living in times of Corona

I think a lot about last Wednesday today. Not because last Wednesday was so special, I mainly think about it because last Wednesday was so normal and thus stands in stark contrast to today.

I had exercised, then I wanted to stop by the editorial office which, as always, didn't work out, but I did drive by so Adeline could throw a package of shoes I had ordered into my car. I immediately went to my father-in-law to drop off some fresh linen packages and oh yes, to celebrate spring I had bought four hydrangeas that I just managed to pot and still be on the schoolyard by 12:15. Oh yes, I had given my neighbor a hug because ‘that’ corona, ‘that’ nonsense and we all should have known better and laughed about it. After that, the regular horseback riding ritual repeated itself and we collapsed quite exhausted on the couch.

Everything that was so normal then is now unprecedented. The gym is closed, my father-in-law can't have visitors, the riding school is closed and when I walked into the school building today with my shoulders raised (because was I not breaking the rules?), it felt like Armageddon. ‘Is this allowed?’ asked my youngest girl whose little shoulders were almost next to her ears. We saw Mr. Ad, the principal, so we could ask him right away. If she could still take Charlie and the Chocolate Factory out of her drawer, ‘because otherwise I can't return it to the library on time.’ I don't know if it was a relief when I said that the library was also closed.

I told Mr. Ad that they were doing such a great job, he squeezed my shoulder for a moment and I found that nice.

At home, I tried to create a school setting. It worked. The briefing was clear, when I asked a question in the chat to the teacher, she responded within ten seconds (love for the teachers) and as a break moment, we walked with the dog.

I had an appointment with the school doctor of my oldest. We just started with behavioral medication (long story, if you want to read, kijk hier then go ahead, so it was still important that we saw each other, corona or not. I decided to make a virtue out of necessity and ran to the location, so I could recover during the conversation and then run back. Exactly five minutes before 15:00 I arrived. Neat. Until I realized that this conversation would not take place at school, but at the other location. Yes, the one on the other side of the city. Great.

Called and decided that I would come anyway, so like a little Dafne Schippers, I ran the three kilometers to my house (I had already done three) and jumped in my car to join the conversation at 15:25.

Then I went to the vet for an ointment for a wound on Monti and hey, apart from a note asking me to keep my distance from the counter due to corona, it seemed like the twisted virus didn't exist there for a moment. We didn't even talk about it. Curious how next Wednesday will be, but first I just have to get through tomorrow.