Paring Back

Homebound. Temporarily laid-off.  Of course it feels good. Warm and presumably safe in the bosom of my family, as they say.  When I think of writing about it, this present moment, I imagine a future in which the reader (maybe just me) looks back with perspective.  Do they shake their head or smile indulgently?  

At the end of the day I went and picked up the 50# of flour and the 50# of sugar I had ordered.  I bought some eggs and cheese, some olive oil and a six-pack of beer. I went into the kitchen to get some instant yeast and a knob of sourdough starter to make bread with my kids at home.  The light was already out, the floor wet from being mopped. I reminded Eli to grab frozen doughs for the next day’s pizzas. Breath caught short for just a moment, I felt a small sorrow. Confounded.  Sorry for Cat who will have to shoulder this alone, when it would be so much more fun to do it together. It’s not me who will be holding the kitchen together at Sheepscot General. Ben and Taryn have created a skeleton crew- the bones that protect the inner organs of the store and farm.  So much work to do for those people. But like a skeleton key that opens more than one door, they will do many jobs to keep the store afloat so it can be a viable market that supplies us with the things we need, and still be here when we all return in full force. Small town shopping, bulk orders, beer and wine!, local farm vegetables- soon from the farm’s own plants.  

There are trucks from the gravel pit bouncing up and down our road.  I think they’re toting sand for filling in the soft shoulders which have eroded over the winter.  Now that I’m not walking back and forth from the walk-in to the kitchen all day, I am doing yoga in the morning, walking outside later in the day.  Good on many levels (vitamin D, fresh air, chlorophyll, wildlife), there are almost no cars out but the gravel trucks. It feels like Easter Sunday (except for the gravel trucks).  The yoga helps with the anxiety, which comes in waves corresponding with the news, both local, national, and global. Again, future reader- the head shake? the soft smile?

I can’t stay away from Sheepscot General, but I can’t work there either, so I’m going to keep peeking in and sharing with you what I see through the eyes, heart, and camera lens of Kristin Dillon.  One of my other Kristin friends made a great point earlier today. She proposes we call it “physical distancing” from now on, that it is counter productive to call it social distancing when we need our social connections more than ever.  If you’re inclined to connect socially through the comments. Love, Liza