What a month it has been! We are living the new normal. Each one of us. We're dealing with a worldwide pandemic that has affected every country, every state and town. We are tackling it with social distancing to contain it. Strict measures have been put in place with curfews, quarantines and bans.
Our country, India is under a 21-day lock down where everyone has been instructed to stay indoors. Only essential services are allowed to operate. Flights have been cancelled. Schools, colleges, offices are all closed.
We're dealing with the new normal as best as we can.
There has never been a better time to express our gratitude than right now, especially when the pandemic is getting worse.
#StayhomeStaysafe
I am grateful that staying safe is as simple as flattening the curve by simply staying put at home. Since I work from home anyway, my new normal is pretty much the same as the old, except that I have the whole family at home. It feels wonderful. I am grateful we enjoy three meals together every day and I am cherishing these moments.
Please get your latest pandemic information from the WHO website
Extra-special Joy
Which brings me to my son's visit. What was to be a one-week break has now extended to over a month. I couldn't be happier. I am glad he's at home busy with his coursework and eating healthy. He is in the final semester of his five-year integrated degree and will finish by May this year.
We struggled with rescheduling his ticket and were just breathing a sigh of relief when the lock down was announced. We went through another round of near-madness trying to cancel his ticket because we don't know when exactly classes will resume. Although there are deductions in spite of the promise of a full refund, we're grateful to the airline for at least holding part of the ticket fare for use in a future booking.
I am treasuring the extra time we have with him, because by August, he will be off to pursue his PhD.
Just because we're going through the new normal does not mean the regular annoying things don't happen. My fridge conked off, yet again, for the fifth time in two months. I am grateful for the mechanic who turned up to fiddle with it. After two hours, he packed up to leave, saying he'd come back the next morning with the necessary testing equipment. I went a little berserk thinking of the loaded fridge. What to do? All that stuff would get spoiled with the fridge off.
Helpful neighbors
I decided to request the neighbor to help me by storing some of the freezer stuff. So grateful she had space and was willing to give me the space. We then had a very pleasant chat in her beautiful living room and I felt so much better.
I did end up giving away many things from the fridge as I had no idea when it would be fixed. Felt like the old days. I mean, we got our first fridge when I was 22 years old, so it isn't as if I grew up with one, although I do depend on one now.
I simply took a deep breath and hoped for the best. Which turned out to be a solid expense as the reason for the fridge stopping working was the electrical connection and our UPS. Well we had to replace the UPS - a big unexpected expense.
Of course, I keep feeling the sides of the fridge to check if it is working. It has taught me not to keep too many things in it, but, you know, that's hard right now. Hoping for the best.
On the work front, I haven't had much to do on the writing aspect. So rather than fret over my loss of income, I am focusing on my blogs right now. The April A to Z Challenge, anniversary edition, is just around the corner and I actually did a wee bit of planning. This will be year 8 for me. Here's my theme reveal post. I will post every day in April. Do come by!
In the meantime, I am enjoying reading, bingeing on shows, playing board games, card games and antakshari with my folks, and even napping in the afternoon occasionally.
I wrote a post about 30 fun indoor games your kids will absolutely love.
Extra-grateful
I am extra-grateful for a comfortable home. Because of the lock down, even though grocery stores are supposed to be open as essential services, such is not the case. Almost everything is shut in our area.
One store was open the day before yesterday and we managed to get some stuff. They were allowing only five people at a time into the supermarket and entry was permitted to only those who were wearing masks. I hear the store has not opened since yesterday. So grateful we were able to shop. None of the online grocery stores are delivering, and if they are, our pin code is not being served. Not sure what we will do when we run out of things. It's the new normal.
Counting my blessings
We are more grateful than ever for whatever we have at this time and are adjusting to the new normal. We share household chores anyway so nothing different about that.
The new normal is tough in many ways but I am grateful for:
- A comfortable home
- Family at home
- Food to eat for now
- Running water
- Electricity
- Internet connection
- Overall health
- Medicines for two weeks
Trying my best to stay healthy to avoid the need for doctors' visits.
Time with family
We are grateful to have our terrace to walk on. We spend that time together, chatting and laughing and sometimes whining, of course. It feels good to enjoy the fresh air without breaking any rules.
I am grateful that the apartment condo we live in is conscious about the need to maintain social distancing and glad we have a WhatsApp group to banter with each other.
Thursday Tree Love
For this edition of Thursday Tree Love with Parul, I have this gorgeous trumpet flower tree from my son's campus. It is all over the place, brightening the area with its pretty yellow flowers.
Let me recall a happy memory about the trumpet flower tree. In March 1992, I moved to Bangalore on a job transfer. On my first day at work, I was scoping out the area. Our office was close to Cubbon Park. I decided to ride through it on my scooter.
I was cruising, really, fascinated by the greenery, when suddenly I came across this tree and I literally stopped, spellbound. I couldn't help staring at the beauty before me. This tree, covered in yellow flowers, the ground around it carpeted with the yellow flowers - I mean, words cannot describe the joy I felt at that moment! No camera those days. Well I did have a point and shoot Kodak but obviously did not carry it around. I couldn't wait to tell my Mom about the tree, I remember.
The memory of beholding that tree for the first time is one of my happiest memories. Of course, I saw many after that. I felt a little sad when we moved back to Hyderabad in 1994. But we were back in 1999 and now that I live here, I am thrilled about all the flowering trees in our own locality.
I went down that same road in Cubbon Park recently but the tree wasn't there. Sigh. The new normal!
How are you coping with the new normal?
How are you spending your time? How is the lock down affecting you?
Welcome to the March 2020 Gratitude Circle blog hop!
Do join me with your own posts.
As always, please note:To join the Gratitude Circle blog hop, you can write about anything that made you feel good. It is not mandatory to write about your personal life. Or list personal things you are grateful for. You have the freedom to share anything that made you feel good. A happy event. Something you saw. An experience. A place. Something that brought you happiness. A lovely book you read that filled you with joy. Anything. I repeat, it need not be personal at all.
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- Add your post link to the linky below.
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- Mingle and engage
