Keeping it real in my own little world

I’ve been working from home for almost a year, so I haven’t had to make a lot of adjustments that other people have had to make during this coronavirus pandemic. Of course, I don’t have kids to take care of, a husband to work with or parents to help, so right now it’s all about me, which is about all I can handle.

Since I do my best to take precautions, I try not to go out in public unless I have a specific purpose. My keyboard needed new batteries, but since I’d just been shopping for groceries, I felt I should take a look around the house to see if I had any on hand. It’s amazing what you find when you start searching through a few drawers.

In one drawer, I found batteries of all different sizes. I did find the size I needed, but I can’t imagine what the other ones are for. If I had to guess, one battery looks like it would fit in the smoke alarm I managed to break last fall, and the others probably fit the flashlight with the busted light bulb. I’m sensing a pattern here.

I didn’t have to contemplate that pattern for very long since my exploration found my long-lost kazoo. I know what you’re thinking — hours of entertainment value. OK, maybe that’s what I was thinking. You can always play a kazoo, and that seemed like such a better idea than dusting off my keyboard and trying to remember any of the three songs I think I know. Some people will make it through this time having learned to play an instrument or mastered a second language. I won’t be one of those people, but if anyone needs a kazoo player for their band, I’m in.

I found my international student ID from 1977 in another drawer. I should have cleaned out the drawer, but I may need to mine it for treasures another time. I suspect another bout of boredom is just around the corner. The picture on the ID was not very complimentary, but then it’s been months since I’ve been to my hair stylist and a quick glance in the mirror gave me nothing to brag about.

I did my best to trim my toenails, not a pretty sight but needed to be done. Had I let them grow any longer I might not have been able to get my shoes on. I hate that hair and nail salons are not considered essential businesses. If I could afford it, I would go to those places at least once a week. When life gets back to normal, I’m guessing those businesses will be flooded with appointments, and I’ll be first in line.

Speaking of shoes, I’m making an effort to wear mine more. I’ve always been a barefoot kind of gal, which was fine in my youth. Now that I’m old(er), I find I don’t recover from a stubbed toe as quickly, and I think being barefoot too much is making my ankles weak. That’s the excuse I’m staying with due to my public fall last week.

I can honestly say that having fewer people on the street can be a bit of an advantage. It’s true I had no one to help pick me up off the sidewalk when I did a face plant, but I also had no witnesses to what had to be a rather amusing recovery. Perhaps I need to explore the benefits of yoga. I gotta believe I achieved a high lunge or an upward facing dog pose in my effort to raise myself upright. All I know for sure is that it wasn’t pretty, and I was a little sore the next day.

Everyone is dealing with quarantines and social distancing as best they can. As I compare the stories they post on the internet to my experiences, I see I’m in pretty good company with a lot of other weirdos.

Miriam Nelson is the news editor of the Wittenberg Enterprise and Birnamwood News. Readers can contact her at mnelson@newmedia-wi.com