Do April showers really bring May flowers? Today is April 2.
To my complete and utter amazement, I woke up this morning before my 9:05 alarm. At 9 o’clock on the dot, I opened my eyes and felt fully awake. I usually require at least five different alarms to wake up, but somehow my body decided I was fully rested and ready for the day. Because we hadn’t cooked up a real breakfast in a while, I asked my dad if we could do biscuits and gravy with sausages. He quickly agreed and even made up smoothies to go along with our meal. We sat at our kitchen table together enjoying the savory brunch as the rest of our family slept.
After breakfast, I headed back to my room. Even though I had told myself I would be productive and study, my motivation abandoned me again today. Instead of opening up my Advanced Placement Calculus AB notes and making flashcards to review with like I planned, I sat in bed and watched Criminal Minds for the next several hours. The episodes and seasons follow the same crime-stopping and criminal-defeating pattern, but I do enjoy the special added moments of characters’ team interactions and personal development.
At 1 p.m. I joined my mom in the kitchen to do a Zoom conference call with the newspaper’s writers and photographers. For the next hour or so we assigned who will take what photo for what story. I think we could have accomplished the same task in about half the time, but most people seemed excited to talk and interact with one another after more than two weeks of isolation. I am not a desperately social person, and for the most part I enjoy having time by myself to think, but for more extraverted people, I am sure this pandemic is taking a toll on their mental and social health and well-being.
I hope that through video conferencing platforms and social media sites people are still able to connect, though I do worry about how our society will change once all of this is over. In times like these, I see articles and headlines about people coming together, but I fear after this ends we will return to our own seemingly self-imposed isolation. I can only hope we, as a species, can come together to support the most impoverished and ostracized people in the world during this time of crisis.
Around 5:10 p.m. I decided to go for a walk. I didn’t intend to be out for too long, but I ended up walking and jogging off and on for at least 50 minutes. The weather was lovely, but I wish I had started about half an hour earlier. By the time I was ⅓ of the way through my route, the sun dipped behind the steadily amassing blanket of gray clouds and didn’t appear again. I saw several other people out and about. A few mowed their lawns, one was running and two others were walking. It is nice to know people are taking care of their physical health while still staying a safe distance from others. During the last 10 minutes of my walk, I started to hear the rumblings of thunder and saw storm clouds gathering. I didn’t want to get caught in an unexpected downpour, so I picked up my pace and jogged the rest of my way home.
After eating dinner together, my parents, brother and I headed downstairs to play Spades. For as long as I can remember, Spades has been our go-to game of choice. From camping trips to snow days, the four of us will spend hours together playing. Although we sometimes vary partners, I am usually with my dad while my brother and mom play as a team. Not to brag, but we have beaten them for the last two nights in a row. To my joy, we were able to continue our winning streak again tonight for the two games we played.
“I’m going to make everything around me beautiful; that will be my life.” ― Elise de Wolfe
