A lot has changed in a week. Schools have been closed for 4 days, thank goodness, and my dogs are ecstatic that their people are home all the time. Three of my boys are living elsewhere for the duration and I’m lucky that the quietest one, (Ryan25), is here with me.
Our house is so serene! Weekdays he has a lecture or two online from his uni for his remedial massage course, so at those times we close the hall door between our 2 living areas and I stay quiet at my end of the house. The rest of the time we do our individual things, meeting to have a chat every now and then, but basically just chilling.
This is what is isolation is like with an adult child. Hang in there, readers with young kids! Life gets easier with time.
Work finished for me on Monday, with our state Premier bringing the school holidays forward by 4 days. I was SO RELIEVED. People who have read my previous post may have picked up on the subtle hints I left that I was getting angrier and angrier with the directives to keep schools open that our government was dishing out. I mean – I love teaching and I love my students, but I certainly don’t want to die for their education! Particularly when our school is incredibly ready to deliver online learning. So yeah, Monday was a good day.
The rest of the week has been a weird mix of feeling like it’s holidays, but getting things ready for teaching on-line next term. I decided that I’m not going near work stuff on my days off, but the other days I’ve been correcting kids’ work, emailing them chasing up work and getting my head around what I’ll be doing next term. English is easy. But I also have a year 9 Drama class. The more ‘artsy’ subjects will look very different for the next little while.
But what’s with the pelican?
I’ve decided that I’ll be avoiding the dog beach for the next little while and instead I’ll be taking the dogs for an early-morning walk along the river each day. Yes, I’m spoiled for choice here! Yesterday we walked further along the riverbank than we ever have in 4 years of living here.
It was beautiful. We began our walk at 7:45 AM – exactly the same time that I’d usually be in the car, fighting the traffic. We strolled down to the end of our street, turned right and walked to the boat ramp. Then, for the first time ever, we kept going.
There were a few people there, walking their dogs, bike riding or jogging, but not many. Every time we passed each other at a safe social distance, we’d nod and say, “Morning” and then go on our ways.
The water was like glass. The sky was blue with fluffy clouds and there was a gentle breeze blowing. You couldn’t ask for more. We stopped to give Scout’s little legs a break and watched some brown ducks swimming by the bank. Every now and then they’d duck-dive, one of then going completely beneath the surface. All we could hear was birdsong and the distant hum of what little traffic there was.
Beyond the boat ramp, as we were walking on the grass up towards the walking track, I saw the pelican sailing majestically on the water. I had no idea that we have pelicans here! Normally I think of them as living in the country, near piers where fisherman toss them their rejects; not here in the city!
And to think that if it was a normal weekday, I’d never have seen it.
I’ve written about the secret to happiness before, but in these strange times I believe that our happiness and contentment are going to come from noticing the little moments that are in every day. The really BIG things that people look forward to have, for the foreseeable future, been put on hold, so the little glinting moments are what we’ll have to look for and consciously enjoy. Otherwise life will seem very dark indeed.
Things I’ve noticed since being home this week:
* Seeing a pelican.
*Listening to my son’s podcast*** and laughing hysterically. He has a way with words, that one!
*Having a virtual meeting with friends from work where we all danced to ‘Staying Alive’ and then chatted about (mostly) non-work related things for an hour. Looking forward to doing it again on Monday. Next song to dance to will be the Thurman/Travolta song from ‘Pulp Fiction.’
*Having a nanna nap with the dogs sleeping beside me. Jeff tends to snore. It’s like having a husband.
*Hearing the little kids next door playing without a care in the world.
*Coming home from the last shopping trip, realising that I’ve got pretty much everything we’ll need for a while.
*That satisfying ‘clunk’ of the gate closing behind me. Unless something unexpected happens, the car will be staying put for a long while.
*The quiet satisfaction of talking with Ryan25 about anything and everything. It’s a beautiful thing to have adult children.
*Being proud of Tom28, who has taken over the responsibility of shopping for my parents because he lives the closest to them.
*Calling my boys and hearing their voices, especially when they say, “I love you” first.
*The dogs… they make me laugh every day. I admit that things would be far lonelier without them.
I’m an introvert at heart, though you wouldn’t know it if you saw me at work! I feel like I’ve been training for self-isolation all my life. But I’m curious.
What are the little things you’ve experienced over the past few days that have make you smile? I’d like to hear about them in the comments if you have the time. 🙂
***My son’s podcast is called ‘The Under The Stairs Show’. He and 2 friends from his acting course at uni talk about all sorts of stuff. It’s often very silly. If you’re so inclined, listen to episode 13 called ‘The Love Shack’ where the boys dissect the lyrics to the classic B-52’s song. Guess which one is Evan23!!!
I think all of us are getting a gift amidst all the inconvenience, hardship, and worry; the gift of time to reflect on what is really important. Time to tease out the treasured moments that, under normal circumstances, often go unnoticed. Thanks for your thoughts and observations from across the globe!
Hey there, thanks for keeping up with your blog at this time – I very much enjoy reading it and am always keen for the next installment!
I am now working from home and have my 7 & 10 year old half the week. I’m trying to jam a full week’s work into the days they’re not here (so I can spend more time helping them with remote schooling – and playing Lego and other games together). Contrary to many other commentators, I’m really enjoying having the kids at home during the day – they are wonderful little humans and I enjoy their company immensely 🙂 The cat is also loving having everyone home and spends much of his day sitting on me, purring and looking happy.
My regular news check-ins are SBS and ABC, and I’ve been checking Al Jazeera (English) for my international news. I’ve been counting myself extraordinarily lucky to still have a job and to be living in a country with good healthcare and relatively low poverty levels (most people here have access to basic needs). I’m increasing my charitable giving at the moment since my costs have gone down (no petrol, no kids’ activities, etc.) – and also managing to throw some extra into my emergency fund.
Thanks again from a long time reader 🙂
I’m loving the lockdown too. I’ve ended up with the most introverted of my boys so our house is blissfully quiet.
Two of the dogs have been very unwell, but little Scout is back to normal and Jeffrey ate something for the first time in over 48 hours, so he’s on the mend. Phew!