Wonder Year: A journey to find enchantment every day
366 Wonder Days Shared in 2020 — Now you can join me!
Every other place has allowed pick-up and drive thru. Last week, Starbucks did too. But my beloved Starbucks is no more (it’s the only decent espresso in town). The only one within a hundred miles or so. Is closed. It’s a scary time to be alive. And I wonder what decisions were like — to officially close this location.
I went on a walk yesterday, mid-quarantine. We are not sick, but are staying away from businesses (all that is open) and groups of people as much as possibly. On the walk I found a bunch of wild green onion. I pulled some on my way home to wash and then place in a vase. I had some last spring, and they sprout beautiful onion-fumed purple flowers. The smell was oddly wonderful. Scratchy and bitter and pungent.
Today, our tiny county and town declared a state of emergency. We were kind of hoping we’d miss the coronavirus. But there is a confirmed case in our county (not town…as of yet).
But this was this evening — after the president told America to “relax” and “just buy what you need for the week” — he had just gotten off the phone with all the big CEOs from Wal-Mart, Kroger, General Mills, Target, and et cetera. People have been making “panic purchases” and you will find the entire pasta and canned tuna aisle wipes out in conjunction with the cleaning supplies, baby wipes, and toilet paper. He seemed to be unaware of the real danger humans are facing.
Tests are coming but we don’t know how available or accessible they will be. This is how the virus is moving. We get news hourly, daily.
To take a break, the three of us (4 with Shiloh the Golden) went in the rainy mist for a walk along the lake. It was wonderful to be in nature, get outside, take our minds off all we couldn’t control, and we even had a moment of humor when a woman speed walked past us with FIVE dogs on leashes.
Stay safe, and happy social distancing.
Today, on March 11, Trump banned all travel from Europe, the NBA suspended its season, universities are moving classes online, Coachella was rescheduled, book tours are stalling, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson reported having the coronavirus in Australia. My husband is sick. Today is Day 3 of real fear vibrating through the world. Each day it’s pivoting into worse places.
I thought hard about wonder today. A tree’s spring buds seemed too trivial to report. But I did find wonder in looking for it. A teacher of mine looked out the window, admiring a small dog. I laughed and felt lucky by purchasing one of the last cans of Lysol at Wal-Mart (it was generic AND mandarin scent). Tonight, Nick and I watched Knives Out 🔪. It is a film inspired by my absolute favorite game as a child: CLUE.
I found wonder in reflecting back to childhood, playing this game at the kitchen table, always figuring out a way to win.
It’s another day of fear over: politics (and mourning over not potentially having a woman president), the pandemic of the coronavirus, schools subsequently shutting down until fall or moving online, the ever-plunging stock market, just to name a few. In my personal life, family have been canceling travel plans. My grandmother, in her late eighties, has had a pneumonia for three weeks. I’m scared. I think we all are.
What we are experiencing as a world is unprecedented. So how do we find wonder? In crisis, it’s imperative to find the wonder.
Today, I wasn’t sure. But there were brief glimpses of wonder. Humor over a tweet. The joy of reheating and repurposing my homemade Turkey burgers from last night, my sister kicking butt on her final practicals in dental school, my grandpa and grandma’s voices on the other end of my phone line (and the opening of Del Taco in Stillwater).
The stock market crashed, Italy has been quarantined because of the coronavirus, American schools and communities are closing too, toilet paper is out of stock, and we are all tired after the first Monday of daylight savings.
So what does one do? What can one do?
Make delicious turkeys burgers, of course. The were so good I forgot an “after” photo.
Food. Can make things feel momentarily and briefly wonderful.
Wonder Year: A journey to find enchantment every day 