A *Kind of* Normal Sunday, but in the Times of Corona
I woke up kind of early, stirred, considered waking up for good or going back to sleep, then went to the bathroom to check the time.
7:12am
My mind jumped to running, meditating, journaling and sweating; today was 10 in a row and I couldn’t break my streak…
“The longer I wait, the harder it will be to check off all five.
It’s Sunday. I can sleep in. Enjoy it. You can do all the things later.”
Snoozing and waking up a bit later, I realized I made the right choice.
Slowly my eyes squinted open to see my girlfriend and her precious Chihuahua Gumbo nuzzled up to each other. The best site every morning.
This sleeping in on Sundays has gotten to be a routine.
“Even before Corona and shelter at home and no social life and masks and gloves and six feet apart and empty streets and canceled everything.”
Corona realizations like this, where all of a sudden flip from one second feeling pretty normal to then all of a sudden realizing it’s not normal and something I took for granted is totally different, and it might actually never return to how it was. These realizations come randomly, triggered by seemingly mundane situations that aren’t because all life is flipped upside down.
You’re going through it, you get it.
“Mhmmm but these new birthday sheets are amazing” as I snap out of it.
Madison, Gumbo and I cuddle for a bit, opening up the treehouse doors to let in the fresh air.
The wind chimes faintly playing above the door, a birthday gift that I might enjoy more than Madison.
“Good choice to sleep in. It’s Sunday, ease into the day. The family is coming at 11.”
Earlier in the week, Madison invited my family over for Sunday brunch.
But what about social distancing?
Well, our family has formed a pod. Have you heard about these?
Pods are social groups committed to exclusively seeing each other and not breaking the pod with outside interactions. It keeps the opportunity for spread low while opening up specific social interactions. It’s one of the ways we’re all probably going to ease back into social life.
As a family, we were all early adopters of shelter in place, and so after a couple of weeks of full-on-no-going-out-and-being-in-the-real-world, we decided to break quarantine with each other.
Having our family pod for about the last three weeks has been absolutely amazing, especially during April, a month with a lot of activities for our family.
April starts with my birthday, then Madison’s, then easter and then my sister’s Birthday.
And we celebrated all of them with the family.
This one factor has undoubtedly changed this Corona experience.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have my entire family, sisters and mom, together, often.
Today the occasion was a “Pajama Brunch” and to show my mom Madison’s apartment
And it was t-minus 87 minutes until they arrived.
Vacuum. Tidy. Pack. Make. Move. Organize. Rug switch (it’s complicated)
Also to prep for the brunch feast of a breakfast casserole, fresh fruit and a new quarantine-developed skill of homemade salsa (way easier than homemade hummus).
Chop. Break. Pour. Mix. Stir. Cut. Sautee. Grind.
My mom and her boyfriend Brien were first to arrive, with coffee, salad and other treats.
Mom hasn’t seen the apartment, affectionately referred to as The Treehouse, so a tour was first on the agenda.
Madison lives in a uniquely amazing house that’s partly due to her incredible taste for aesthetic homeliness but also the fact that it’s interestingly located on top of another house, accessed by a side pathway and external stairs and surrounded by a handful of massive trees that feel like they’re growing through the house.
It’s quite the sight.
Shortly after the tour Amanda shows up and it’s a party.
We’re eating the fresh salsa, trying to figure out how to hang a plant, pouring coffee and catching up.
Soon Amanda’s boyfriend Sam arrives and we’re talking about his out-of-the-city adventures about an hour away, on the Llano river.
“The sunset you posted the other day was amazing. Madison and I are coming out this weekend, need to camp.”
Another Corona mental realization, blazing in lightning speed, mid-camping thought.
“We’re 40-something days into the pandemic and the world is pretty much shut down. Who knows how long this will last. But they’re reopening State Parks which is cool. But, what does that mean?”
Emma show ups right as the casserole comes out of the oven, about 38 minutes late but somehow perfectly on time.
It was a great meal, circled around Madison’s glass and gold table slightly pulled over to the elbow of the couches, with poufs and other chairs pulled up to accommodate all seven of us.
The topics flowed from ‘Rona to real estate to jumpstarting the real world, which I guess is still ‘Rona because, realization, this is very much reality and Texas is trying to lead the nation in reopening for business, which kind of starts this week and what does that mean for Austin and what is “curbside for retail” mean?
The brunch was amazing and every ounce of it was savored, with so much gratitude for the ability to spend time together and go through this maybe once in a lifetime experience with such a tight and supportive family.
“Seriously, if there’s one thing I’ve realized, is that family is the most important part and I’m so grateful for each of them and for all of the time we get to spend together, in life and in ‘Rona times, too. “
And just like that, the sun came out, the fam departed and the house is empty and magically exceptionally clean, dishes in drying racks and on towels spread around the kitchen.
“Not a one utensil meal” I joke with Madison, nodding at our tendency to limit dishes because the treehouse doesn’t have a dishwasher.
The sun had come out, turning a kind of very dreary morning until a gorgeous afternoon.
We neeeeeed to get outside but I really need to check off my five, how will I fit that in today? And I have a Fuel My Fire reunion call this evening.
So Madison and I came up with a plan.
Pease Park, hammock, workout class, mimosas and hammocking.
Gumbo included.
Soon enough we had unpacked at Pease Park, or it might be Shoal Creek, I’m not totally sure.
The hammock was in the tree, the yoga mats were rolled out and the Bluetooth speaker was counting down to the beginning of our “Arms and Core” HIIT workout.
Blocked by the glorious shade of the trees, breeze whipping through the grass, countless people running and bicycling the trail, we completed our work out and almost immediately popped the champagne.
Wow, what a day.
Stretching. Reading. Talking. Soaking in the rays. Sipping freshness. Hammocking.
Hours passed, thoughts exchanged, feelings shared, touches embraced, love loving.
Corona realization: we’d be doing this, anyway. All of today, we’d be doing it anyway. Brunch with people we love, maybe not our family but friends. Being outside in the glorious ATX spring weather, probably in a hammock, maybe near the water, possibly with other people but no, that’s out of the question.
Just this morning we were masked and gloved up to go grocery shopping, extra cautious of everything we touched, all of the interactions, all of the gaps for viral penetration.
Who knows when this ends? I think some of the changes go into effect this week? What will life be like post-Rona? Will we be able to get in at least one float? What about boating? What about traveling?
Ahhhh but that breeze, the sun warming my back through the hammock, Madison’s body and mine perfectly twisted together, breathing deeply and soaking it in, enjoying all of the moment, knowing this is a special time for gratitude, for love.
