End of the tunnel ...

Just finished editing the account of the Covid 19 pandemic, aka Damncovid, that my friend/cousin and I wrote during the times -- from 2020 through 2023. Phew... it was a job... interesting. Many of you may recall reading in this blog some time ago that we began this "project" to record the stories of two rural Nanas and their families during the pandemic.  As it stands now, the audience will be limited to current family and to generations on down the line.  It is a universal story, yet personal as well.

Anyway -- we wrote daily, communicating via email.  I wrote in the mornings, she in the evenings -- each sharing the events of our lives and feelings, including some fears and confusion as we worked our way through the challenges of living in and through a pandemic.  Needless to say our experiences may differ from yours, but I am thinking that they share common issues as well.  We both agree that the writing helped us get through those times the way hoped we would. We had positive goals. We helped each other. We consider ourselves and our families to be very fortunate. We are thankful.

Although the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the COVID-19 Pandemic officially over as of May 11, 2023 , many of us in rural America felt the end much earlier and transitioned away from emergency procedures well before for that time.  In fact… many of us were able to live relatively normal lives during the three years preceding the official end. Some of us did not play the game at all or played only when it was deemed unavoidable or in respect of other people's fears. I think, in some ways, that rural America felt sorry for city dwellers ... even the ones who look down on us  -- thinking that their way of life is somehow better. Ironic, isn't it?

Also important to remember is that all lives across the entire world  were touched in some way by the pandemic.  Many were touched in a close, painfully personal way with loss of loved ones and friends. Other lives were forever changed by the fears of the pandemic – many of which were exaggerated by those in leadership as they struggled to control an independent thinking populace. The pandemic had a vast array of side-effects including separating friendships and dividing families. The distrust of authority, medicine, and government bubbled above the surface and continues to seep and spread. Tragic on so many levels. Such sad side-effects are a part of a pandemic story for sure even though they are, perhaps, overlooked to some degree. For example, there is a tendency for some not to remember that they wanted to put the non-vaxed (of which I am one) into concentration camps and that they basically treated/shunned them like they had serious cooties and were responsible for the ills of the whole world. 

Anyway -- Our chronical of those times runs from March 13, 2020 to mid 2022.  It is long; it is a reminder; it is a story of coming out at the other end of the tunnel, perhaps a bit bumped and bruised, but nevertheless stronger, and hopefully more compassionate, kinder people... thankful to be survivors.  

We are playing with titles. They are...  View from Two Porches and the more sarcastic Two Weeks to Slow the Spread. The second title suggested by my son.  Having a hard time deciding.  Ideas?

One note...  it is amazing how much time softens.  Many struggles even get pushed way back into dark, hide to find, corners.  Perhaps, though, it is good to remember all the parts.  Perhaps remembering helps to explain the current insanity of the world... people reacting to being forced into isolation or to being pressured to take an experimental drug inaccurately labeled a vaccine... a decision that more and more people now seriously regret. Many current, demonstrators are caught up in rebellion for the sake of rebellion. Ignorant as they are,  they now feel empowered to force their opinions on others - and also believe that they have the right to interfere and complicate the day to day lives of others. Is this because they saw the government get away with such behavior? Wish I knew how to make things better. Perhaps writing and documenting will help in the long run.  Hope so. 

One thing I do know -- I hope none of us ever have to go through a pandemic again. Another thing I know... I am sick and tired of angry screamers and hateful faces. I am also bored with the lack of sense of humor and humanity of those particular woke who think they have some "special" kind of awareness that gives them rights above others ... that somehow entitles them to condescend to those who may disagree with them on the issues of the day. 

It is time to move forward and put the tunnel behind. We need to see that there is light at the other end.  We need to begin again and to remember who we are and who we want to be. We need to listen and to think. 

Dinner guests...

Was thinking about Ayn Rand the other day - one of my "if you could share a meal or have some time to talk with a person from any time period in history, who would that person be?" list. She is right there at the top -- along with Joseph Campbell.  Anyway ... how are these Rand quotations for food for thought?

        The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop            me?

        The smallest minority on earth is the individual.  Those who deny            individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.

        The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which                        everybody had decided not to see.

Second question. Excluding beloved family and friends, who are on a most special list of their very own, who would be at the top of your list if you could have dinner with a person from any time period in history?

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By the way -- this blog is now being viewed each week by over 1000 individuals in Hong Kong and a growing number in mainland China.  It would be wonderful to know how they found me.  Just sayin'. 

 Also -- a Thank You to everyone who reads From Pencil Box to Keyboard.  

