At Home

We have not had any real problem finding plenty of things to do while we are under a Stay at Home order.  Our house is filled with books, and there is music everywhere, including a piano that cries out to be played.  And there are projects of all kinds to work on, such as the wallpaper we finished hanging upstairs yesterday, and the furniture that we re-arranged downstairs. Tuesday was a rainy day, and then it turned colder that night, so cold that there was sleet in Highlands at the end of the day.  But the cold spell has ended, and temperatures warmed up this morning from an initial 32 degrees to the upper forties later on when I went running down our road here in Clear Creek.  In the "Old Normal," I would have driven the short distance to Town to run there, but we are trying to get accustomed to staying closer to home, adapting to this new reality.

We have been watching some movies, too, both on Kanopy and on Netflix.  And this afternoon, we had a real treat.  The National Theatre in London has opened up its archives of theatrical productions in response to the increasing lock-down restrictions, and every Thursday they are showing one of them on YouTube -7:00 p.m. London time, 2:00 p.m. Highlands time.  We watched the first one today, One Man, Two Guvnors, starring the irrepressible Tony-award-winning comedian James Corden.

We closed the blinds, Martha made some popcorn, and for two-and-a-half hours we were in London, watching live theater, laughing at the delightful silliness of this play.  Now we are looking forward to the upcoming shows:  Jane Eyre next week, and even Twelfth Night later in the month.

It is difficult to imagine a time when we will again feel comfortable gathering in a theater or a concert to hear a performance, or gathering in a sanctuary for corporate worship.  Hebrews 10:25, remember, encourages us to not forsake the assembling together of ourselves, because even we introverts need that human contact, that joy of fellowship whether in a church or a movie theater or a restaurant.  In the meantime, virtual performances and virtual church will have to suffice.

I suppose what surprises me more than anything is how rapidly our world has changed and continues to change.  Our government and our health system were unprepared for a pandemic, it is true, but it all happened so quickly, with such devastatingly exponential speed, that we are all struggling to adjust.  The underpinnings of our lives were so much more fragile than we had imagined:  millions of jobs have been lost, thousands are dead already, and both big cities and little towns have become Ghost Towns.  All we can do is stay home as much as possible, be patient, and trust that this wildfire pandemic will eventually burn itself out.