At Home on Lockdown

One thing springs to mind: I have always wanted to live a considered life.  Every single thing I buy or use needs to be thought about, long-term and short-term.  I have always been careful of my clothes (‘overwearing’ them, said a fashionista friend), and lately, I have doubled down.  I love the way natural fibers have dignity, even when worn. My clothes closet is three feet by eight, and I’m happy with that because I love and use every item. I’m having fun now, online shopping, planning how to fill the gaps, take it forward for summer.

This is just another way that everything is changed, different since social isolation began.  I have the time to brush my yoga pants and depill them, mend hems, sew on buttons. Yesterday I brushed all my winter clothes and looked them over before putting them away. I have slipped back to a more measured era where I can put up bread to prove, sort my shelves, eat every meal with my family, fold my underwear like precious origami, which lends grace to even the most everyday knickers.  I am soaking beans, and sprouting seeds, and picking flowers from my garden, and I’m still doing a full day’s work. Yoga and rowing are my bag as far as exercise goes.

Dig out all the packets of seeds tucked in corners of drawers and plant them - nothing to lose!

So what am I not doing?  Driving for one thing. Or visiting people, but this week I have had better catchup and deep conversations via WhatsApp and Facetime and even text and email with my dearest friends than I have for years. Last night we had an extended family dinner via Zoom, compared notes and home haircuts (pretty good!), and it worked so well I wouldn’t be surprised if we kept on doing it when the crisis has passed.  And why stop there? Maybe I can read bedtime stories to the six little children in our extended family, from Madrid to Melbourne, depending on the time zone of course!

I have stripped and washed the beds right down to the mattress protectors, and the pillows and duvets are airing in fresh air and bright sun.  I’m home all day, so I can turn them or bring them in at my leisure. Bed and comfort are more important to all of us now.

I am seriously enjoying crafts - baby dress finished, headband still under construction.

I made my own reusable disinfecting wipes, just rags and solution in a jar, and have disinfectant and ethyl alcohol in labeled spray bottles. This is a great time to switch from disposable everything - wipes, towels, paper napkins.  Gabriela went the extra mile by cleaning and disinfecting all their doorknobs, even in the garage, and wiped all the metal surfaces -  fridge doors, switches, controllers, even phones, the most germ-laden of the lot. I wish she could come round to me!

 Stay safe!