The next few weeks, perhaps even months, will be challenging, to say the least, for families across North America and the world. The reason, of course, is COVID-19, or the coronavirus pandemic that we suddenly find ourselves in the middle of. And since I haven’t published a blog post in awhile, I thought I would give you all my perspective as a runner, as a mother, and finally as an American. First, the runner’s perspective.
Opportunity to Explore Nature
As a runner, with all of the “large gatherings” (which includes running races) being cancelled, we haven’t much choice except to sit around the house and watch TV or go outside and explore nature. Although I do watch my fair share of TV, I’m particularly excited about the notion of having more time to get outside and explore nature. Yesterday, for example, I went to our local state park to go for a run after work and saw families with kids riding bikes and barbecuing like it was 1972. It was nice. In addition, I got in a good run, and I encourage the rest of you to try to do the same.
Opportunity to Spend Time as a Family
Yes, I totally get it. Those of you with school-age children and full-time jobs have huge challenges ahead of you with schools being closed and work, although probably “remote”, still going on. I hope and pray that those of you who find yourself in this situation will be able to find a way to not only work-from-home but also to spend more quality-time with your families. The whole thing is kind of surreal–life as we knew it just a few short days ago has changed dramatically for the bulk of us and I know we’re all scrambling to plan out the next few weeks to ensure we have the basic necessities that we’ll need to literally survive.
This is not a joke…I went to our local grocery store yesterday to buy some basic staples we had run out of and found bare shelves. I literally felt like I was in either an episode of the Twilight Zone or “Guy’s Grocery Games” where the challenge was to make a simple meal without milk, eggs, or bread. I needed half-and-half for our coffee and I actually managed to grab a carton of skim milk and a small carton of heavy cream and thought, “I could mix these together to make what I need!”. It was kind of scary, I must say.
Opportunity to Appreciate Freedom
Here’s the final thing I want to say. This pandemic is affecting the entire world. But I, for one, appreciate being an American and living in a democracy, as I deal with it. I watched a show on TV recently where I learned that the coronavirus was first noticed by a doctor in China (a communist country) who reported on social media in December that several cases of a “SARS-like” virus was running rampant in Wuhan and that families should be careful. He was not only reprimanded by the Chinese government for sounding the alarm, he was actually detained by the Chinese police for “disrupting social order”. The saddest part of the story? Poor Dr. Li Wenliang contracted the virus himself and later died from it.
So there you have it. One runner’s perspective on the pandemic that we are all facing that we never dreamed we would ever have to deal with. And the bottom line for me? Thank God I’m an American.
Keep running to the beat my friends and stay safe!
Jeanette
AKA Jupiter Running Girl
