Lockdown – 10 things I’m thankful for

Who doesn’t love a top 10 list? With all of this time on my hands, I wanted to share with you some things I’m grateful for during this challenging time.

A Comfortable Home

Linda and I once lived in a house that was pretty big. In fact, we nicknamed it the Big Ass House which we then abbreviated to the BAH. When we moved in, we looked around and said, we’ve got so much room! After a few years, we managed to fill all that space with stuff. When we sold that stuff in an estate sale, we couldn’t believe all the things we owned.

When we moved into Scoopy, our 38-foot Class A motorhome, we were very comfortable. We didn’t miss the big house and we didn’t miss having all that space.

Then we sold Scoopy and bought Bijou. Now our space was reduced to 21 feet. This is our current home and we are very happy with it. So happy, in fact, that the prospect of riding this coronavirus lockdown out for a potentially long time doesn’t faze us. We have everything we need. When Linda zigs, I zag and somehow we make it work. Bijou is surprisingly comfortable for such a relatively small rig.

A Safe Place

Security is one of the most important things in a crisis like this. We were in a state of flux when all the news began spreading of potential lockdowns. We weren’t sure where we were going to stay if it was to be for an extended period of time. We got out of Spain just as the borders were closing and, within days of reaching France, the government imposed their lockdown.

As is well documented on this blog, we found a great campground. We are tucked all the way in at the back and have a view of the entire park. When we hear a sound in the distance, we go into lookout mode. What that looks like is something from the frontlines of a battle. We duck down and look out the windshield with out binoculars for a potential enemy. Usually, it’s a false alarm. We look at each other, breathe a collective sigh and get back to what we were doing. Despite those interruptions, we really do feel quite safe here. The more days that pass, the more we feel at ease.

Virtual Community

I’m glad we live in an era where technology allows us to communicate so easily. Our kids are in Washington and California. Linda’s parents are in Texas and my family is in Ireland. We have friends scattered all over the globe.

With all of this time on my hands, I’ve made a much bigger effort to stay in touch with everyone. Although we are not physically together, I do feel like I have a decent daily social life. Linda and I are looking into setting up video conferencing software so we can gather our family for virtual get togethers.

I don’t use Facebook all that much but it’s a great way to check in on how everyone is doing during the lockdown. That makes me feel even less isolated. Because this virus has touched all of us, we each have something new in common.

Health

Thankfully Linda and I are in good general health and are not in need of frequent visits to a doctor or hospital. We are well stocked with medicine should we have any kind of mild illness. We have passed the 14-day mark in isolation and, so far, neither of us have any COVID-19 symptoms. Fingers crossed.

Music

Music has always been a huge part of my life and I try to include it in my day as much as I can. Linda and I have a long list of favorite songs and I’ve gathered them into a playlist on Spotify. Occasionally I play DJ and, although we’ve listened to the same songs over and over hundreds of times, we still love it. Music makes us happy, it’s as simple as that.

Food

I’m definitely lucky to have a partner who loves to cook. My culinary skills are largely limited to cutting onions and cleaning up. You’ve heard of turning water into wine? Well, we haven’t quite mastered that yet but Linda can make a gourmet meal out of the most basic ingredients. There’ll be times in the evening where I’ll ask her “have we thought about what to have for dinner?” (one of the rare times the royal we doesn’t mean me) and she’ll say “not really.” Then, half an hour later, I’m eating a spectacular meal. I don’t know how she does it but, what I can say is that it’s truly a miracle!

Photography

You all know, by now, that photography is my passion. It consumes many hours of my day. I love doing it, reading about it, writing about it and teaching it. I can always find something to shoot no matter what the circumstances. The more I’m challenged, the better. I’m thinking about how I can document this experience in stills and/or video. Another exciting project!

Books

Books have always brought me joy (except while I was in school, I hated them then). Mostly, I love the feeling of an actual book in my hands. I like turning pages, the smell of the ink, the book cover and not worrying about seeing the words when there is full sunlight. Of course, there is a tremendous advantage in being able to read and store ebooks on Kindle too, especially living in such a small place. I am still blown away that I can think about a book I want to read and be able to purchase and download it in seconds. Another miracle and a godsend in long- or short-term isolation.

Time for Projects

I’ve already talked about getting projects done while in lockdown but I’ll say it again in the context of this list. Being able to plan something and then complete it without distractions is something new to me. I think most of the barriers I’ve experienced in the past are in my own head but now that we are standing still indefinitely everything is predictable. I wake up, make a plan and execute on it. Simple. None of these projects are huge. For instance, I cleaned both of our bikes recently. They were covered in dust and sand from our Morocco trip. Not a big job but I felt a sense of accomplishment. Another thing I’ve been chomping at the bit to start is categorizing the thousands of photographs I have on my computer. I told Linda that the way I look at it is I’m doing all of these projects in preparation for our eventual departure. By the time we can safely leave, I will be a lot more organized.

Each Other

How could I possibly write a list of things to be thankful for without mentioning Linda? Finding a life partner, in general, is tough at best but finding someone to share this fulltiming life with all its challenges and rewards, is nothing short of a gift. We have so much in common yet we are very different. Somehow we have found a rhythm together that really works. Even in such a small home, we still manage to give each other space and we wake up every day happy to be together. It really doesn’t get any better than that. And, while I appreciate that every day, I am particularly aware of it in this lockdown.

So that’s it folks. Although there can be a lot to worry about with current world events, I feel like focusing on the positive will help get me through it all more easily.

Next up: Big adventure to the grocery store!!

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