Isolation: How Do We Handle it?

You and I bought places we intended to live in, but our area is so handy to Salem and the valley that people buy houses here with no plan to use them, now or later, just rent them nightly through one of the rental agencies in town. People have to make a bit of an effort to get to your town as it's not right at the end of the highway from a metro area. Ours is. When I bought this place almost 60 years ago, I had no idea that someday at least a quarter of the houses in my community would be nightly rentals. I thought that all the hundreds of acres of old growth spruce forest and some second growth alder forest would always be here. How stupid I was!

As to isolation, for some of us, this time isn't terribly different. In Oregon, our Gov acted early and proactively to close everything that isn't essential. Perhaps the most difficult thing is that this state has laws to prevent drivers from filling their own cars, but the Gov has suspended that law, enabling service stations to be self-service--without any explanation of how to fill your car if, like me, you've driven here all your life!

Although I'm 77, I still have a design and marketing business from my home office, but all jobs have always been done remotely, with brief client meetings to discuss ideas and proofs of finished work. The sport fishing industry will take a long time to recover, so I have none of that work right now. I'm still doing the same volunteer work, which has never involved many other people, but means driving, loading and unloading generally totally alone. I still do fish surveys, which, again, means driving for hours and then hiking miles--by myself with my dog for a companion. I e-mail the results, and receive e-mailed results of other surveys by other volunteers for our project, but there's never been much of any contact between volunteers...no annual meetings or picnics, just e-mailed reports of results.

Big changes are no monthly fly fishing club (one of the few things my husband was willing to go out for) and the weekly lecture series we used to attend during fall and winter months. Winter term ended two weeks early when Oregon shut down, so there was a flurry of rescheduling lectures for what we hope will be a Fall term...but, as Curriculum Dir., I haven't scheduled the remainder of Fall Term because it could be an exercise in futility. If things have opened up and look positive by July, we'll knuckle down and schedule the 12 weeks of Fall Term then.

Our home has no nearby neighbors, although the same people walk our road for exercise most days, but those interactions are the same, a "hello" from my position bent over tending flower beds to someone walking past with little conversation. We hardly ever have visitors, although, gasp, we had two after the first of the year, a veritable flood! The one thing I really miss is the library: due to Meniere's going bilateral almost a year ago, I'm now virtually deaf most days, so I had been checking out several books each week to take the place of phone calls, TV, radio, a few words here 'n there with my spouse. We own thousands of books, so I'm re-reading some of those. In addition to our own acreage, there's over 200 acres of undeveloped forest adjacent our place, so I have plenty of places to walk by myself...as usual. There's also more yard/outside work here than I'll every be able to do, so I can pick and choose each day.

So, for some us, other than loss of income that we don't actually NEED, life hasn't changed a whole lot. I can only imagine how dreadful it would be to live in a dense complex where there is no wild place nearby, where you are really stuck inside. That would be a nearly impossible situation for me!

I really dont go anywhere. I have for many years now have just go to work and then home, i dont feel comfortable out in public around alot of people. Thats a little weird for me, because i loved being out in public around people. I was an extrovert and now im completely opposite, but i have internet and alot of devices to keep me connected.

@helenfrances I definitely believe we have different stages in our lives. My Mom was a master at the transitions - she called them "chapters" and charted her own path to her very last breath, as did her sister, who was also one of her best friends.

Until Covid-19 hit, I would say I thought I was on my own best path, travelling with my husband and friends, spending time volunteering, with family and friends, and pursuing numerous hobbies and pursuits after dealing with a number of health challenges.

But these last few days, I am struggling. Staying at home and away from other people, especially my beloved daughters and grandsons, is so painful right now I can hardly bear it. The matter of not knowing how long we will have to do it, but knowing my lungs and my husband's health put us at high risk, is very frustrating.

So I try to remain connected and productive, make sure we are eating healthy foods, get in some walking every day, and try to be calm and patient. Maybe someday, I can look back and call this the "Covid Chapter" of my life.

I wonder how many others will feel their lives have permanently cahnges after this interlude?
Sue