Surprise! There are some COVID-19 Silver Linings

As the world acknowledges the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO), we look back with heartache at all the deaths, lingering illnesses from long Covid including lung diseases and havoc the virus caused including lost jobs and failed relationships. 

Who can forget how we hunkered down in our pods with our nearest and dearest, fearful we would catch the illness if we opened mail without cleaning it and letting it sit or if we got too close to anyone even if they wore an N-95 mask and told us they never had the disease.

But all was not doom and gloom. We like to think back to the silver linings that did occur. Of course, we would rather not have learned the terms Covid-19, hybrid remote work and hand sanitizer, but we did. We try now to look at the upside and pray “never again.”

•    We found that we enjoyed more solitary time since we resisted being with others; we read more, watched more TV, took up crafts, jigsaw puzzles and so on. We liked our company, yes we did and do.
•    We learned how to coordinate our selection of masks to match our outfits, if and when we want out. Fashion masks became the rage. And when walking down the street, we even occasionally received compliments on our unique masks.
•    We spent more time with Mother Nature, a great companion and healer whose fresh air, greenery and bouquet of colors made walking, gardening in the ground or on a terrace in pots, planting vegetables to eat like the Victory Gardens of World War 2 much more enjoyable. If we had a home, we added fire pits, fountains for running gurgling water and pergolas and all sorts of other garden accessories. And we dined outside as a treat for most were not eating out in restaurants. 
•    We cooked and experimented more since we had more time at home, making more recipes we never would have considered, and baked more, whether sourdough bread with a starter, bagels, challahs, apple cider doughnuts. And we zoomed while cooking with friends. One young friend made croissants and macaroons. C’est bon!
•    We avoided eating out but if we did, we went to places that constructed outdoor dining “sheds” and wore our masks and used rubber gloves to read the menus since nobody wanted to touch paper menus others had touched. And after eating, we doused ourselves in hand sanitizer. 
•    We were more productive in our work since we had again more time at our new home office desks, maybe in a new home office or a corner of the kitchen or bedroom or basement. For the two of us, we wrote Not Dead Yet and started our latest book, Kitchen Conversations: Sharing secrets to kitchen design success. And we finished before our deadline because of having so much more time. Who was going anywhere? It was a great time to focus and complete tasks. Some writers we know wrote what they now call their Covid novel.  We also know people who wrote music and learned how to record it electronically on a laptop computer. 
•    We supported our communities more by helping to feed our local responders and hospital staff, through donations to area restaurants that fed them, or cheering them on from balconies.
•    We checked on our friends more to see if they got their shots or stayed healthy and we participated in zoom groups for conversations, health checks or even sharing holidays such as Thanksgiving, Passover, Easter and more. Barbara was part of an elementary school friends Zoom group of 10 that is still going five years later, though not as often.
•    We began eating dinner in front of the TV as Netflix added so many wonderful series—and as there was no reason not to have more to listen to. After all, we talked so much to our pod mates we needed other voices. How we loved those early shows such as Last Tango in Halifax, Gray’s Anatomy, West Wing, some we had never seen when first shown. Some of us who were never big TV fans became addicted to some of the terrific series on the different platforms. 
•    We took our health more seriously, whether staying on top of the Covid shots by writing them down and having cards laminated, getting other shots such as the latest flu, RSV, shingles, and eating better, exercising, and getting more sleep. We counted our blessings for the good healthcare we have in this country with doctors and hospitals available and pray it will continue.  
•    When we traveled as countries and states permitted us to do so, we checked their Covid numbers, avoided mass transportation and got in our cars and sometimes on planes but always with a stash of masks. Besides packing our clothing, we remembered to take hand sanitizer and still do. We also continue to wash our hands frequently though we may no longer count to 10 or say a rhyme. And we stay diligently aware of any outbreaks and resort to our former ways with mask wearing in grocery stores, in pharmacies, on public transportation and avoidance of crowded restaurants and so on.

You can never be too safe has become our motto and still is.