Strange Times

The good news is that after 10 weeks of cleaning up my mom's estate, we're done with the major portions. The seemingly endless paperwork for her financial affairs is done. Her house was emptied, repaired, and scrubbed top to bottom, and is now on the market. Her taxes are filed. In "normal" times, I would give a huge sigh of relief and reconnect with friends. Maybe spend a couple of days watching favorite movies and indulging in chocolate. I earned it, right? Normally--there's that word again--I would be very excited to suddenly have a hunk of unscheduled time. But I was restless, straining at the restrictions. In my mind, there's a huge difference between having a few bonus days and having down time forced on me. I've always been rebel. My first couple of days at home, I found that my imagination had gone into over-drive without my permission or encouragement. When I looked out the window I could almost see specks of virus hanging in the air. Kind of like the beginning of a Sci Fi movie. Creepy. Then I read a couple of those little bits of news that come across my phone. In very general terms, Gov. Newsom of CA sounded reassuring--We're going to get through this. Gov. Cuomo of NY was more forthright--This is hard, but we're New Yorkers, we'll deal with it! That got my attention. I grew up in New Jersey, right across the river from NYC. I am a New Yorker at heart. Time to snap out of it. I want to caution you that there are dangers inside your home. I decided to tackle one of the non-fiction books that have piled up. Most of my reading time is in the evening, when I'm trying to settle my mind down for sleep. This is not the time to be absorbing new information. Since my days pass all too quickly, I rarely have time to dig into this stack. So I chose one and settled in at the kitchen table so I could underline the critical points. I'm a little obsessive about my books (okay, I'm a lot obsessive), so I need a ruler and a flat surface to do it neatly. Despite finding the book interesting, I fell asleep, sitting in a straight-backed chair. It must have been that slumpy time of the afternoon. I found out that I'd dozed off when I banged my thumb on the edge of the table, rudely waking myself up. Immediately I had a tiny blue egg. The blue spread throughout the lower section of my thumb. It hurts. Thank goodness I didn't hit the floor. So be careful when you're outside. And inside.