Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

It occurred to me it’s been a while since I posted here, so on the off chance anyone’s keeping up, I thought I’d add a post to say I’m still among the living, as is the rest of the family, thankfully.

This past Monday marked one full month since my last day at the office, which is officially the longest period I’ve been away, including my honeymoon and family leave for each of the kids. After the first week or so, the days started to blend together, so it’s hard to keep track of the day of the week or the calendar date. Or to care, really. I was corresponding with a friend out West and mentioned the state of the weather, adding “not that it matters.”

Since starting the “work at home” plan, I’ve been through my birthday as well as Jason’s, and Easter. I fully expect to spend Mother’s Day and maybe Father’s Day in isolation, as well. The boys’ Scoutmaster is posting updates and reminders about Summer Camp scheduled for July, but if it actually happens I’ll be shocked. It’s pretty weird after being a slave to the calendar and clock for so long to find myself five weeks into a mushy limbo where time means nothing and there’s no point in trying to plan anything.

I’m determined not to let this time go to waste, though, so I’m catching up on my reading and taking guitar lessons on Fender Play. We’ve also done some home improvement projects that were on the back burner for a long time. I need to churn out some art projects, as well. But it’s not like I have nothing to do: if anything, I’m spending more time on my day job now than when I had an office to go to.

I thought I’d try to focus on more pleasant things here, so now just for fun I’ll share some photos taken on our BSA troop’s last camping trip (for the foreseeable future) in February. We went to D.C. and after decades of visits, I finally got around to going up in the Washington Monument for the first time. Here’s a view looking East to the Capitol dome.

Another looking North to the White (orange?) House:

Then West to the Lincoln Memorial:

…and South to the Jefferson Memorial, and Virginia.

It was a neat experience seeing the city from that height, and strange to think that the entire experience may be off-limits for the foreseeable future: walking past throngs on the Mall, taking a ride up in a crowded elevator, jostling shoulder to shoulder with 20 or so people to stare out of windows from a confined space. Heck, just driving somewhere outside of my neighborhood.

If there’s an upside to this self-isolation mess, it’s been spending time with Laura and the kids. Luckily for us, we all like each other. My “commute” now involves going upstairs to the guest room, all my lunches are spent the kitchen table with the family and if I don’t want to take a shower until mid-morning, no one complains. Well, almost no one.

I’ve no doubt we’ll get through this all somehow, though what life will be like on the other side of it, no one can say. As of right now, I’m expecting to be housebound until mid-June at least. By then it might even be a pleasure to see that empty calendar start filling up again. If it happens.