Susan

Susan: “How am I doing in these strange times, you ask. There isn’t a simple answer. It changes from day to day and sometimes from hour to hour. I worry a lot about my students and colleagues and friends and family and the future and on gray days these drag me down into despair. But then there are the days of sunshine. I recognize that I’m lucky. I still have a job and a home and there are things that I guiltily admit to enjoying about my changed daily life. I like not being ruled by the clock. I still work 40-50 hours/week, but I like choosing when those hours will be. I’m eating more healthily because I’m not trying to wedge meals between obligations, or skipping meals all together then eating voraciously because I’m so hungry. The cat likes having me here in that slightly aloof way that cats have, but I can tell. The spring weather has been glorious. And the garden! After several years of not working in the garden, I have gotten back out in the earth and the green. The neighbor’s dog sticks his head over the fence as I weed. I never start plants from seeds because I don’t have the time. But this year I do, so I’ve started seeds that are promising a harvest of radishes, basil, beans, and garlic. Things are not okay, but they are okay. Today the sun is shining. Today, at this moment, I’m doing okay.”