Quarantine Update #1

It has been a long time since we started quarantine here in Seattle. We started distancing and taking things seriously a while before it was mandatory, but I suppose the true count would begin the Sunday of the Democratic Debate on March 15th since this was the last day we have interacted directly with any friends in person. As it turns out, there is a handy little tool on the internet which helps quantify our struggle:

In the beginning we had some difficult adjustments to make. Just that week we had a camping trip planned to the Redwoods National Park in California which we were on the verge of cancelling voluntarily before it was announced that California was shutting down all of its State and National park campgrounds. Our money was refunded and in a way it was easier to just have the option taken from us, but it was still difficult. It was also disheartening, though, because this combined with the fact Governor Inslee had just closed all bars, restaurants, and non-essential businesses certainly made it feel like things were worse than we wanted to believe.

We were able to make do for a while. It was hard not to see any of our new friends we were making out here and almost as hard not to go out to the businesses we had become regulars at on our street, but at least they had not shut down the park system yet. I say that because as of the time of this writing, every state and national park and parts of most parks in the city of Seattle are closed. Those of you reading this probably have read our other posts about hiking the numerous and beautiful parks surrounding the city in Western Washington, so you may understand what a difficult sacrifice that was to accept. The last hike we were able to do before it was no longer acceptable was up to the lookout at Index Town Walls, a short-and-brutal, almost vertical hike to the top of a rock formation overlooking the town of Index. There will be a post for this hike, just keep your eyes out for it.

The point is that we at least had some escape, and we were going out to hike every weekend at least once. After summiting Mt. Washington, we even picked up a couple pairs of micro-spikes so we would have a nicer time mountaineering our way through the pandemic. Then the order came to close all the State and National Parks, closely followed by the city parks and we were left with two options to leave the apartment: walking or running on whatever city trails were left open. This is still true at the time of this writing, several weeks after the initial closures.

In addition, we have experienced several occasions of personal sacrifice. We had friends and family planning to travel out here to visit us in April, but all those plans were cancelled. One of Cara's friends is a flight attendant who moved around schedules months ago to be able to fly through Seattle and visit us. She still came, but we were not able to see her. Although this was a choice, it certainly did not feel like one and it left us both feeling enormously guilty and sad. It didn't bother Cara's friend, she understood, but this is just an example of the ways this has directly impacted us. This friend will likely need to move her wedding this summer. Can you imagine moving your wedding because of a pandemic?

Obviously that would mean cancelling the travel plans we had to come home to Minnesota around that time. In fact, I wanted to make a short trip home for Easter but I was not able to make it work. Some of my friends were going to come out for a visit this summer, but clearly any plan aside from "sit tight" is fluid until further notice.

Basically times are tough. Cara has moved to a 100% online school experience which has been probably the hardest thing either of us have had to adjust to. My work continues on, but it was fully remote to begin with. Not a lot has changed on that front. We did have to get a second office setup and tuck it into a corner of the bedroom so we can carry on with our calls all day without pestering one another and I think that helped a lot. These days we are pretty much in a cyclical rut of:

• Wake up
• Work/school
• Run
• Eat
• Movie
• Sleep

Some days are easier than others. The last week was particularly difficult. It's impossible to identify what makes a day harder or easier, you just know that it is and you are forced to feel it either way. All you can do is try to keep yourself entertained and try to do it in a way that is healthy (apparently "Oreos" is not a hobby). Luckily, we are trapped here together. We are able to take care of each other because when one of us is having a bad day, the other almost always finds the strength to carry both of us through. We play games together, eat together (I am just starting Keto, so I will keep everyone updated on that), run together, work together, read together, and when this is all over we will go for a hike and eat at our favorite restaurant together. Through all of that, 42 days of it as of today, there have been no talks of homicide. In fact, I feel as though we are closer than ever. I don't think I could have made it this far into quarantine with anyone else.

But ask me again after a week on Keto and my body starts demanding I eat carbs.