Here's To Better Days

If there was a contest for being a hermit, I would boldly say I could win first place. But as we move into week three of social distancing and self-quarantines, even I am starting to yearn to get out of the house and see people.

I've tried to be a model house-bound person even though there isn't anyone around to judge my behavior. Exercise, wash hands, keep to a routine, stay productive - these are the rules I try to abide by.

Staying productive is easy; after all, I still have a job to do. Plus, there are dishes and clothes to wash, trash to take out, bills to pay and rooms to clean.

Exercising has been interesting. I've used hard-bound cookbooks, water bottles and a retractable pole that is normally used to replace lightbulbs in the living room ceiling as weights. I've jogged circles around my living room. The best workouts are when my mom and I walk along the Canyon Rim Trail. The air is fresh and it feels great to have another person to speak to face to face.

Another important task is walking the dog. I take my dog Milo out for walks around the neighborhood multiple times a day. It's during that time, when Milo is leading me around from one yard to another, always investigating every blade grass and sniffing under each bush, that I notice spring is coming.

The sun is out longer, every twig and branch is adorned with pale green buds, there are bulbs pushing their pointed leaves up out of the ground and dust-colored grass is turning emerald.

Every news headline feels like a kick in the gut these days. Even as a journalist myself, I cringe when I see the latest story on the corona virus and all the havoc and pain it is reeking.

So I try and take comfort in the signs of spring I see around me. It helps me to realize that the chill and grey of winter is almost over and we will soon be basking in the warmth and glow of spring and summer.  Likewise, the corona virus won't linger forever. It will pass and we will be given better days.