Life under Covid-19

So much less difficult for us than for most people.  We are retired, so there isn't the issue of job loss or working from home, and our children are grown, so we don't have to deal with school being out, how they can occupy their time, etc.  We have no relatives in nursing homes. 

We have no complaints.  We have had adjustments, but life is full of adjustments.

And, fortunately for us, we basically were "shelter in place" people anyway, with each other--whether here in Leisure World or out in the desert somewhere.  So having to spend every waking moment together is like a walk in the park....literally.....as we are doing a lot of walking in a park these days.

Once again:  We are very fortunate.

An old expression, but one that has a particularly poignant meaning to us right now:

"Life, if it is going to be fair, is going to be fair in the long run rather than in the short run."

And so, while our situation in terms of Covid-19 is on the ultra positive side, we have had other things that balance that out right now.

Namely, for the past two months we have been dealing with the reality that I probably have prostate cancer.  We won't know for sure for another week, and then will find out how serious it is in three weeks.

That's unfair.  But, my heart being close to exploding in my chest, but it being caught by an alert Urology P.A. so I could get surgery to make my heart as good as new balances that out.  If that had happened, I might not be here to find out I have cancer.  Vicky and I will take that trade-off.

I'm 72.  If this is what I die from, then this is what I die from.  Everybody dies from something.

And, I'm not dead yet, and we have faith in the medical field, and we'll get through this just like other people are getting through the Covid-19 problem.

In the long run I don't believe I have been treated unfairly by life, even with having to go through both heart problems and now maybe cancer.  Instead, I have been far to the side of having life treat me well.

Because of the medical tests and Covid-19 we lost camping trips we had been planning for and building toward.  One was going to be returning to Death Valley National Park to explore the back country.  We had to cut our trip there last year short because we got an emergency message that our home in Leisure World had sustained wind damage.

We sort of think that planning trips to Death Valley is jinxed.  What will happen if we plan another one?  An invasion from Mars?

So we have taken a few shorter camping/hiking trips in and around my medical tests.  But now the weather is too warm for camping in the low elevations around here, so we hope to squeeze in one more trip in a week to higher elevations where there will be cooler temperatures.

In the meantime, we have established a new routine.  We found that last summer it was very comfortable in Arizona if we got up at 2:30 a.m., and swam and cycled.  We could be all done before daylight.  The pool is closed now because of Covid-19, so we get up early and cycle and take a 4-mile walk in the dark.  We have Leisure World practically all to ourselves when we do that.

Here is a photo of our sunrise this morning, toward the end of our walk.

And we work on our hobbies.  And interestingly those hobbies are connected in a very real way to our childhoods.

As a child Vicky did something not many girls did--she knitted.  Her first knitting project was a sweater she wore on the first day of 8th grade.   She did a lot of sewing of her own clothes, but also knitted.

So, she has been spending her time knitting for our new granddaughter Aryana:

 

 

 

A little dress:

And two backpacks for our other granddaughters, both looked like this:

A blanket for grandson Sebastian:

 And a blanket for Jules:

I have reverted back to my childhood and am building plastic model kits.  

When I was a kid I assembled cars and airplanes.  In my home in Oklahoma was a storage space above the garage.  My father converted it into being my bedroom.  It had plywood walls and a plywood ceiling.  I assembled dozens of plastic airplanes and hung them from the ceiling, complete with little cotton balls to resemble flak exploding.  

In the early dawn I would look at my ceiling and imagine all of those planes flying around in big battles.  Because it was not completely light I couldn't see the thread that I used to hang them.  I loved it.

Well, fast forward 60 years, and I am now learning to do desert dioramas.  My first completed project was a model of the 20-mule team Borax wagons.  Here is my finished project:  20-mule-team. 

It had special meaning because Death Valley, where the Harmony Borax company was located, has special meaning to Vicky and me.  We have been there numerous times, and really love the open wildness of it.

Here is a photo with examples of both of our projects:  

My current project is to duplicate a photo of Ian that we took when he came camping with us two years ago in the Mojave Desert Preserve.  We hiked to an old encampment, and found this old '57 Mercury.  Here is Ian approaching it:

I found a model car that was close to it, and am "unbuilding" it to resemble what is in the photo.

Here is what it looked like when I purchased it:

After a childhood spent building models, this is my first attempt to "unbuild" one.

Here is me unbuilding it:

And here is the current iteration of Ian:

Our other activities are shopping at Walmart pick-up.....seriously.  We are extremely careful.

Vicky washes everything, and I put the rest into storage for varying days of quarantine.

Looks like a lot of work, but you know?  It's fun.  We make it fun.

We will all get through all of this.  Keep the faith.

Camping at the top of the hill

In Arizona we are encouraged to get outside and be healthy.  Campgrounds are open, so this meant that we were legally allowed to camp and hike.

We are amazed that there is a location within an hour's drive us of that is almost precisely what we enjoy.  Very few people go there.  Sometimes in a day of hiking and camping we will see two or three people.  Sometimes we will see "buzzers" (OHVs), but mostly in this area we see folks who are cycling on trails.

And from about 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. it is empty, and we are alone with the desert.

Here is a video of us getting to a new spot we had identified.  You need a 4-wheel drive high clearance vehicle to get there, as you can see:

We were there five days and five nights.  Took five hikes.  Five miles each.  High five!

The desert was in full bloom.  Beautiful wildflowers:

The hikes were fun.  We hike about three hours a day, all that our old joints will allow.  For the five days we had an elevation gain of over half a mile.

 

Here is our site on the top of the hill.   See us?

We are in this photo too.  Have to look hard to find us.

One afternoon a storm came out of nowhere.  High winds, dark clouds.  Lasted an hour.  That will happen, without warning almost.  Not predicted.  We were glad we weren't in a tent because the winds were rocking the teardrop camper.  But was beautiful:

Camping and hiking again

After several days of getting up in the middle of the night to cycle and walk, we knew we needed to head to our special desert to.....get up in the middle of the night to hike.

We had identified a site would be remote, and close to hiking areas.

Here we are.

We are on a hilltop, with incredible views in all directions.  We will be here for several.

Mr. and Mrs. Fox on our morning walks

Because our local pool is closed, and the dances we attended weekly are no longer being held, we, like everyone else, is coping with how to still get outside and exercise.

We are doing this by getting up at 3:00 a.m., riding our tandem for an hour, and then walking for about an hour and a half.

In our retirement village, it is actually safer to cycle at night than during the day.  We may see 2-3 vehicles at night, and they are quite visible.  Because we deck the tandem out with several lights, we are also more visible to them.

This morning, on our walk, we saw Mr. and Mrs. Fox:

Well, actually, this is what we saw:

Aren't they cute?

Aren't we cute?