Life Can Turn on a Dime

Life can turn on a dime-

This photo was taken here in the park by Tom Bauer the night of the Super Moon.

We were supposed to fly to Virginia 2 weeks ago and see two of my kids and 4 grandchildren. We were supposed to go to the Washington Nationals home opener and stay with good friends in Richmond. We were supposed to have some doctor visits. I was going to color Easter eggs with Lexi and Chase and Polette and Garvey, have long talks with Greta and Peter, and have dinner with old friends.

We were supposed to leave for Alaska this week. We were supposed to….

The novel corona virus happened. Suddenly there is nothing certain. We have no plans beyond the present. We think about our own deaths more and long to see and hug our loved ones. I call my kids when I need to hear their voices. I did Zoom meetings with my sisters one week and a brother and sister-in-law joined us the next week.

I do not get bored. As long as there is internet and books, I can always find interesting things to do. Until I ran out of interfacing, I was making masks. The park has over 700 people who are here- about 500 more than usually stay for the summer and everyone has a mask thanks to the many “sewists” here. I sent some to my kids and grandkids. More interfacing has arrived and the demand is still great so I will make more this week.




Steve and I feel guilty because we are healthy and able and could be helping at some hospital or clinic. We wish we could get a light case of the novel corona virus, get immunity, and then we could volunteer to help to make life easier for someone. It feels like we should be doing something! But we are 68 and 69 and should act with wisdom and stay home. But now more than ever the fact that our only home is the RV and that unless we take the chance of traveling will remain our only home for an unknown amount of time is kind of unsettling.

I am in the middle of a book called "The Lost Wife" about a Jewish couple who lost each other during WWII.  The thousands of families who suddenly lost all their property and savings and feared for their lives suddenly feels less distant. The hatred and propaganda and conspiracy theories and falsehoods seem all too familiar.

When the President’s daily briefing starts I wait until the lying starts and then I leave the main area of the RV and go back to watch movies in the bedroom. My anger and outrage do no good to anyone.

Lessons learned during the Corona -19 virus:

1.     Do not ask your husband to cut your hair, even if he once was an excellent surgeon. Also do not do that haircut outside if the wind is blowing or even if it’s just a breeze. It makes cutting a straight line impossible. Keep in mind that if you ask for an inch and a half off it will turn into 3 inches by the time he stops trying to straighten the cut. Oh well, no one will see you for months anyway so give it a try.
2.     Your kids and grandkids will survive just fine without you but they would prefer to have you alive somewhere else than dead near to them.
3.     If you have running water, hot showers, good food, a good bed, flush toilets, and toilet paper you have much more than the Jews did for years in concentration camps and more than many Native Americans have today in the U.S. Complaints from anyone who has these things are not tolerable.
4.     Daily exercise gives structure to each day that increases mental and emotional health.
5.     If you are totally content being with one other person for days on end without interaction with anyone else, you are truly loved and blessed.
6.     Books, the internet, TV and movies are a luxury that you should not take for granted.
7.     Reruns of golf tournaments and baseball games make Steve happy.
8.     The number of people who post falsehoods, conspiracy theories, and that are taken in by gaslighting during a time of crisis is frightening.

Recommendations:

Netflix- Unorthodox, based on the true story of a woman who left the Hasidic Jewish      
              community. The English Game, fascinating story of the men involved in the  
              beginning of what we know as soccer. The Crown, the history of the current 
              Queen Elizabeth made more interesting by our last trip to England when we saw 
              the throne, the jewels, Kensington Palace...

Books – Before We Were Yours, a novel based on the true story of the Tennessee 
              Children’s Home Society, a scandal that our country allowed from the 1930’s to 
              1950. The Lost Wife, a novel based on the story of a married couple separated by 
              WWII in Prague.

Spring in Arizona brings lovely temperatures and the cacti start to flower. 



Photo by Christine Stallard- here in the park

Photo by Christine Stallard here in the park.

Landscaping around the park.


Life is precious. Hold it, and each other, carefully each day.



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