We’ve been doing great, accepting ever-more-stringent isolation rules as they are announced. But it was all bound to come to a head eventually. Despite what people think homeschoolers do, this kind of isolation is neither normal nor healthy for us. Under normal circumstances, we don’t go more than a day or two at a time without seeing friends.
But the last two days were dusty and windy out, the kind of dust storm that kicks allergies into high gear. We all started feeling like we had sore throats, some of us started coughing, and a few of us started to get truly worried that we had somehow contracted Covid-19. Of course we didn’t, those were all allergy symptoms. But the anxiety and fear made for a few tense days.
Thankfully today the dust subsided and we were able to spend a little time in the backyard and pool, soaking up some good vitamin D and rejuvenating our moods.
It’s amazing how a little sun on our skin can make such a huge difference. Of course, the bigger stressors still remain: how long will this last? And when life starts to go back to normal here, how will things be in the US which is a good month or two behind us on the virus curve? Our international move is basically on hold. The movers gave us a quote some time ago, but we couldn’t give them a date. And through all of this, of course, we are mindful of the privilege we have to be stressing about these kinds of things when others are losing jobs, getting behind on rent payments and worrying about food security.
I feel so, so fortunate to have a backyard with a pool that at least means we are not confined to the indoors 24/7. Many, many people here live in apartment buildings where communal pools have now closed, gyms are closed, and they are literally confined within the four walls of their apartments. I still can’t quite wrap my head around the fact that almost everyone in the entire world is in the same boat–socially isolated, concerned about their health and stressed about a whole lot of things that are suddenly out of their control.