Turn Around

A total eclipse of the sun is a once in a lifetime thing and all, and before I actually witnessed it, I was not sure that I understood all the hoopla about it.  Someone told me that the one hotel and at least one of the BnBs in town were entirely booked months ahead of time. They saw it in the local newspaper apparently. It was expected all through the path of the eclipse that there would be an influx of people coming in to witness and they did. There were streets blocked off and parties all over the place.  Here -- a man at the grocery store told me that his neighbor had rented out space in his back yard at $50/tent. The upcoming eclipse was all over social media and TV news programs. It became a "happening".  I began to appreciate that apparently, for a lot people, a total eclipse is a really big deal. Pre-eclipse me, on the other hand, figured it would get dark for a few minutes and then it would get light again. And that is exactly what happened, but... the thing is... it became a really big deal for me too.  It was more than I anticipated.  It was awesome and I shared the experience with most special people and that made it even better. Bonus.  The gradual darkness, the sounds and the stillness, the excited voices off in the distance, the slow return to bright sunlight ... sort of a fresh start somehow.  

Also note worthy though - at least to me -- is the scientific explanation and random speculation about the meaning of it all. Science teachers, at all levels from elementary school through the graduate level had a heyday with the opportunity to explain and teach. I am happy for them. Interesting info there.  I read reports and listened to interviews. Good stuff.  I also read speculation about portals opening and still can’t understand what people are thinking, and there were other sorts of unusual (some might even say weird) things too. In addition -- on a most serious level, there were those who wondered about Biblical prophecy as well and had come to believe that the world would end in those few moments.  I hope they were not too disappointed that it did not.  At my age I have lost count of the number of times that some have predicted the end of the world. 

Perhaps people just need to have something different, extraordinary once in a while and, when it has passed, simply know that they will come out the other side of it just fine. I think people also relish an amazing shared experience that was unanticipated. I am thankful for it.

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The thing is, after all is said and done and looking back on the pre-eclipse me, I am also wondering what is the matter with me? In anticipation of the eclipse, I had a song from the 80's replaying in my head.  Remember Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart"? I think of it as the "Turn Around" song.  Then as I watched news coverage from Indianapolis where NASA had set up one of their fancy telescopes, that song was playing loudly in the background and the newscaster even mentioned it.   What?  Are you singing it right now?  

Stick Season

In the lovely state of Vermont there is a celebration of what local inhabitants call stick season. This "fifth season" of each year fits sometime between late October and the first serous snows of December. It begins after the leaves fall and is celebrated as a quiet time to relax and prepare a bit for winter without all the summer visitors and autumn foliage viewing, camera toting tourists. It is a time to breathe before the skiers and other winter sports people invade as they tend to do. I learned this interesting tidbit from my son, who used to live in Rutland, Vermont where he worked at the nearby Killington Ski Resort. Yes ... he was big into skiing at that time and the stick thing is just one of the interesting tidbits he has learned along his way. It came to mind recently when he heard a song by Noah Kahan about Stick Season and he shared all this info with me when there was a lull in the conversation when he was visiting recently.  Anyway ...

In Pennsylvania I suggest that stick season is the early days of spring, like right now,  when you discover what has been forced to the ground after a winter of blustering winds and the temporary cover of snow. This year, sticks are prevalent - maybe more than usual. I can't help but notice, on my way to the mailbox at the road, that even the newly emerged earth worms are having to crawl around and over them on their way to wherever it is that they go while they are above ground. It must be annoying for them.  It is sort of annoying for me as I try to avoid stepping on them, but I do enjoy the annual picking up of sticks for some reason. I pick them up one by one using muscles I have not used since the last stick season and pay for that later with muscle ouchies and what I call "the good tired" at the end of a working outside type day.  I burn some of the sticks, cut some and save it for firewood and just roll some of the "too big to handle" ones off to the side to deal with later or never. Some of my neighbors have already told me that they have enough firepit wood for the season and not to share with them again this year.  My sticks apparently are similar to the annual sharing of extra zucchini squash from an over abundant harvest of an over productive garden. If you live around here, you know how that can be. We tend to be zucchini rich and we like to share. 

Ah Spring -- the time of sticks, kite flying, tax preparation, and digging out your guide to surviving pot holes.

One more thing....  Can anyone else smell the worms when they first appear in these early days?  Just curious...

Soul Nudge...

Ran across a FaceBook post this week that, I think, is an important reminder that we need to be nice to each other. The anonymous writer of the story used the term "soul nudge" -- the feeling that you must simply reach out to someone because you sense that they need you. You have no idea why they need you, but you get this feeling that you simply must reach out in some kind way.  As my wonderful Mom used to say -- be nice to people.  You never know what they are going through ... you never know what is in the bags of rocks that they carry with them -- rocks you cannot see, and... we all have our own bag. Remember that.  Then a few days later, a friend of mine recounted to me her experience in a check-out line at the local grocery store in which an exceedingly mean person in front of her in line was giving the clerk an exceedingly miserable experience.  Seriously... it's enough. And so -- this blog emerges...  "Soul Nudge".

Am thinking that I am not alone these days is finding myself in a world that has turned upside down a bit. Current events across the world are alarming. I check in with news about twice a day always wondering what new horror is emerging -- all the while hoping that something - anything- might be going right. I keep wondering how things could get worse ... and then they do.  Some days it is hard to maintain my optimistic view of life. I know there have been other times throughout history with great worldwide challenges. Perhaps this is just our time to face a few and see what we are made of. I guess the pandemic wasn't enough of a lesson. Then, on top of it all, there are the personal challenges we all have as well.  It’s exhausting. 

