My spouse’s birthday was this past week. I’d been planning the day we would spend together for weeks. Luckily, since we are ‘in the woods’ kind of people, the need to social distance from other humans didn’t affect us much.
The day started out in much the same fashion as many others. We got up….well…that’s pretty much where the routine ended. I dashed out the door to run a couple of errands, including getting coffee and going to the Laundromat before all the other humans in my community started stirring. I was feeling pretty good about supporting local businesses and before I knew it, it was getting on towards noon.
We’d planned to meet at the house at noon and head out to hike. We are fortunate to live about an hour away from a national forest. We were in a slight dilemma about taking our dogs, one of which is 7. Since the day was warm and our 7-year-old is as black as midnight, we didn’t know if it would be too much for her. But we decided to include them, and decided that we could cut short our hike, if our girl seemed in distress.
It was a beautiful warm spring day and driving to the forest was lovely for both canines and humans. We tuned up some Lynyrd Skynyrd, rolled the windows down and set out with our backpack full of beef jerky, nutty granola bars and water.
The hike proved to be both challenging and rewarding. We walked for a few hours, taking breaks to water the animals and ourselves. We talked a little, but mostly we enjoyed listening to the birdsong, the hard breathing, the distant roar of a motorcycle now and then and the steady thomp of all 12 feet of our collective party.
I can’t tell you how pleasing this experience was. I’m learning to relax into social distancing and finding peace with my own company. It doesn’t hurt that I’m sheltering in place with my best friend and life partner.
Our hike was an out and back; we hiked to the top of a ridge and then turned to make our meandering way back to the car. About halfway back, we began to fatigue and I noticed a new sound, the regular harmupf of a toe that stumbles over a root or rock and the consequent rapid intake of air as we caught ourselves before a nasty fall. It made me wonder how we, as a culture, will react as we fatigue of self-isolation. Will we be brave soldiers and understand that our actions are necessary to save others? Will we view our actions as heroic?
Or will we become sullen and slovenly, eating all the junk food we can find and binge watching Netflix?
Or will we become peaceful and content and relish the company of ourselves and our animals?
I don’t know the answer. I suspect there will be a little of all 3. I am worried about the folks in the restaurant and hospitality industry, but frankly, I think this is going to affect the financial situations of all of us. I hope the small businesses survive. I hope that we will remain kind and looking out for one another.
Everyone is doing the best they can. May this blogpost bring you peace. May you find some comfort. And when you you yell into the void, ‘Hellllooooo!’ know that someone out there is listening.