The Pandemic life
So here we are in this surreal time, Corona virus time, that is. For the ones of you who subscribe to my blog (well and if you haven't done so yet, get on board!) you know that we moved to our current southern California location not too long ago. About 2 weeks into the lift off of Corona time!
Deciding on this job at this location here in Escondido, CA seemed like a good solution for us: We'd be close to family and a few friends. That was the biggest bonus. A 30 minute drive and we are at the beach! But really, the property we help take care of sits beautifully located in close proximity to all amenities.
So now we are about 7 weeks into life of social distancing. A term I had never heard before this all went down. The new norm is going to the grocery store and laundromat with facemasks. Not just regular ones I should add, no we have the fancy N95 deluxe models covering our faces, leaving beautiful imprints on our skin for many hours at a time, after removing these beauties.
For the anti-social people out there, this pandemic probably hasn't changed their life much at all. But for us social folks life at a 6 ft. distance kinda sucks, doesn't it?!
Here at our groundskeeper job, doing landscaping is pure therapy because we get to be outside and take care of a beautiful old homestead.
The homestead garden
I almost feel like this is my own home when I walk around here in the late hours of the day, after most of the joggers that use the trails during the day, have gone home. Then its just me, nature and lots of wildlife! The rabbits, ground squirrels, the graceful egret that hangs out at the creek across from where we are parked. At night we often hear the coyotes howl, sometimes we see one during the day.
We have our own enclosed lot that we got to landscape to fit our needs. Joe worked hard bringing in gravel and mulch so we are no longer parked just on a dirt lot.
During our work time I found several beautiful old barn doors and picket fence sections that had been thrown out and left to rot. Anybody who knows me knows what that means: Ulrike to the rescue! If it's old, then to me its beautiful and it needs a second chance to bring it back to life.
Our enclosure is now a place for us to relax, enjoy our views of lush greenscape and get a kick out of watching our puppies play. Peanut and O'Malley too now have a bit more freedom.
What do we do after we put in our 20 hours of volunteer time per week, you ask?
Well we are not big on throwing ourselves in front of the TV, that's for sure. We might explore the trail system with the puppies. I might ride my bike with them. We occasionally go for a drive. I craft new things to sell and spend time online advertising the new items. We even take a nap when we feel like it. Joe is working on overhauling his resume. Once he's done with that, he will be looking for online teaching positions in his fields of expertise.
The pandemic has actually worked in my favor. I've sold things more frequently recently and its obvious that people have such limitations when it comes to home decor shopping with the stores being closed.
Joe has turned into a self proclaimed baker. I now get served fresh homemade bread for breakfast! Yes, I am lucky.
I talk to friends and family daily via free phone apps. This helps not to feel so isolated from the world!
But reality is that tiny living still means....(cover your eyes...harsh words are about to follow....):
CLEANING! Yes there is the ...c-word. Our lives aren't like your typical Hallmark movie. ðŸ¤.
So yes between our daily downtime, pandemic or not, our mandatory volunteer time that in return provides us a rent and utility-free lifestyle, we still have to do house work. And when you live tiny and basically house a Noah's Arc in your tight quarters, cleaning is essential!
Is there something to be learned from this virus that forces us to stay home more?
I wonder.
There is a world out there where we can exist without the movie theaters and non-stop entertainment options provided to us outside of our own 4 walls.
I talked to a girlfriend in Dallas the other day. She noticed how many people were out walking their dogs, young parents playing outside with their children. It's a sight she isn't used to.
What does that tell you about our society? Maybe slowing down isn't such a bad thing after all, I wonder?
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Click on the links below to find out more about where we are staying:
http://www.sdrp.org/wordpress/sikes-adobe/
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