Confinement

We have been confined for the pandemic. For over 4 months. Our apartment is 1140 square feet with two bedrooms, two baths, and an ample living room, dining area, and an eat-in kitchen. Plenty of storage. Hallway to elevator, open lobbies with mailroom and access to the gang garage where our car is parked in its assigned spot. We can move freely around the building.

From our fourth floor windows we can watch the town function. We are on Main Street next door to City Hall, across the street from the Metra station, next door to a museum, and across the street from stores and shops. The railroad is busy 24/7 as are the passing police and fire vehicles. The Hospital is two miles away so ambulance traffic is also common.

We have great cable TV, strong Wi-Fi, and use our computers throughout the day. We are connected to the world and we use it fully.

Early in the pandemic we avoided going to stores and ordered on-line or by phone. Groceries were delivered as were basic household supplies. Medications and prescriptions we picked up at Walgreens' drive up window. We ordered take out dinners either delivered or curbside pickup.  We used McDonald’s drive-thru. Walgreens even offered to deliver our meds and goods without our leaving home.

In June we began shopping at grocery stores again, but now we have delivered prepared meals for four dinners per week. Our shopping lists are small and contained. We eat out very rarely and that pays for the prepared meal service.

We still don’t attend church in person. They have opened the sanctuary for very limited attendance; the services are streamed live and recorded over Facebook. We us the live-stream method. If we miss a service, we can always watch a recording of it at our convenience.

Having said all of this, we do not feel closed in. If anything, we feel limited to what we can do outside of home were we to venture out. We used to take car trips or rides frequently. Most of those were to interesting small towns in Illinois and southwest Wisconsin. We would do an overnighter sometimes but not often. Such travel is not wise these days so we remain home.

We use our time to read, view documentaries, write, and follow Facebook. The latter is so negative these days we are pondering a vacation from it. Because my blog is posted on Facebook for local readers, I hesitate to drop Facebook. Our decision is still pending.

Meanwhile we feel our wings are a bit clipped, but that’s it. Rocky is more fearful of the virus than I, but he is more at risk. Both of us are candidates for the virus, but so far we have been just fine.

One improvement that would help our quality of life is the passage of the November election. With that done and over with, we know we will feel much better. If our candidates win, all the better. Just getting it out of our life for a while, however, will be a huge plus.

As summer begins its slow fade toward fall, we are aware that we missed spring and summer seasons. We wonder if fall and winter will be also missed?

We shall see. From our perch we will watch all the changes closely.

August 5, 2020