Thirty Days

Thirty Days. The stereotypical sentence for infractions committed by wrongdoers on various television shows. It was also the amount of time our governor decided citizens of our state needed to stay at home to "flatten the curve" of the pandemic lest patients overwhelm the medical system.

Quarantine is a very biblical concept, though God quarantined affected individuals, not the entire nation of Israel. Consequently, I didn't agree with the governor quarantining the entire state for a month. Nonetheless, we complied, leaving the house only to go to work, to buy essentials, and for badly needed long drives. The rest of the time, we kept ourselves busy. I...
  • Made a few masks for people, stopping when supplies ran out. 
  • Crocheted twenty-one 20 x 20 diamond-motif squares for afghans.
  • Continued my French studies. Mais, je ne parle pas français. 
  • Learned to play the Gloria Patri on the piano (memorizing treble staff notes only because I don't play the piano) so I can play when our morning services resume until we find a pianist.
That’s how bored and restless I was.

My husband is a pastor, so he continued his studies and holding drive-in services on Sunday morning, and streaming Sunday and Wednesday evening lessons via Facebook Live. He also challenged himself to do 100 pushups a day within a few minutes time. He met that challenge and more by working up to 140 a day.

After socially distancing ourselves for a few weeks in March and gaining a little weight from it, we both decided to go on a reduced calorie/portion control diet during our thirty days incarceration in our mortgaged slammer. My husband the pushup king lost ten pounds. I lost six.

Last week, the governor decided we needed to stay indoors for another week, which will do absolutely nothing. People are rebelling, of course, but we're staying in--for now. When we do venture out, we’ll wear masks and take precautions as we have been doing, and as I hope everyone will do so this thing will. just. end. already. 

I don't have the materials to make more masks, but during this eight-day extension of our sentence, I'll finish the afghans, continue my French, and read books I downloaded. And, of course, continue the diet. I have another ten pounds to go. 

And when this cruel quarantine is over, we'll take a trip to enjoy the beauty of the world that we missed during our thirty (soon to be thirty-eight) day sentence.