It is in this world of today where I am feeling the soul nudge the strongest.  I think others feel it too.  Hope so. I do see that some are giving other people some space to find their way through these times.  Then again -- others -- not so much. There is too much intolerance (and worse) across the board. Meanness abounds, let along even bigger "things". What harm would a bit of tolerance and kindness do? People need other people.  We are all in these times together no matter who or of what beliefs we are.

“Our life evokes our character.” (I so love these words of Joseph Campbell.) I personally feel that we should listen to and trust the "soul nudge".  ... even something as easy to give as a smile can change someone's day.  It's not a little thing. My mom also used to say that you cannot change or fix the problems of the world, but you can reach out to those you are able to touch. I am thinking that is her version of the "soul nudge". That woman definitely had a certain special wisdom.

Dust balls, spider webs, dirty windows, and ... my friend Margaret...

It's that time of year.  Spring is here  -- or at least that is what the calendar says.   The winter sun has changed ... intensified ... brightened somehow, and, once in a while, shines piercingly through dirty windows, highlighting spiderwebs and dust balls, as if the time change isn't enough of an insult to one's way of life.  Here come thoughts of Spring cleaning ...  ugh. The good thing though, for those of us in NW Pennsylvania, is that it is also time to put the screens back in, open the windows, and let fresh air inside (if it isn't snowing) - after months of the house being closed up tightly to survive the cold and ... the heat bills.  

I eagerly await for the lawn and pasture to "firm up" a bit -- still too soggy to really work outside even with Muck boots, but ... there is the holding promise of warmer days. You see -- here's the thing. I would rather work outside than inside... although, I do enjoy a clean house.  I am a picker up of sticks more than a chaser of the ever returning "dust bunny".  I prefer the light manual labor of outside. I hire out the big stuff or ignore it as much as possible.  As for inside, I have all the necessary tools for the essential chores in order to get them done as simply and quickly as possible... including an ever faithful Roomba for under the beds. Yes... it is outside for me -- where I can wander about and take my time with things after several months of being inside in front of the fireplace. I am a fresh air kind of person.

Further -- must mention.... I also have my good olde friend, Margaret, to help out with the annual cleanup of the lawn and pasture.  Margaret is a 2007 Trail Hand Bush Hog vehicle with an automatic dumper. She rests in my small barn all winter just waiting patiently under her tarp.  She is bright red. Her cargo bed will tolerate 1000 lbs. or so.  She is a hard worker. I can load up my battery operated saws and trimmers, pile assorted rakes and my Grandpa's Weeder into her cargo bed, take off into the back pasture or around the yard and Margaret makes light work of it all.  Good olde Margaret.  Don't know what I would do without her.  She doesn't go too fast like the side-by-sides of today... just sort of fast enough to get the job done and for the pre-drivers license grand to drive around too. She is a multi-purpose vehicle for sure. It's almost time.  Am looking forward to it. 

Happy Spring....   May the sun shine on you. I wish you gentle breezes as you go about your days.

Blessings in time...

I am blessed beyond my dreams and among my many blessings are three grandchildren ages 26, 17 and 13.  The thing is -- I don't understand.... How did they get to be so grown up so quickly?  It's remarkable. I look at them and still see them as children in my heart memories and yet -- they are not. It seems that it happened all of a sudden. I need to catch up. I had the same perplexing situation over time with my own children. Suddenly they are married, parents and ... poof... the years fly.  Wonderful, interesting and fun people all.  Like I said -- blessed beyond....

Was chatting with my granddaughter the other day and she asked me if I would like the viewpoint of a 13 year old. She was most serious about this. I responded that I would indeed like that, and I listened very carefully to her insightful perspective and realized, once again, how observant and smart she is.  My 26 yr old grandson called me from his car to check on me recently -- how nice is that? He was driving from Terre Haute, Indiana (where he lives) to some place in Illinois and took the time to call me. (I don't see him very often, so the call was especially welcomed.) Then a few days later my newly 17 year old grandson stopped in to do a few things for me that I probably (definitely) could have done myself but didn't want to... he stayed to chat a bit and didn't even seem to be in a hurry to be off.  Among other outstanding and positive traits, he has the most wonderful smile and ... shares it - something not always common at that age. Trust me. I know this having worked with teenagers for decades. Yes... I am blessed.  I am reminded in these memories that all moments of connection are important... each and every single one of them.

Time passes so quickly.  We all know that. We also all know that we need to cherish each day, each conversation, each shared moment, each blessing... gifts all. I am thinking that you, too, are thankful for your many blessings in time. It is those small moments of connection that are caught in memory. I also am thinking and reminding myself that it is important to share gratitude.  

 

" Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." (William Arthur Ward)