My Quarantine Journal
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Returning to not-so-normal life
“Normality is a paved road: It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it.” ~Vincent Van Gogh Yesterday I met an old friend for lunch on the outdoor patio at Three Cats Cafe. From the start, the two of us were overcome by delight, wondering aloud when we’d last seen each other (at least a year ago). The sun was on my back, my vegetarian “scallops” were perfect, and the company of a vaccinated friend who’s been around since the early days of my writing career was soul-nourishing. It was a sentimental moment — or maybe it just felt that way because we are writers who seize joy anywhere we can…
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The art and science of healing: Notes from my quarantine journal
“It is our wounds that create in us a desire to reach for miracles. The fulfillment of such miracles depends on whether we let our wounds pull us down or lift us up towards our dreams.” ~Jocelyn Soriano, Mend My Broken Heart Healing. I’ve been obsessed with the word ever since the pandemic began. With so much extra time on my hands, I’ve recounted the details of nearly every major illness and every surgery that’s left me with scars on various parts of my face and body, including two hip replacements and a series of Mohs surgeries for skin cancer. Likewise, I’ve recalled the list of family members and friends who’ve slashed my…
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Gardening, wearing masks, and small sacrifices
“There must be a happy medium somewhere between being totally informed and blissfully unaware.” ~ Douglas Larson Saturday, May 16 … Last week, I caught myself laughing at the sheer irony: The governor of Michigan had lifted restrictions on nurseries and landscaping services, but nightly frost warnings made it impossible for anyone to plant anything. The weather was so unseasonably cold, in fact, that I dragged my beautiful Mother’s Day container gardens inside the house, several nights in a row. So I wondered if the folks who’d been grousing about the landscaping restrictions were happily chopping their shovels into the frozen soil. Across the state, Gov. Whitmer’s critics have been…
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Sheltering in place at my own private Walden
“I am stockpiling antibiotics for the apocalypse, even as I await the blossoming of paperwhites on the windowsill in the kitchen.” ~Anne Lamott, Almost Everything: Notes on Hope Sunday, March 29 An only child, I was always at ease in solitude. Growing up, I had a troop of playmates in my neighborhood, but sometimes I’d hide in my closet when they came looking for me. I read — a lot — and often preferred working on craft projects or playing alone with my menagerie of pets. As a preteen, I adopted “In My Room” (Brian Wilson/Gary Usher for The Beach Boys) as my personal anthem. Yet I’ll be the first to agree, right…
