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Sunday, March 22, 2020

Our Personal Retreat: The Corona Virus

We just listened to Eckhart Tolle speak on YouTube about being present and breathing, of course, especially in these strange times of uncertainty and unusual fear. The phrase that stuck in my mind, though, was to consider this time when we are self-isolating as a time for a "personal retreat". We may think that we have to schedule such a time, like a vacation, but here it is, thrust upon us. It's a gift of time to consider our life, and to appreciate what we have.

My husband and I are in a pretty special place here in our mobile park in Palm Springs. We see the news like everyone else, and it looks like the US is on the same track as poor Italy. We almost got freaked out 2 days ago, and were making sudden plans to head north to Tahoe just in case the government started not allowing folks to travel in their cars. Then, we thought, we could be stranded down here in the heat of the summer. Canadians are leaving by the droves, since they have restrictions on how long they can stay away, and their health coverage isn't as good here as at home.

So that night we ordered a rooftop carrier on Amazon for our Prius, to hold all the extra supplies we've bought. The next morning, I couldn't sleep for worrying about all the packing and cleaning we had to do,

so I got up early and went outside to garden at 7 am, just as the sun was coming up. I chopped and yanked at and pulled out what we call "devil grass" from between the stones outside our door, in order to plant some Canna Lilies that my friend gave me the day before.
Some little crickets scurried from under the rocks, and a little daddy long legs hobbled away. I smiled, since I had never appreciated their unusual gait before.

When I straightened up, and walked over to our vegetable garden to water, our lettuce was finally growing like crazy along with the Swiss chard.


The flower seeds I planted in November have taken off too, sprouting yellow daisies and the cosmos plant was just blooming. The snapdragons are showing off rather psychedelically in the morning sun. Tomato plants are finally sporting some fair-sized green tomatoes. If we leave now, someone else will eat them. If we stay, we'll still share them. I don't want to go.

I came in the house and told Doug how much better off we'd be here than in the snow. He agreed, since he had been having second thoughts too. We ordered a new, bigger air conditioner, in case we do get stuck here in the 120 degree summer, and then made plans to go to the pool. The weather in Palm Springs has been so cold and different this season, so we were happy to walk, on the sunniest day that we had seen, over to the nice pool that had just had a new heater installed. There was only one other person there, so no problem with keeping away from her. As we were doing our exercises in the deep end, two mallards swooped right in and landed close by to delight us. The female seemed more interested in bathing and scrubbing and scratching and ducking down to rinse. The teal-headed male washed himself some, but mostly stayed close to her. ("Just like a man", I thought.) They performed for us for about 20 minutes, and then hopped out on to the side to preen themselves and flap their wings dry. Sufficiently refreshed, they took off just as suddenly as they had arrived. We were sorry to see them go. They were like a gift.

Listening to Eckhart's message today made me sit down to write right away, something I've been meaning to do more of. So many people are complaining about being home, but maybe they can use this odd time to be creative in ways that they don't usually have time for. It's sort of like a forced retirement. I'm thinking of taking up painting again, and playing my ancient guitar once more. Perhaps I'll make some more pots on my wheel, or just paint the wall that's full of holes from having the wall tree on it at Christmas. It's about time. I already bought the paint.

Or you can go for a walk, or a hike, or ride your bike. It's good to be outside, breathing in the fresh air, just as long as you don't share that air with others. Concentrate on that breath, and be thankful that you can breathe. Wherever you are, be present and appreciative. Perhaps a hummingbird will come and hover over you as you walk along, or you'll catch a glint of sunlight coming through the window and making a rainbow prism on the wall. How does it make you feel? Good, I think.

Enjoy your "personal retreat".

2 comments:

  1. I've been wondering if you'll be retreating to Tahoe. Sounds like not yet and maybe, yes. All's normal here in Fort Myers as I'm a loner anyway. Grocery shopping when needed is no problem. All travel plans on hold, of course. Good to hear you're both OK, and stay healthy.

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