Hello Everyone! Well, another week has blurred past. It’s gotten a bit colder this week in Washington, but we’ve had a lot of sunshine which has helped prop up my spirits most days. It’s already light when I get up in the morning and the sun is out until almost 8 p.m. which I’m really enjoying. I’m looking forward to some beautiful spring days with plenty of sitting-outside weather in the coming weeks. We can fire up the barbecue and the outdoor fire pit and at least be able to enjoy the outdoor section of our shelter. I’ve still been getting out for at least one long walk a day, and the flowers are still fantastic around our part of the city. If nothing else it’s been wonderful to focus on the changing colors of spring in our Nation’s Capital.
Emotionally, it’s been another week of ups and downs though. I had another friend in my close friends network lose a parent this week, and my heart goes out to her and her family. Hard times on top of hard times. Meanwhile another friend is slowly recovering from the virus and doing better by the day. One of my good friends and loyal readers of this blog celebrated his birthday this week, so a big shout-out to Rob on his special day. Ten of us got together on Zoom to celebrate and it was good to see that particular group all in one place, even if it was done virtually. I have one photo that’s on the back of my sun visor in Shadow Catcher which I look at when I’m feeling particularly lonely on the road. Most of the people in that picture were on this call so it made me feel good to be a part of it. On Friday, my folks and I had a Roaring Twenties Prohibition Party in the basement. We sipped fancy cocktails, threw some dice, listened to some cool jazz and big band music and focused our attention away from the quarantine and virus for a few hours. It’s been really nice to have these “parties” and escape from reality for a little while.
As long-time readers know, I was brought up in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. Since we don’t celebrate Easter before or during Passover, this past Sunday was our Easter celebration. It was sad to not have my brother and his kids join us, as they have since the children were very young, but we did catch up on the phone at least. I set up my projector upstairs so we could catch the church service late on Saturday night, and it was beautiful to watch despite the gravity of seeing a massive church all but empty. When the service ended at about 1 a.m. we had our breaking-of-the-fast meal and a little champagne to celebrate. We spent Sunday enjoying some traditional foods and relaxing. I wrote about our Easter celebration in a post two years ago, which you can read HERE if you are interested.
I’ve also gotten out to take some photos around the neighborhood this week. As I mentioned above, we’ve had some beautiful (if chilly) sunny days, and I’ve been trying to take advantage of them to keep my photo skills up and enjoy my own backyard. I always try and publish my posts on relevant Facebook groups, and this time around it was my own “You Might Have Grown Up In…” group that they went up in. One of my favorite things about doing this is sparking old memories for people who may have been away for many years, or providing a fresh look at places people walk by every day but long ago stopped really seeing. It has been extra special these last few days interacting with people who grew up in my neighborhood where I have more of a frame of reference to actually participate in those discussions. It’s been fun and a real boost to my (and hopefully their) morale, and I think I’ll try and keep them going while I’m home.
I’ve been getting a little writing done this week, which has been good, but still not as much as I would like to. I’m definitely starting to fall into a rhythm though, and hopefully that will lead to greater productivity in the weeks to come. I have continued practicing my yoga, using YouTube as my teacher, and I’m really starting to feel some benefits from it. I’m starting to understand what all the fuss is about. It’s nice to feel my flexibility improving, but it’s also just a relaxing pursuit. I’ve also been playing my guitar a fair bit, and I’ve enjoyed getting lost in it in the evening and then realizing several hours have passed and that’s why my fingers are starting to hurt. Slow and steady with both, but it’s nice to see some improvement. I’ve also been using YouTube to learn some things I’m curious about and always wanted to learn which has been cool. This week I learned how to field dress a deer and how to ride a motorcycle. If I’m going to zone out with some screen time, at least I want to be learning things.
And that’s about all I have to report for the week. It’s been relatively quiet as expected, and that’s been okay. At this point, I’m definitely glad I made the decision to come home when I did. It’s not at all what I had planned for this spring, but under the circumstances I’m really glad to be on familiar turf, where I don’t have too much to worry about and I can get some work done. Many thanks to my folks for putting me up.
I hope you’re all having a good week out there wherever you are. Life is long, and in the long run this will just be a couple of months. Years from now we’ll remember these times, but they won’t be nearly as traumatic as they are in our heads right now. Please remember to watch your health and fitness, find time to breathe and appreciate the quiet and the cleaner air, and as always hope for the best while you plan for the worst. Enjoy your week out there the best you are able to, and try and learn one new skill on YouTube or elsewhere this week and let me know in the comments what you chose to tackle.
See you right here next week.
-Mike