By Katherine Schneider, for the Chippewa Valley Post
Failing and Succeeding at ‘Safer at Home’
“Safer at Home” has been going on for a couple weeks now and a married- with-kids friend asked if I was lonely and bored with only my guide dog to talk to.
The question startled me because I don’t even feel close (yet anyway) to either loneliness or boredom.
I’ve learned a few things, like that I do better with a routine and doing projects that I want to do, not necessarily the ones I “should do”. Every day I connect at least with my three single buddies, take a walk or two, keep up with email, social media and a limited amount of news, work on columns for my “Corona Chronicles” project, listen to music, read the Scriptures for the day and nap, of course.
Then of course there’s talking to the dog, who is a very good listener. He has pointed out a few times that less time on the computer would be better.
I’ve had such good conversations with many friends by phone and/or online that I really realize physical isolation is different from social isolation. We may be six feet or hundreds of miles from each other, but we are enjoying each other’s company.
I’ve always been a planful person about getting my needs for sighted assistance taken care of, but Corona has made me have plan B figured out for each need. But with patience and perseverance, needs get met. I even used Aira, an app on my phone, to have a sighted person read my computer screen when it wouldn’t talk to me.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be ready for this to end when it’s safe for us to be mingling again and will be glad to shake your hand or give you a hug, but I am grateful for an easy corona ride so far.
NOTE: Comments and ideas can be emailed to schneiks@uwec.edu.
To read previous instalments of “The Corona Chronicles,” click here.
The home page image is a representation of a coronavirus cell.