Friday, March 27, 2020

Blessings in Isolation 1

Hello, world!  How are you all faring in this new situation of isolation, fear and pandemic?  I hope you are able to focus on the blessings of finding new ways to connect with people.  I've discovered how Zoom for Bible Study classes and Skype for friends to chat can almost take the place of meeting together in real life.  I love how our church has quickly developed ways to stay in touch, see/hear sermons, and offer help.  It would be easy for me to focus on the fear, but I find that noting (and writing) my blessings daily and weekly is a huge help.  Here is Willow's Week in Friday Fave Fives.

1.  More walks.  Since the parks are closed, we have been walking around (and around) our neighborhood.  One day, we logged over five miles.

2.  More friendliness.  We've noticed on our amblings around the area that more people are outside, and they are friendlier.  They say, "Hi!"  They smile.  They wave.

3.  More knitting.  I've finished the blanket for a soon to arrive baby girl.  (Can you imagine telling your child, "Yes, you were born in the middle of a pandemic"?)



4.  More garden.  Since everything has stopped in the real estate area, I decided to assume that we won't be moving in the next two months; so I planted my garden.  Cauliflower. Broccoli. Celery.  Lettuce.  Tomatoes.  Basil.  It's a start.

5.  More kindness.  I have a tendency to always be the one to offer help.  But this week, we were blessed by two young women in our church.  One went to the store and got some almond milk.  And a second one drove over and dropped that wonderful gift on my porch.  It was a good opportunity for me to work on accepting the blessing.

And here is a bit of humor that I documented on one of our walks.

Geese doing their part for social distancing


But evidently they haven't been properly training their goslings.


12 comments:

Karen said...

I agree, the amount of kindness being shown is beautiful indeed! It seems as a whole our nation is softer and gentler than many would think. Gardening is so good for the soul, isn't it? Be well!

Barbara Harper said...

I'm thankful you're both doing well and were able to get a garden in. It's great to have opportunities to get outside. Our church had a trial run with Zoom this week to get everybody set up and used to it for Sunday. That blanket is so pretty!

Faith said...

Our church has had .ive online services for many years now and also recorded live services so we are continuing with that.
It's up to us Bible Study and small group leaders what platform we wanna use. I chose Discord as it's free for unlimited time unlike Soom which only allows for 40 min of free usage. We used Discord last night and it's super easy! Audio only. My meetings tend to be 80 min so it's great to have free apps! Zoom is being used by the agency preK for our team mtgs and SPecial Ed team mtgs. We're us No google classroom for the parents to see our lessons and the therapists will begin to do teletherapy as soon as we are given the ok from the NYS Ed dept. We are closed until April 9 at least here. But all of our parks are open thank God although I'm not traveling to the Adirondack mts yet due to needing to stay in the capital region.
That's too bad your parks are closed but maybe it's to keep crowds from gathering? I'm finding most people are respecting the new guidelines and staying feet away from one another. Lots of kindness going around which is always a blessing!

Yay for planting a garden!!! Too chilly here for that yet although i sat out in the sunshine today after my webinar!!

Happy weekend!

Anonymous said...

Great pics. :-) Congratulations on the walking. I need to do more of that!! --Ann

ellen b. said...

Good to hear you are fairing well during this pandemic and isolation. Well done on your continued walking. How nice for the youngers to take some care and interest for us oldies!

Susan said...

I have been hearing from others that people are nice when they are out. I haven't noticed it a lot but we were at the park the other day and people walking around there were friendly. Our park is open but the play ground was closed. That's great that you planted a garden. I looked at all my seed but have not planted it yet. I am not sure that I will. Your knitting is very nice. I would love to learn how to Knit I just need to sit down with my knitting cd and learn. God bless you.

Deb J. in Utah said...

Glad you are doing well and staying positive. It is our faith that gets us through these hard times, isn't it. We are walking a lot as well. So glad you got some help from some helpful young women. Stay safe and well.

Wendy said...

Lots of positive stuff there. Yes we won't forget this year in a hurry and it will be interesting to see if there is a spike in the birth rate in 9 months time. We've been walking every day but not far. Our open space is not fenced so we are glad to have that but yes the playground on it has been closed. We've also had lovely weather which has helped. Stay safe and well.

Susanne said...

I had a good laugh at the geese. It's good to find those moments of fun and humor. That is one lovely blanket that will be well loved. We've been going for walks on some lovely country roads we've found. Nice and peaceful and not a soul in site unlike the walking trails within the city. Our church is doing bible studies through zoom too.

Gattina said...

In my town the parks remain open but in Brussels they are closed. You are not allowed to sit on the grass though. It's true that people are far more friendly and neighbors offer to make the shopping for us. So far one of us does it. Friends hand family we see through Whatsapp. Great invention ! I think the whole world will change after that.

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

It looks beautiful there, Willow! We have also been walking around our neighborhood trails every day, just for a nature break and to get exercise. Our neighbors have offered to shop for us but I bought a lot of vegetable and fruit produce and a gallon of milk last time we went shopping during senior shopping hours that lasted a long time. I might try our store's "click it" order next time where I order ahead and they shop and put it in our trunk when we arrive.

Your knitted blanket is beautiful! I hope the baby and mother will stay healthy. I'm also glad our church has online services and bible readings every day.

I'm sorry your house sale is on hold but, hopefully, the market will be hot when all of this is over. Stay well! ((((Hugs)))

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