Like most vacations, pleasure fades and boredom sets in. That’s when spring-cleaning the house became purposeful. I jumped aboard on the windows. Motivated by my know-how at first, soon the interest waned. Now nearly 50% of the panes are still streaked along with a few cobwebs in their corners. Next spring?
One thing that hasn’t changed during this unusual period for many is humour. People may laugh hysterically over some coronavirus-related one-liners, while others find them inappropriate. Jokes spread like wildfire. I guess you can call it gallows humour, especially when it pokes fun of the very fear-inducing uncertainties we’re anxious about in the first place?
Some phrases took on new meanings. “Money laundering” is no longer reserved for criminals. It now also means sanitizing your cash with spray or wipes “Put on your mask” is now heard as a social distance counter-measure, versus preparing for an illegal bank withdrawal.
I don’t like being lectured: “Try to eat healthy meals, exercise, get plenty of sleep and avoid excessive alcohol.” Instead, I practice with a few extra drinks and eat plenty of chocolate while watching hours of Netflix shows. Many hours too, is watching the pandemic unfold around the world – that is until it was overshadowed by numerous protests against police injustices to minority groups.
So many worried about how their hair will look when all of this is over. I have a friend who was frantic about his hair growing so long that it was partnering with his ears. His wife was afraid to take the scissors to it for a trim and he was too. Where’s the willpower for self-preservation? Another friend took free university courses in the arts. Again, I don’t like being lectured, so I skipped on learning anything new.
A “drive-by celebration” used to mean a dangerous situation in the days of Al Capone now means people driving by, honking and waving to a first responder. Our Black Hatters group (Beachburg, Lapasse, Westmeath, and Pembroke members) had met for lunch once every month for a dozen years. The pandemic halted that but we are planning a tail-gate party and gather on someone’s property, bringing our own food and cutlery of course.
Often overheard in grocery stores: “Damn! What I want is halfway down that aisle, but the arrow points in the wrong direction!” What does it mean when a repairman states: “I’m working from home?” I lost air-conditioning last week, making numerous calls to the service tech to convince him that the problem needed to be fixed at my place.
The only way to stop the spread of the virus is to continue to spread away from each other. However, social distancing and self-quarantine doesn’t have to mean social isolation. “Talking with the neighbours,” might mean shouting at them from across the street. But these little breaks from watching, reading, or listening to upsetting news stories in a constant stream are healthy for us.
If you’ve been suffering through weird, vivid dreams since staying at home, you are definitely not alone. According to sleep experts there’s a good chance that unavoidable changes in sleep patterns and in our daily routines have led us to feeling like living through frightening or downright peculiar scenarios in our dreams, brought on by additional preventive stress.
Accept that there may be disappointment or frustration. We are advised to stick to a daily routine, or create new ones. I always make the bed before noon. I also do crossword puzzles in between Netflix shows each day but only the easy to moderately difficult ones.
Stay connected to each other. Now more than ever we need to find humor amid fear, and then intentionally infect others with its benefits and healing qualities. Even laugh at the absurdity of this surreal situation.
