Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Flattening the Curve

Every day at 2 p.m. Governor DeWine addresses the state and Dr. Amy Acton gives a medical update. I have come to look forward to these updates each day. They have become the point to which all mornings look forward and to which all evenings look back. There is comfort in having that daily update and to hear the calm, reassuring voices of our leaders; expressing concern but also hope. The last few days especially! WE ARE DOING THIS! Our numbers keep getting better each day. I am not a very politically minded person and before this crisis I didn't particularly like (or dislike) DeWine, but I think that we are incredibly lucky to have him leading our state during this time. Dr. Amy is awesome and beautiful and is like a mother to all of us here. I am so grateful to be an Ohioan and so proud of my adopted state. I feel that we are coming together so much as a family here. We are all connected to each other and depend on each other. As Dr. Amy said yesterday, we are saving each other. (Yes, there are and will always be assholes who don't care, but by and large we are definitely working together to keep each other safe!)


The first week of April has brought the emergence of many flowers - daffodils are in full bloom in front of the house though in the backyard, under the trees, they haven't yet blossomed. My peach trees are covered in white flowers. My lilac  blossoms are forming and there are so many of them this year! The yard is carpeted in violets. In the woods flowers are a sea of pale pink and creamy white on the forest floor. 


Day by day I struggle for balance, emotionally and mentally. I always have an underlying tense feeling but some days it is worse than others. It seems a lot of people have been experiencing similar feelings. Some days I have bursts of strong energy and get so much done. I feel capable and strong and optimistic. Other days I can't do much more than make sure the kids are clean and fed and have done at least *some* schoolwork, and spend time curled up in my chair crying my eyes out. Last week I had a few bad days but more good than bad; I guess that is a positive? 






It helped a lot when someone on our village facebook page posted a request for homemade masks for the dollar store employees to use. I had just watched Sewstine's Mask Video on Youtube and with more and more medical professionals expressing the idea that homemade masks are better than nothing I felt that it was time to start sewing. I made a set for the Dollar Store and some for our family. I've also been making masks for others in the community who may need or want something more than nothing. I posted this on my Facebook page and will post it here too: if anyone reading this doesn't have access to a face mask and would like a homemade cotton one, please let me know and I will make one for you and mail it to you. Email me at romantichistoryblog at gmail dot com if you or anyone you know needs one! 


For my first masks I used the pattern by Crafty Quilter. I then tried the Olson Mask Pattern by UnityPoint Health and liked it better since it fit the face (at least the faces in our family) better than the other. The Olson mask link also has sizes for children, which is super nice for our family. The smallest size fits Rosie perfectly and the bigger size fits Benjamin and Anne very well. It also uses hair ties for the ear loops instead of elastic or fabric ties. The stretchy ear loops make the masks easy to put on and take off, especially for little ones who have a difficult time tying masks on or older folks who have mobility challenges. Elastic is sold out almost everywhere but hair ties are still easy to find and they are very inexpensive!






The weather has been so nice the past few days. We have spent more time outside enjoying nature. Once again I feel so lucky to live where we do with so many nature areas so close by. The long evenings are getting longer and we often will sit on our back deck or front porch and talk or play instruments. With the moon approaching full we have set up our telescope and have a good view of the sky at night. 



We made fry bread tacos the other day and I don't know why I don't make fry bread more often! It's so fast and easy to make and the breads were perfect for tacos and very filling. This was a cheap and quick dinner - ground beef, beans, sour cream, cheese, tomatoes and some spices from the cupboard.  We have been grilling out more, too, as the weather has been so nice. My neighbor Wayne has been dropping off a lot of bananas lately so we have been making a lot of banana things.  Benjamin baked his first ever made-completely-by-him (with me supervising of course!) mini banana loaves and I shared with him the *secret* ingredient - a tablespoon of British Navy Pusser's Rum! He's been very smug about knowing the secret ingredient and flaunting his new found knowledge to his brothers and sisters. 😂 Today we are baking some banana cream pies and dropping one off on Wayne's porch to say thank-you. 


I hope you all are doing well and finding moments of joy each day. It's a hard, strange time but we have each other. Much love!

Sarah

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