In a Strange Land

Yesterday I completed the first draft of Maestri. It came in around 103,000 words over 353 pages. I'm sure that word count will change a fair bit in the next pass. I already have some ideas for what I want to change and thinks I would like to add or subtract.

So today begins my imposed two week hiatus from writing...and what a time it is to have not much of anything to do!

As I write this my 3 year old is making train-like droning noises to my right while my 14 year old is typing away on her Chromebook on school work that was sent home during the shutdown. She optimistically thinks she will be going back in early April. Personally, I think the school year is in the books.

I've never been one to go out and be social but even I am feeling this in the form of some ethereal claustrophobia holding me in place. It's like I am isolated in this tiny little world with kids, cats, and a wife who is increasingly despondent as the days pass. I'm not sure what to tell any of them. The odds are that all of us will be okay. I'm in a high risk group but I know the odds are in my favor. Still, witnessing the world come to a screeching halt and our financial future suddenly in doubt is not something fun to experience.

I am one of the fortunate ones who does have a safety net to fall back on. We live without debt and could, in an emergency, sell our vacation property (if anyone is buying.) Many people don't have more than a few bucks in their savings -- if they have a savings. Less than five years ago that was me.

All we can really do is be patient and kind toward one another. You know how there's always this one jerk that everybody loathes but when that person actually goes through a tragedy you suck it up, offer your sympathy, and wish them peace? Let's just pretend that every stranger you meet from now on is that person. You may not like what they are doing and they may rub you the wrong way but just show a bit of compassion toward one another. It will go a long way toward helping us all rise out of this into whatever changed world we find waiting on the other side of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Be kind to one another.