Tag Archives: Coronavirus

Sep 07 2020
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Dispatch from the Hideout: Staycation Edition

Staycation – “A vacation that is spent at one’s home enjoying all that home and one’s home environs have to offer.”— Urban Dictionary

Things change, and some things remain the same.

From an earlier Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! essay about Staycations from September 6, 2015, The Pleasures (and Lessons) of a Staycation: 

It’s that time of year again when September arrives and I extend the Labor Day holiday by taking my annual Staycation. While students return to school after their families unpack from vacation and pack those back-to-school backpacks full of brand-new school supplies, I take a break from my day-to-day work routines and make my “to-do only if I want to lists.”  For me the essence of a staycation is to practice spontaneity (yes, I admit that I need to practice), sleep in if I want to, brunch at home or out with friends, attend movie matinees on weekdays, plan lots of coffee dates, stay in pajamas if I want to and take a vacation from showering for a day, and most importantly write, and edit, and write some more. I read too, essays and blogs, opinion pieces online, poetry and movie reviews and reread my journals. Continue reading →

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May 23 2020
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Dispatch from the Hideout: What Was, What Will Be

“You can’t go back home to your family, back home to your childhood…back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time…” — Thomas Wolfe

On the Friday before the Memorial Day Holiday weekend, I reminisced about holidays past. Years ago, a group of friends nicknamed, ‘The Orphans,’ would plan an annual camping trip to Peninsula State Park in Fish Creek in Door County, Wisconsin. We dubbed these one of the ‘The Orphan Holidays.’ From a vignette from my memoir in the works, Perfectly Flawed.  Continue reading →

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Apr 29 2020
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Dispatch from the Hideout: Back to Life

“It’s back to normal, but it’s a different normal. It’s not the same as it was before, but people are getting back to work. Life goes on. ― Eric Young

“If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” ― Maya Angelou

On May 1st it’s back to life, a return to some degree of normal, however, it will certainly be different, a new normal. I return to work and begin a new job as an LGBTQ+ AODA Advocate. I’m grateful. Continue reading →

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Apr 22 2020
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Dispatch from the Hideout: Stirred Crazy

For this next installment of Dispatch from the Hideout, I originally planned on writing about how I became stir crazy as I sheltered-in-place and stayed-at-home alone. Instead, following Trump’s LIBERATE Tweets which fueled demonstrations by his supporters in a number of states, I’ve changed the focus to an opinion piece, Stirred Crazy.

Stir Crazy

One benefit from the pandemic experience is I’ve learned that I’m able to thrive on my own, while still desiring social, physical, emotional, and spiritual connection with others, including loved ones and a larger community. Continue reading →

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Mar 01 2020
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Dispatch from the Hideout: Social Distancing

Definition of Social Distancing (Medical) – “Protecting the public health by separating communities so that people who are stricken with a contagious illness cannot pass it on to others who are not. It includes, e.g., having children stay out of school when they are ill; closing workplaces, postponing meetings, and avoiding large social or religious gatherings or sporting events. It is designed to stop the spread of epidemics or pandemics but is not as strict a limitation on social interaction as quarantine.” — Source: The Medical Dictionary – thefreedictionary.com 

Definition of Social Distancing (Psychological) – “…describes the distance between different groups in society, such as social class, race/ethnicity, gender or sexuality. Different groups mix less than members of the same group. It is the measure of nearness or intimacy that an individual or group feels towards another individual or group in a social network or the level of trust one group has for another and the extent of perceived likeness of beliefs.” — Source: Wikipedia

This is the fifth in a series of Dispatches from the Hideout which I began writing three years ago. This is the first installment of my COVID-19 dispatches written during the pandemic. Continue reading →

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