With Texas governor Greg Abbott opening the state back up, most of us can see our world turning from a shelter-in-place to a getting-back-to-normal world.
Because everything should be a learning experience, there’s a few things I picked up during this Covid-19 event.
I like my house.
Usually I’m gone from 6:30 a.m. until about 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and I’m running errands on Saturdays.
Sundays were spent getting ready for the week, so my house was a stopping-off place.
I haven’t left the house much for the past six weeks. I’ve come to appreciate the comforts of home. Our old corduroy couch is a quiet place to sit and watch television, read a book or just relax.
The back porch has become a serene spot to ponder life, especially in the morning. I love listening to the birds and the quiet before getting started on the day. I don’t know what bird is making what sound, but it’s a symphony that’s quite enjoyable.
Gray hair isn’t so bad.
I’ve spent years covering up the gray, but having the gray peeking through – okay storming through – hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be.
This virus has me appreciating that getting older doesn’t necessarily mean I’m out of touch and old. I can still get out and walk, ride a bike and listen to loud rock and roll music.
I’ve learned I can stay out of my car.
From the time I started driving, I’ve always racked up miles. I love going places, and even though I’ve had a driver’s license longer than the internet’s been around, leaving the car in the garage has been a refreshing change of pace.
Families are fun.
It’s just my husband and me at the house, but I’ve been watching my nieces, nephews and cousins online as they recreate family time. My cousin Mike and his wife Katie hosted nightly Quarantine Olympics with their boys with hysterical results.
They had a whipped cream challenge where someone puts a mound of whipped cream on the back of their hand. Then they took their other hand, slapped at their wrist to make the whipped cream fly up in the air and then see who could catch it in their mouth.
We learned video games and Netflix series get old so we hauled out our bikes and rode around our neighborhoods. We had sing-a-longs, played Monopoly and Clue and realized our family members are pretty cool people.
I like cooking.
Okay, that might be a stretch, but I actually enjoyed the smell of home cooking – meatloaf in the oven, chocolate-chip cookies cooling on the counter and bacon frying in the morning.
Soon enough, it’ll be the smell of salad dressing and baked fish but, for now, I’m enjoying the comfort smells of my childhood.
We learned critical situations bring out the best and the worst in people. Neighbors helped neighbors, teachers learned a new way to connect with their students and we understood how invaluable grocery and pharmacy store workers, nurses, doctors, EMTs, police officers, fire fighters, Post Office clerks and sanitation workers are.
Politicians are wrong. Doctors are wrong. Newscasters are wrong. And, the biggest shock of all, the internet has false information. On the same note, politicians, doctors and newscasters are occasionally right. I’m still not sure I believe the things I read on the internet.
We lost beloved relatives and friends through this illness. So many lost opportunities and there’s no way to get them back.
But we learned to regroup, stand up straight and keep moving forward.
Family and friends are what’s most important – not shopping, eating out or running the roads.
Life is fickle and fleeting and often the best moments and aspects of life are right underneath our noses.
Soon roads will be congested and the lessons we’ve learned over the past six weeks will fade. Try to remember – out of all this chaos, you probably discovered what was most important in your life.
Don’t let it go.
This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.