In the midst of this stay-at-home directive I have had to look beyond myself to find joy. On Mother’s Day Jason came by with Hazel. We had only seen her once in the past two months, and it was heart warming just to watch her run around the back yard. She paused for a moment, and looked up at me.
It’s a mixed bag. We’re fifty feet apart. Missing seeing her, her cousins, our kids, the rest of our family…missing hugs, hanging out, dining together, stuff like that.
So what else? I’ve found joy in gardening.
Jadyne and I spend a couple of hours a day grooming, cutting, trimming, pruning, and trying to maintain the yard.
I find joy in my photography. I’ve been photographing flowers from in and around our own garden, carrying a pair of clippers as I drive around Berkeley, bringing some home, then doing this…
The pink dogwood by our front door only blooms every couple of years. This spring we were gifted with only a handful of pink flowers. Still, I cut about ten or twelve of them from the tree, brought them inside, and turned them into a page on my website.
One of twelve
I find joy in playing my guitar. Almost two months ago I carelessly caught my finger in a pair of pruning shears and needed four stitches to sew up the finger. As the days passed and the wound healed I would try to play, give up, and put the guitar away. A couple of weeks ago it felt well enough to begin again. The finger looks like new; inside the nerves are damaged. I can play, but it isn’t the same. Still, I find joy in playing…
…and in just listening to music. My favorite companion on a long walk are my Sony earbuds.
Watching the sky. We are fortunate to live two minutes away from this view. I keep an eye on the sky, watching for dramatic sunsets, or a couple of days ago, a clearing storm.
Walking. Living in hills and among lakes. It’s about three miles around Berkeley’s Aquatic Park. That’s where I came across a family of geese and their goslings last week.
I’m taking the time to read again, having finished three books and several articles in The New Yorker. I also read a lot online, but this post was about finding joy, and there’s a shortage of joy online. I find joy in the downtime that is a regular part of my life now, recognizing that doing “nothing” is really doing something. I find joy in spending time with Jadyne, my wife and partner of the last five hundred and ninety-nine months. I find joy in talking with friends, even though I can’t see them. I find joy in Talavera’s camarones burrito, the Sechuan Restaurant’s spicy fish and soft tofu, the fresh Acme sourdough baguette, and the two cups of Peet’s Major Dickason''s freshly-ground coffee that starts my day. Someone said that there’s a pandemic going around…not part of my day.
My brother-in-law posted the following on Facebook: I’m on the same page,.
