I’m sure you’ve been doing the same; because, honestly, there’s not much else to do. So here are a few things I’ve noticed…

To begin with, I’m kind of enjoying being at home! This surprises me because I consider myself an extrovert with a laid back alter ego. But, I am really enjoying my current introverted life. It brings introspection. It also brings “outerspection”. “Outerspection” can be a little scary. Erma Bombeck, one of my all time favorites, once said, “If you can’t make it better, you can laugh at it.” So, here goes…

It’s rare that I put on makeup very much these days. I wash and go and I’m enjoying life in my natural, if somewhat less attractive state. Cliff doesn’t seem to mind. That being said, I’ve been noticing things, like eyebrows. Have you ever really looked at your eyebrows? They’re kind of weird. I know they’re supposed to be there for protection, but protection from what? I’ve poked myself in the eye, I’ve banged my eye on the corner of a door, I’ve even been hit in the eye with a dead lime popping up out of my garbage disposal, that was pretty funny! Through all of that what did my eyebrows do to protect me? Nothing.

Like most Italians, even partial ones like me, I have only one eyebrow. This makes me very grateful to whoever it was that invented tweezers. However, I have recently discovered that one of my eyebrow hairs has broken rank, made its way about an inch south, and has decided to grow right between my eyes. Unfortunately, it’s one of the few remaining really dark ones and, at first glance, it makes me look like a rhinoceros. It’s gone…for now, but I have a feeling it will be back.

On a more positive note, I am enjoying the fact that as I get older my eyebrows are ‘fading’. I’ve thought about filling them in, but an awful lot of women are looking like Groucho Marx these days and I doubt that this would be a good look for me. I’ve decided to let them fade. They’re still plucked, because no woman should look like a rhino, but not quite what they once were. Of course, at 60 nothing is what it once was, if you know what I mean.

I’ve been making videos for my classes! That’s been interesting. This is the one day I put some makeup on and do my hair. I don’t want to scare anyone. You never really know what you look like until you see yourself talking on video. I’m convinced that even a mirror doesn’t really show you your true self. It’s like we see what we want to see in the mirror, but on video…oy vey! I have at least two chins, not including the one I married. I have what appears to be two deflated shopping bags under my eyes, I look like I only have four bottom teeth when I’m speaking, and the skin on my neck is a little wiggly. Yup…other than that, I’m fine.

I recently made the mistake of baking in this time of extended rest and relaxation. More specifically, I made the mistake of baking cookies. If I was in the new Jumanji movie, cookies would be my weakness. Like the character Fridge with cake, they make me explode, not physically, well maybe-kind-of-physically. They make me explode out of my clothes, mostly my pants. I told myself it was okay to eat them because I made them with honey instead of sugar. I told myself that I made them for Cliff. That’s what I told myself, but I lied. I ate them. Almost all of them, Cliff had three. However, I did NOT eat them all in one day. I paced myself. It took two and a half days. I’m getting better, I’m wearing stretchy pants everyday, but I’m getting better. It’s the little things. Right?

On a more serious note, Cliff and I have been watching some documentaries. Documentaries always make me notice to the point of thinking. And so, being where we are and adjusting to what’s happening right now; I started thinking about history. Since we’ve been watching Britain in Color, or Colour for my British friends, and since I taught British history this year, I’ve been thinking about the Blitz. The Blitz was probably one of the most difficult times in history for the British people. During the Blitz of WWII, Germany bombed London and other cities in England from September 1940 until May 1941…9 months…36 weeks…252 days…day and night. They slept in the Underground (our subway), and in Anderson Shelters that they built in their backyards. And yet, when Churchill went out among the British people and asked them if they wanted to give up they said, “No.” They wanted to continue the fight. They were willing to do what needed to be done and, if you think about it, where would we be if they hadn’t.

We are now being called to do what needs to be done. All of us. And we can do it. We can do it for ourselves. We can do it for others. Because throughout history that’s what people have done. We are safe in our homes, we have air conditioning, we have television, we have technology and we have phones. What we have to do is really not that big a deal!

~ “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” ~Romans 12:12