It’s hard to believe this mess has been going on as long as it has. I thought six weeks of basic training lasted a lifetime, but the past six weeks lasted two lifetimes. And I’m not positive the end is in sight. The governor is slow rolling the opening of Texas, but new cases are showing up and more people are dying. Since Ed and I fall into the “you’re old…please stay home category,” it appears we may be stuck with each other for a while.
I miss the old days. You know…when you could walk around Walmart without a face mask or screaming hysterically and running away in terror when someone got within six feet of you. I’m not a normal woman (not a big surprise to anyone who knows me,) so I’ve never been one for wandering around a shopping mall for enjoyment. I put that in the same category as sewing face masks or getting a root canal. However, I could spend hours leisurely shopping each aisle in H-E-B, Hobby Lobby, or Home Depot. Yep. I miss the good old days.
I’m almost positive Ed doesn’t miss those, but I know (without him saying anything) that he’d kill for a haircut about now. He would have been great in the military because he likes short hair, had his eyes not made him ineligible to join. Right now, his hair is the longest I’ve ever seen. I kind of like it, but I haven’t told him so because I know I’ll get an hour-long lecture on the virtues of short hair and how he can’t stand to be scruffy looking. Which would explain why he just shaved when we’re not going anywhere anytime soon.
He has no heartburn with me having long hair, which is a good thing, because I haven’t gotten anything more than a trim in years. My goal is to have it long enough to step on when I’m walking. I swear it’s growing faster than normal, so evidently hair likes to be inside all the time. I can braid it into long pigtails, although I’m not sure why I’d want to do so. And I’ve been thinking I should cut it. That one fact alone should be enough to convince you I’m going stir crazy, because I love my hair long. I blame that on 23+ years in the AF when I had to keep it short or put it up. When men retire from the military, they grow beards. When women retire, we let our hair grow. It’s our way of rebelling against an establishment we put up with for so long.
Part of my discontent is because I’ve discovered I’m not as smart as I thought I was. Another reason to actively hate making face masks. It has shown a bright light on my stupidity. Instructions say to wash the material first, then cut it. That seemed like a waste of time, so I made them, and then washed them. SO much easier! Except…who knew? 100% cotton will shrink if you wash it in hot water. I ended up with a pile of baby sized face masks when I accidentally had the washer on hot instead of cold. When I pulled them out of the dryer, I swear I heard my mother laughing. Not one of those behind the hand snickers, but a full-blown belly laugh. Glad someone thinks it’s funny. Funny enough for me to hear her laughing all the way from Heaven.
So now, I wash the fabric before Ed cuts it. Wash and iron. Iron? Really? Another household appliance I don’t have the instructions for and haven’t used in twenty years. Luckily, an iron is a relatively simple appliance, even if mine does have all the bells and whistles. I was able to figure out how to turn it on and even found the special “cup” to fill it with water so I could steam the crap out of the wrinkled material. What is the world coming to when I’m using a sewing machine and iron?
I know it’s not just me. We get a daily crime report of incidents within a three-mile radius of our house. Since we started subscribing, there would be an occasional “shooting” listed somewhere near us. That’s on the rise. There were two on the report the other day. They don’t explain the details, so I don’t know if somebody shot someone else or if they shot their sewing machine or iron. Probably the latter because I’ve been seriously tempted. I’d shoot the washing machine if it wasn’t so expensive. That’s the downside of wanting certain household appliances to be really good ones. When they prove to be smarter than you, it costs too much money to take a baseball bat to them.
So, what have we learned so far throughout this pandemic? Other than I’m stupid? We’ve learned that staying home all the time sucks. We’ve learned that even if an extended staycation sounds enticing…it isn’t. But we’ve also learned or been reminded, that people are good. Companies are making respirators instead of cars. Factories are producing face shields instead of what they’d normally produce. Normal folks are making face masks when they’d rather be doing anything else. People are checking on each other and helping each other out. My biggest wish is that when all this comes to an end, the lessons we’ve learned will continue. My second biggest wish is that I become as smart as my appliances. Pretty sure there’s a better chance I’ll get my first one, but we’ll see.