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| Nida Spalding loves to read, travel, and spend time with family and friends. She believes that curiosity and persistence are key to happiness and success. |
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In the kitchen, in a corner facing a window is my makeshift office. On a student desk sits a desktop computer, a printer, brown envelopes, folders and binders. On the floor to the right is a pile of paperwork: notebooks, handwritten notes, reference materials from Toastmasters, Sacramento Youth Symphony, International Philippines Association, and California Writers Club of Sacramento.
With the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, my family of three is mostly home. More than five years ago, I quit the rat race to spend more time with my family and to travel. These days, I spend between 4-5 hours per day at home in front of the computer. I attend Zoom meetings. I work on my essays, reports for my volunteer work, and my memoir.
August 20, 2020. California is burning. It's been scorching hot, 108 to 111 degrees Fahrenheit. Today, I couldn't take my daily walk. My neighbor and friend Denise informed me via text that the Air Quality Index shows Elk Grove at 163 - Unhealthy. Yesterday and today, I noticed ashes on the concrete patio in the back and on the tomato plants.
In his bedroom, my 19-year old son attends classes online. When he's done with school, he plays video games with friends, screaming, yelling and laughing. He gets LOUD sometimes. In the guest room, the TV blares; my husband watches the local news, then something else, sports or maybe a movie. He has quite a collection of movies on DVD. Every day he rides his bike and in the summer months he tends to the yard.
I really should be organizing inside the house, the family room, and master bedroom especially. Piles of junk mail and documents, important and not-so, wait to be sorted, organized and put away.
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In the patio outside the master bedroom are two boxes from Ikea waiting to be opened. Inside one is an ERIK three-drawer file cabinet. In another is a KALLAX shelf-unit. They wait to be assembled.
August 29, 2020. "Will you have time to finish assembling the file cabinet today?" I ask my husband. "Remember, we have to assemble the shelf," I remind my son. I feel the need to be doing something, all the time. For example, the garage is in need of organizing, I remind my husband and son of this, every now and then. They tune me out. September 3, 2020. Finally, the Ikea file cabinet and shelf are assembled. I thank my husband and son lavishly. Now comes the hard part, go through each thing on the paperwork pile and give each a place. The responsibility is on me to do that. Nobody else is volunteering. With all this time at home, you'd think our house would be all organized now.
September 8, 2020. Wildfires are raging in California and neighboring states of Oregon and Washington. The Air Quality Index shows Sacramento at 443 – Hazardous! Gardening and taking walks are not even safe activities anymore. Over the weekend, we took an overnight trip to the coast for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown. We enjoyed the short getaway but I worried a bit about staying in a hotel.
The future looks hazy. Traveling abroad is out of the question; it's not safe. The US passport is not welcome in Europe or the Philippines. With the coronavirus and the unhealthy air outside, there's nowhere to go. I better get serious with decluttering and tidying up the house. Maybe I can get the family to help.
~ Nida Spalding |
