Forget What's A Weekend? More Like What's A Week Day?

04 April 2020
Story #981

R. Linda:

There be a lot of what's today? It is one long weekend or the never-ending weekend, or who cares what day it will be? It will be the same as yesterday! So there is THAT.

Then there be, "I can't seem to get rid of this cold." And someone will respond, "Me too!" Well, duh, people, we are closed in the house TOGETHER, passing the cold back and forth, so no, you won't be rid of it until we can go our separate ways and you can unload it on someone else. Geez Louise!

There's the hidden goodie thing, which I be guilty of, as well as the middle kiddo. Mam has been baking every day to 1. keep her sanity and 2. to keep our mouths full so we don't whine to her about being cooped up like a bunch of chickens. The things she makes are not her usual; she's been experimenting, and some of the desserts and sweet snacks are divine on the tongue. Meanwhile, Tonya had ordered bags of crisps, pretzels, granola bars, and fruit roll-ups, which were secreted off. This has led to 'hoarding' the extras by secreting them in some unused cupboard or, in me own case, a desk drawer where no one would think to look. There be so much of this going on that the hoarder often forgets where he or she left the goodie. The hoarded goodie is oft exposed by the dog finding it and a child bemoaning the loss. This has led to the weekly scavenger hunts (that be when one of us remembers it is Friday). We all sit in the living room, turned in different directions, and when Mam shouts "GO!" we take off and tear the house apart, and whatever one finds be his or hers. 

Last night, it dawned on me that it wasn't Sunday; it was Friday, and I called "SCAVENGER HUNT!" Everyone came running, and Mam got a prop gun that fired a banner that said BANG! She got in position not to be run over, clicked the weapon, and the BANG flag came out, and we all took off! I think I was the luckiest one. I found a pot o' chocolate that someone squirrelled away in the back of the refrigerator. HA!

Hmmm, with flakes of gold -- yum

I forgot about a Snickers bar on me desk, so I'm wearing a sad face at the loss. A bag of crisps was found under a bed, a slice of lemon cake was found behind the microwave, and a dog bone was found under the couch. The dog wasn't happy. 

It be a fine thing we be reduced to such antics, but we find our sanity is being sorely tested. We can't watch the boob tube because of the same old same old, and depressing stats that are dancing across the bottom of the screen. We've had some rancorous card games where we have ALL learned to cheat like it's going out of style. Board games get extremely boring after the 45th time of play, leading to the creative juices ceasing to flow. I have instituted a new activity of telling a story spontaneously when asked, "What if . . ." At first, that filled the air with a lot of hemming and hawing, but the eldest kiddo really got into it, and now stories flow. Some are simply silly, but some are rather thought-provoking. Like: What if you were the first man on Mars? Or, what if you woke up and found you were really a girl and not a boy of 10? What if you stayed up late and saw the Easter Bunny, and he spoke to you? Or, what if you saw something valuable that you just had to have? What would you do?

Mam has another way of keeping her sanity; she goes on fantasy shopping sprees on Amazon. She clicks a product, puts it in her shopping list and goes on to the next thing so that by the time she has three hundred items, she stops, deletes them all and then goes to eBay, where she clicks on the heart or like button and waits to see what seller will get back to her with a reasonable price. She also looks at vintage and antique anything and has found some oddities that she uses as discussion points. Sometimes, this be interesting; other times, it's like being on Oak Island and wondering where the treasure in such an item really lies. 

So, we pass the time in ways we never thought of. We learn an appreciation for family and miss those who aren't immediately with us. We realise how friends are important and necessary to one's enjoyment of life and extend our horizons in ways we might not have done without their friendship.

None of us likes being stuck at home, but we have found ways to get out and do things on the property we might not have thought of. The dog gets more walks than ever before, and I am sure it will not be happy when life returns to some kind of normal. 

We speculate what that normal will be, but have stopped, for the alternatives are not exactly compliant with how they used to be. Freedom seems limited, and something else will take over that we see coming: Big Brother. How did we get here? It's often from the division that has wedged us against each other. The sheep who follow and the prophets warn about such mindless wandering and plundering of the earth in trouble. Now we are in real trouble; we don't know what to do, and control be out of our hands, so what next?

The worst of this is seeing the wonder of life taken out of a child's eyes, to the point where there are no real new explorations into life, just the same humdrum from day to day. We work hard at my house to make that palatable, but it isn't easy. Skyping helps, but the conversations are all back to what is happening that one wants a few minutes away from. 

I know there is a lesson in all this—at least I hope there is. I'd prefer to get something positive out of all of it than not. I will and am enjoying my family, noticing more than I would have about each one, and that brings me satisfaction that these things are all attributes I'd have missed otherwise. 

R. Linda, stay healthy and safe, as I wish all me followers and readers. Be smart about this, stay home, and find joy in those who are with you. 

Gabe

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