country.'"  That is 'code' for we must get our economy opened up in the next few weeks because when the economy looks bad at election time - he might not get re-elected.  It is all about him after all.  He wants everything open around Easter!  Maybe he hasn't been paying attention to the medical professionals, the scientists or the governors - or even other countries.  But always thinks he knows best of course.  Experts be Damned!! Someone with no governing experience, no scientific experience and no common sense - knows better than anyone else!

I will continue to listen to the medical professionals and the scientists (like all responsible normal adults should do) - and let the "stable genius" in our White House be proved wrong!  Unfortunately proving him wrong involves hurting others, but there is no way around it if he follows through on his mis-guided path.

So what am I actually doing with all my time?

Right now baby sitting my grand daughter.  Day care is closed and my kids are working from home - which is impossible if a 2 year old is about!  I am thrilled to have this time with her.  But my child care juggling skills are little rusty.  The latest example of my short comings involves potty training.  Not mine but hers!! She is almost potty trained and gets it right most of the time but when she is deep in thought it becomes chancy.  Suddenly she raced to the toilette yelling "potty, potty, potty."  I, of course, race after her, saying "hold it, hold it, hold it."  Ha!  Neither of us is consistently good at this.  She was very wet by the time she reached the toilette, so I lifted onto the seat and left for a moment to get some dry panties, pants and socks (very wet).  Sincerely, I wasn't gone long.  And when I returned she had unrolled a whole roll of toilet paper onto the floor - with a BIG smile on her face - a "loving life" smile.  Yikes!  Now-a-days toilette paper is like gold, so I wrapped it back up - laughing at myself.

Then there is Country House Gent presents Travel's By Narrow Boat! on Amazon Prime.
I googled the description of this 7 season show:
Back in early 2016 and with his 50th birthday around the corner, Kevin Shelley (AKA CountryHouseGent) could feel the longtime stresses and strains of his modern lifestyle beginning to have a very real and serious effect - both mentally and physically. So by early 2017 and with almost all of his worldly possessions now sold, he packed the remainder into his camper van and set off to purchase what would become his new home - a canal narrowboat called Aslan. Thus began an amazing journey, not just along the UK canal network but also in the body and mind of Kevin. Watch as, episode by episode, he slowly transforms from an overweight, red faced, eternally exhausted and unshaven figure of a man, into a leaner, tanned and rested unshaven figure of a man. Along the way, he'll visit many new and undiscovered (by him) places, as well as demonstrating a penchant for the occasional pork pie or bacon and egg sandwich.

I LOVE THIS SHOW!!  I could actually see myself doing this!  How wonderful.  Very interesting, relaxing to watch, images of England I will never ever see on my own!  I love life style shows and this is one of the best.  So yes, there is more TV of the wider world - that has not Covid-19 virus in it.

And I have been asked to fill a position on the Board of Directors of my community until more than "10 people can gather together again" and we can have an election.  Ha.  I have volunteered a bunch of time for them this past year ... so not much has changed when I took this position.  Still doing the same stuff.  But I feel committed to helping and making a difference in the place that I live!  This is how I do it.

Other stuff such as knitting and weaving are mostly done in very small batches.  Maybe once day care opens again I will find more time for these hobbies.  Widen my narrow world a bit more!

So that is it from my little 1375 square feet of space in the mid-Atlantic in the USA!

How are things in your little piece of the planet?  


9 comments:

Lynne said...

You had me smiling at your child care, grand daughter potty
“very wet, didn’t make it in time experience.”
Oh what fun . . . Gets ones mind off the virus though!

I enjoy my home too, and don’t mind being here.
I have always found things to do, make, see, enjoy.
Alone time is preferred by me.
Strange though, I have never, ever obeen so lazy, fixated, non productive.
There is something about this virus drama that has me hooked.
As if I have to listen to every minute.
Each day I try to break away and yet . . . I get pulled in again.
I think it is going to take a lock on the tv and my iPad.
So that is me . . .

I did give Snickers a bath a few hours ago since her groomers closed for the virus.
We are so totally shut down. Ten days in the house might be a bit much for me.
Must do a longer dog walk in the morning!

Marie Smith said...

How great to have time with your little sweetie. Such precious time to have with her, wet and all!

Getting out for a walk helps break up the time. Time in the house has never been a problem.

Michelle said...

"Narrow and wide" is a good way to put it. Doing okay here for now; worried what the idiots in charge will do because they are more concerned about the stock market than the medical crisis. Wondering if I'll ever get to see my parents again this side of heaven....

Wendy said...

I envy you your time with your granddaughter, potty accidents and all. We can visit ours now and have no idea when we will. But there are lots of ways of keeping in touch and I actually don't mind being at home. We have a wide open space outside where we can walk once a day so it's bearable. Stay safe and well.

happyone said...

At least you are getting some time in with your granddaughter.

Sandy said...

Thank you for your visits, and always sweet words about my projects, much appreciated. Oh I can picture the scene potty potty hold hold. Long long ago when we were young and could run after them faster, lol. Take care of yourself, babysitting is hard work. And be extra careful, kids being petri dishes and all. Glad to hear your kids are working at home and can rely on you. You're 2000% right on the one who thinks he knows more than all others. I scream at the tv everytime he comes on and says one stupid thing after another...and then there's all the lies on top of it. So hard to deal with. Like you, I will be listening to the professionals, the adults. Take Care.

Becki said...

The picture you paint of potty training your granddaughter made me smile. But this: "Now-a-days toilette paper is like gold" made me laugh out loud.

Una said...

On the one hand, Donald Trump can say with a straight face that it will be back to normal by Easter. Meanwhile he jumps back like a scalded cat when a politician says she had a fever a couple of days earlier. Interesting times. We are in lockdown here in the UK, initially for 3 weeks, though it could and probably will be extended. I wake up every morning thinking everything is fine. Then I remember what is happening and feel like I'm still asleep and having a nightmare. At least every day is one day less until we can all get back to normal.

Bohemian said...

After Raising 2 Grandkids I had to laugh out loud about your Grand-Daughter's Potty Training and TP incident, spinning it like it was Wheel of Fortune! *Smiles* The last G-Kid I'm Raising is now 14 so can understand and grasp what's going on, but she is having heightened anxiety about how medically fragile we are during this time of Pandemic, lest she become a Virus Orphan! I was relieved when Schools Closed even tho' now Home Schooling is a pain in the Ass since we've been out of School since the Dark Ages and can't help her much and she's Special Needs so has some Special Ed resources at School that she doesn't have here. I doubt anything will be back to 'Normal', so we'll all have to embrace a New Normal I guess.