Is It Time?

     My wife B hates to talk about her health or her kids. Her health is good, so there's nothing for her to talk about. She gets along with her kids just fine, but she just thinks there ought to be more interesting things for adults to discuss, like what books we've read, what movies we've seen, where we've traveled, what unusual experiences we've had, what kind of spiritual issues are concerning us these days.

     Okay, there's one exception. She does love to talk about her grandchildren (don't we all!). But otherwise she just doesn't want to be one of those old ladies who sits around and brags (or complains) about her kids, or reviews ad nauseam her latest back pain, blood pressure medication, sleep disorder, memory lapse or surgical procedure.

     However, now things have changed very quickly. Her health is still good (well, just a touch of arthritis), but like the rest of us she is worried about the Coronavirus, anxious about getting back out into the world, focusing too much on her aches and pains, and sick and tired of self-isolating at home.

Gnome ... thinking

     So, like the rest of us . . .

     Carol Cassara of A Healing Spirit, says the hardest thing about this period of time is that we don't know what lies ahead, and the unknown often produces anxiety. In her post How Do We Prepare for Walking into the Unknown? she offers eight ways to move forward into our new environment -- with less stress and more confidence.

     Rebecca Olkowski with BabyBoomer.com admits she's going a little batty, just like Carol would predict, especially since she's temporarily stuck living in a rented room in a house. So as she tells us in When You Have to Stay at Home, Go Searching for Gnomes, she decided to check out the various trolls populating her LA neighborhood. The gnomes, she notes, could care less about the pandemic and are content to spend their time sitting in gardens, laughing at all us humans.

     Jennifer of Untold and Begin admits that she's been in a funk, and it's been taking a toll on her creativity. While she watched other bloggers post about baking, crafting, gardening and writing, she was finding it hard to do anything creative. That is, until she found some yarn and a crochet needle. Check out Time to Reignite Our Creativity to see how far she's progressed.

Libby ... chilling

     Laurie Stone of Musings, Rants & Scribbles also feels the turmoil in the air. There's simply too much happening too fast, she says. The planet seems scarier and more chaotic than ever. Yet there's one member of her family who always seems . . . well, chill. That's her terrier Libby. In How to Stay Chill in This Insane World she offers some coping skills that Libby has taught her.

     Consumer journalist Rita Robison has a different concern. April is Rosacea Awareness Month, so in Understanding Rosacea: It's More Than Just a Red Face she discusses the skin condition that plagues some 16 million Americans. (I, myself, have a touch of rosacea; and more than a touch of arthritis.) She covers the causes, the symptoms and the treatments, and she also offers several other websites where you can get more information.

     Finally, Meryl Baer of Six Decades and Counting says in her corner of the world residents feel that it's time to emerge, slowly and carefully, from weeks of quarantine. In Looking Ahead she notes that the longer days, the spring flowers and the warmth of the sun make it easy to feel optimistic. So folks are now looking forward to simple pleasures like walking the beach, tending the garden, patronizing the ice-cream store . . . and life after quarantine.

     I can't say whether it's time to start venturing out. People will ultimately have to make their own decisions, based on their tolerance for risk and perhaps their tolerance for their spouse, roommate, children, whatever. As for what lies ahead in our new environment -- who knows? But B and I still have some reserves. We can last a while longer. However, last night at dinner the subject of the kids did come up . . . and then we started complaining about our arthritis.