COVID. Some things became more hectic, many things slowed down. And while the slow-down can drive us crazy, many of us have realized the benefits of a less hectic schedule and are choosing to continue to slow down and focus on the things that really matter. Right now, we are experiencing another “slow down” as we quarantine for a week before moving on to our final destination.
In the era before planes, trains, and automobiles, traveling across the ocean to another continent required a journey of weeks to months. Now it only takes hours to days. There are some advantages to having a longer transition time. For one, no jet lag! Also, time to process the leaving of friends and family and to prepare for arrival and new relationships.
Now, I’m not saying that I want to go back to the days of packing all of your belongings into a coffin to travel for weeks to a foreign land. However, a week of imposed “down time” for COVID quarantine turns out to be not such a bad thing, and is even helpful in several ways such as:
- Time as a family without places to be or the demands of work and school...even our grocery shopping is done for us.
J learns to mop the floor
Wearing googles to go outside in a wind/dust storm.
- Flexibility in adjusting to the 8 hour time shift. With little kids this is no easy matter. They say it usually takes a day to adjust for every hour time difference- so by the end of the week maybe we will be on a normal schedule?! One can hope.
- Time to recall how to make yogurt, use cloth diapers and a gas stove, adapt to power outages, convert tablespoons to grams, etc.
Power outage fun
“Dad, you really do know how to make popcorn another way!”
- Beginning the process of adjusting to the heat- and to drinking lots of water.
So far it has been great to spend time as a family and prepare ourselves for the work that is ahead. Just a few more days, one more COVID test, and we should be on our way!
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