Plague Diaries, Issue 57: May 11, 2020

Late last week, while deep in conversation with my sisters, Eldest mentioned how busy and productive she had been lately...unusually so, given her usual penchant for idling, slacking, and avoiding work. (I'm only half-joking; that woman could earn a gold medal for creative laziness!) And then she mused, "I'm keeping myself too busy to panic." 

Genius.

Look, I'm all about sitting with my feelings and processing shit. But if one is highly self-aware (and I am not saying I am, but I definitely try to be), to say nothing of being predisposed to depression or anxiety, there can come a time when there are too many thoughts and feels. Catastrophizing, hopelessness, isolation, lassitude, and indifference can dog at one. And that can get old. So...I am going to try to follow Eldest's lead. Just keep busy. Chores or work or exercise or napping or entertainment or cooking or talking on the phone or reading or creative endeavors or whatever--keep the mind filled and the body engaged. Let's see how that goes.

Last evening, I went for a walk around my complex. I wore a mask, and while I didn't get near anyone, the few people that I did see were definitely not wearing masks. To each their own, I suppose. And then I passed by the basketball court, and saw just about the saddest sight in the world:

An abandoned basketball court, in Indiana, in clement weather?
 This is definitely the end of the world. 

Through this whole process of learning how to work from home, I've been trying to come up with a decent desk set-up. When I moved into The Haggery, I turned the second bedroom into an office space/craft room, but somehow, I don't really care to do my library work in that space. So I took over the dining area, and that's answered quite well. But then, of course, I no longer had a place to eat my meals. For several weeks now, I've just been slumming it by picnicking, more or less, in an armchair in the living room, but it doesn't make for a tidy or civilized meal. And so...last night, I decided to convert my craft room into a temporary dining space!Very civilized.

Vegetable beef stew, from Dinner at the Zoo. 

Although, I have now devolved into me posting pictures of my meals, thereby resorting to the banality of a blogger who has nothing of import or meaning to express.

Oh, well, it's not like I promised profundity. If you want that, you're barking up the wrong blog.

Anyway, back to keeping myself busy. What do you do to keep yourself occupied during the Apocalypse?

Current Indiana COVID-19 Counts: 
Total Number of Cases: 24,627 (up from yesterday's 24,126)
1,411 people have died.

Nationwide, 79,756 people have died.