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How are you and yours in these wild times of Covid-19?
As an author, I usually don’t have trouble finding words, but this global pandemic is insane. I struggle to stay upbeat and decide what to write to you. Forced jolliness doesn't suit me. Ditto with gloom and doom. Yet, I want to reach out and connect. That’s why I’m revealing very personal take-aways from my third week of self-isolating in the #Gr8Blogs Coping in Coronaville Blog Hop and share how a simple flower gives me hope. Let's commiserate and encourage each other as humanity morphs into crisis. Please read on to find why I refuse to waste away in Coronaville. Then find more ideas and inspiration from my #Gr8Blogs partners at the bottom of this post. 
Lenten Rose (Hellebore) - Inspiration from Cat's garden for hard times
3 Weeks of Social Distancing and My New Normal
It’s our third week of social distancing here in central North Carolina since Hub developed what we now know was a common cold. We were alarmed at first. It was early days for the US outbreak, so we didn’t know what to expect. We self-quarantined, watching symptoms develop from six feet away. I did my best to tamp down anxiety and stay hopeful, but I was scared. Fortunately, Hub never developed a cough or fever, and I never caught any of his symptoms. <knocking on wood here>. He and I are beyond blessed! We continue social-distancing despite being healthy. It’s an easy adjustment since we both work from home. We stick to our established schedules and have enough food and supplies.
Hub works on projects and his third ginormous jigsaw puzzle. I edit book drafts and send manuscripts for my middle-grade tale to beta readers. To stay active, I work in my new garden and practice yoga from an app instead of the gym.
Fighting Despair
TBH, I’m anxious about hovering at that age bracket, where we are advised to take extra precautions and stay home. That’s why online grocery shopping has become our latest venture.
It’s also why shaggy hair is my new normal after cancelling my monthly haircut appointment with Betsy. She’s been styling my hair for 20 years and is near retirement age. I worry about her and other small business owners trying to stay afloat. I mail Betsy a check for the missed haircut just the same; it had been earmarked for her all along. I fret about the pandemic’s ripple effect. I believe its fallout will be with us long after everyone recovers physically. Unprecedented layoffs. Kids depending on school lunches looking elsewhere for food, or, worse, going without. Sigh. 
Photo: Auden Johnson - Deserted NYC Subway, March 2020
I watch newsfeeds of empty city streets juxtaposed against vacationers frolicking on beaches. It frustrates me that some people still don't get it, and more will die before reality sinks in.
I gasp seeing military convoys in Italy carrying bodies to final resting places because local officials cannot handle rising mortality rates. I worry most about health care workers on the front lines, who don’t have adequate supplies or equipment to protect them. Having to choose between saving their patients or staying alive for their families is a choice no one should ever have to make. 
Photo by Ante Hamersmit on Unsplash
I Refuse to be Wasting Away in Coronaville Whoa! See how easy it is slip down a dark hole of fear and despair!
Instead, I seek kindness and light.
Like schools providing lunches to kids despite shuttered classrooms. Distilleries crafting and giving away hand sanitizer instead of whiskey. Neighbors offering to fetch groceries for those at high risk. Relatives gathering outside a nursing home window to sing happy birthday to an elderly loved one quarantined inside. 
Neighborhood sidewalk art in times of social-distancing
I chill and take a cue from my garden.
From my office window, I can see a beautiful Lenten Rose (Hellebore) resting in rich black soil. Transplanted from my former garden, it survived two winters in a plastic pot before a place was ready for its new home. This perennial’s unique blush-pink double blooms dazzle and always bring a smile.
So, from my garden for YOU ...
I'm sharing the aptly named Lenten Rose Lovely and reliable … Tough as nails, bouncing back every winter no matter what … Lifts the heart on dark days ... We all need more of a Lenten Rose spirit! (or you could say, "give 'em Hellebore" -:D) 
Lenten Roses (Hellebores) in Cat’s former garden – Spring 2012
You are in my heart. Be well. Stay strong. Show kindness. Keep connected. We’re gonna get through this! xxx, Cat
Your Turn
These are unprecedented and distressing times. What are you doing to stay calm and sane? Please share in the comment section.
But before you go ... click over to these #Gr8Blogs for more inspiration.
6 Comments
3/21/2020 06:01:21 pm
Your garden photos are beautiful. Yes, like you, I worry too about the health care workers. I have a few close friends who work in hospitals, one is a pedi nurse and has already come down with various things this year, now having to work amidst all this with a 18 month old of her own is scary. But they are staying at work for us, so we need to stay at home for them. It's had for everyone, but eventually things will change, and we will move forward. Wishing you and yours to stay safe and well.
Cat Michaels
3/22/2020 04:55:11 pm
Thanks for visiting my garden, Carmela. I especially wish your Pediatrics nurse friend strength and good health. And bravo to every first responder fighting for us in this war. I am with you about staying home to keep everyone well. #QuaranTeam -:D. 3/21/2020 06:40:23 pm
What a touching blog on how the coronavirus has touched all of our lives. As you pointed out, it is so easy to get sucked into all the gloom and doom, but ever-so-important to stay positive during these unprecedented dire times. We are more resilient and, as you said in your closing comments, "We're going to get through this." Thanks for your inspiring words.
Cat Michaels
3/22/2020 05:04:03 pm
Times call for being ever-so-resilient for sure, Julie! I try to limit my news intake to keep balance between information and overload. I appreciate you staying connected and visiting as we live through Coronaville. 3/23/2020 10:31:51 am
Beautiful post, Cat.
Cat Michaels
3/24/2020 06:28:44 pm
With hunkering down four weeks, it’s easy to forget BC (Before Corona), and what it was like to go any place at any time, Rosie! Isn’t it heartening to see simple acts of kindness by those better angels. Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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 Cat MichaelsWriting about family, books, authoring, life, movies, travel and more. JOIN CAT'S Reader's room team!New subscribers receive a FREE downloadable
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