Today is Sunday….Tomorrow is Monday….Rinse, Repeat, Zoom

I know that April is about to close out. Which means it is almost May.  I also know today is definitely Sunday.  Here’s why.

Before I go any further and possibly find myself making glib or non-serious or nonsensical comments let me just say that I feel completely fortunate, lucky, and privileged to be sitting in my home doing the isolation thing right here.  I watch news of health care workers around the country and it saddens and maddens me. The richest, “most powerful”, country in the world and we are suffering so badly from this pandemic really pisses me off.  And there is such a void in national leadership.  It’s hard not to be saddened by so many untimely deaths. It’s sad and it’s scary. Period.  Rhona and I are fortunate.  We do not take it for granted. The brilliance of Spring is all around us.  Flowering trees and shrubs, pure green foliage emerging on the maple tree in front of our house, warm days, and lush gardens around the houses in our neighborhood.  How to reconcile the beauty of Spring with the deadly impact of Covid 19?   I don’t get it.

Meanwhile……it’s groundhog day.  Today is Sunday.  I know it’s Sunday because today is the weekly installment of Homeland on ShowTime. Another week has flown by and tonight is the final episode of Homeland. It’s episode 12 and I’ve been measuring weeks by Sunday night episodes for almost three months.  Tomorrow is Monday. I’ve been marking Mondays for the past 6 weeks by episodes of Plot Against America on HBO.  It’s over so I need another Monday marker, and another Sunday marker. My son says Billions is a good show and is now going to be on Sunday night.  I could become very confused if I don’t sort this out.   I mark Fridays by my 6:00pm Zoom guitar lesson.  Wednesday is trash day, and every two weeks this includes the recycling. I usually remember Tuesday’s because it’s the day before trash day and it helps me get prepared to gather up the trash stuff the night before. I don’t really actually gather it up, but I think about it.  That’s my Tuesday marker. I really lose the plot on Thursdays, except that Rhona does her Tai Chi Zooming in the evening. When I see her doing Tai Chi in the evening in the living room, I know it’s Thursday. I do the New York Times News Quiz every Saturday morning.  Last week I scored 11 out of 11 correct.  Only the 2nd time.  I immediately What’sApped my sister because that’s our Saturday morning exchange. She scored 11 out of 11 also…but admitted she needed to make two guesses (I only had to guess on one!).  It’s good to keep the competitive juices flowing.  If I have done the quiz that day, I remember it’s Saturday.

I’ve marked every couple of weeks on Saturdays by a standing meeting with a group of high school friends from the early 70’s….I’ve reconnected with them after many years.  We’ve met several times – exchanged photos, laughed out loud, a depth of laughter that does not need explaining because the memories while possibly fuzzy at times, are so powerfully woven into the fabric of our shared teenage years that they require only a mere mention of an event, or an old photo, for the floodgates of moments to spill forward. And, not to be stuck in the past, we’ve dabbled in adult topics– including politics.  Absolutely a brilliant experience to have this zoom connection, this reconnection with old and dear friends has been a special and a surprising happening.

I was able to attend the Class of 2020  Zoom Assembly last week at the American International School of Johannesburg marking the end of classes for the year.  So much fun to see familiar student faces and the faces of so many friends and former colleagues.  That was a treat.

We’ve also had an extended Family Zoom with brothers/sisters/cousins. Last night we played charades via Zoom – from North Carolina to London to Toronto/Montreal/Halifax/Boston/New York…..it worked amazingly well.  Frankly, family is everything right now.

This Monday I have my monthly Book Club meeting….We will be zooming.  The act of Zooming has taken on a new verb meaning.

The Power of shared experiences.  Shared experiences bind people. Over the years as an educator I often talked and wrote about the power of shared experiences. They are important, valuable, and create moments that become memories for a lifetime.  The other night we had a glass of wine with neighbors, outside and apart but together. I honestly know I’ll remember that glass of wine forever. I never felt closer to my work colleagues then when managing difficult crisis situations. Ties that bind. So, we are having shared experiences right now and moments we won’t easily forget.

Anyway, I mark my evenings by setting up the coffee maker before going to sleep and I mark my mornings with a push of the ON button.  I enjoy the solitude of mornings. Today is Sunday….I already said that….oops.  Today I’ll cut the grass.

 

 

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One thought on “Today is Sunday….Tomorrow is Monday….Rinse, Repeat, Zoom

  1. Very enjoyable and motivating Geoff. Thanks. When exams are over next week I hope to have more time for projects like this. Best to you and your wife. Hal

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