A Low Week in Quarantine

Welcome back...

Suzanne and I hope that all of you and your families are doing well and weathering the isolation from normality without undue stress. It's odd for us. We did the long distance relationship for a couple of years while I was in Mississippi and she was at Texas A&M, and that was hard enough. Now though...

The week of our Spring Break I drove Suzanne to Murfreesboro to care for her elderly parents. It was already somewhat surreal with having to wear masks to go into stores, and sanitizing every time I got gas. Schools had just started announcing that they were transitioning to extended  Spring Breaks and possible distance learning. We were prepared for the fact that I would be returning to Smithville without her for a while, but still... Then, the day before we arrived, her mother ended up in the hospital, so I was not able to see Mary Ann that trip. Last Friday, the world became a little less inviting when Mary Ann left us to join our Father in Heaven.

Mary Ann was a wonderful lady, and a true life-long learner. We spent many hours discussing different views on literature and the classics, as well as watching her love of the birds and butterflies who called her yard home. She sat for hours with binoculars at hand, and I suspect she named each of the squirrels as well. And none of us could go to say goodbye. Suzanne and her sister Beth have had to deal with all of the details on their own. As a husband and a man, I feel more than a little useless at this point. I am supposed to be helping her, shouldering the burden with her, not simply saying, "I wish I could be there" as we face-time. Added to the general depression of the isolation, and it was not a pretty week that has passed. 

Texas Brown Snake Relocation Project

All that said, time to "snap out of it"...or try to. So, I shaved my beard off to a slight goatee (first time in months), got rid of the freaky fringe (I refuse to do comb overs), and am now considering getting some chickens! Additionally, I have taken the boys fishing (Joseph is 2 1/2, so he's not quite gotten the full concept...). I had the opportunity to teach the kids that not all snakes are bad when they were clearing the backyard and uncovered this guy. The kids and I have played some marathon games of Clue, and I've caught up on Chicago PD, and Law & Order SVU. And I realize that there is at least one time I would opt for a Will Farrell movie...if my only other option were Conan O'Brien. Thankfully, I have found a bag of Lee Child and Clive Cussler books Beth sent down, so I won't have to resort to "Talladega Nights" anytime too soon!

I will be picking up the Entrepreneurship series again this weekend. In the meantime, thank you for your patience this last week. Stay well, and stay sane!