When I was growing up, my mother always accused me of having ‘ants in my pants’. It wasn’t because I was super active (I wasn’t), it was because I never wanted to stay home. The ‘ants’ have followed me into my adulthood until……
The pandemic!
At the beginning of the shutdowns back 10 months ago, I had a hard time staying home. I really struggled with not doing our usual travel and just running around. Over the summer, I got into a routine and it helped to be able to be outside for exercise and to safely meet up with friends and family.
As the fall rolled around and the weather began to shift and activity moved indoors, I expected to get pretty antsy. While I do have my moments, I am pretty content to hang out at home.
My comfort zone has shrunk a great deal. I want to stay safe until we can be vaccinated. So that means I go to the grocery store early in the day, take walks in my neighborhood and go to a few other places when it is quiet. My contact with friends is via Zoom or, on a rare day when the weather cooperates, an outdoor visit. Most of the time I just hang out at home with my husband, take a walk in the neighborhood or run errands close to home.
Speaking of home, I have no real desire to do a makeover., although an update would be a good idea. I did find this great post on looking at our homes differently, thanks to COVID 19. I agree with much of it. I would like a dedicated exercise room and the idea of creating an outdoor space that is livable year around. I will be curious to see how much our stay at home experience during the pandemic impacts home design in the future.
As I was writing this post, I found myself wanting to re-read some books that I have had forever. One is Living a Beautiful Life by Alexandra Stoddard, from 1986! I still find some of it pretty timely (even though who has a Filofax these days) and I like her ideas about rituals. Another book on my shelf is Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin from 2012. I never finished it, so now might be a good time to do so. And, failing those, I can always reread one of my million simplicity books 😊!
For the first time in my life, I can honestly say ‘there is no place like home’ and I breathe a sigh of relief when I walk through the door.
“Safe, safe, safe the heart of the house beats proudly”
Virginia Woolf
Stay safe at home this weekend and I will see you on Monday.
Allene
Travels with Allene 