We’ve now been living in the world of CoVid for approximately 357 days OR 51 weeks OR 11 months and 23 days. Not that I’m counting or anything; but, that’s a long time. You can learn a lot in all of that time, especially when, for a good portion of that time, you aren’t really going anywhere. Here are some things that I have learned…

Crocheting can be hazardous to your health.

There is, of course, the ever present danger of sitting on your crochet hook, which I can tell you from experience may not be “hazardous” but it is certainly not comfortable.
My crocheting began with an epiphany of sorts that all of those young couples in our church, with not much else to do, would be “busy.” And so, I made baby blankets.
Then, I discovered velvet yarn and decided to make Christmas presents for my daughters. And then, one of my grandson’s saw one of the Christmas presents and he wanted a blanket, too. And, as any good Nana knows, if you make it for one you have to make it for all. There are seven of them. I ended up making a total of approximately 25 blankets. That’s a lot of crocheting. In fact that is so much crocheting that I may have injured my shoulder…Okay, I did injure my shoulder. I may also have given myself Carpal Tunnel, though my Chiropractor seems to have that part under control. The shoulder is still a bit of a problem. Why have I been crocheting so much?

British Detective Shows are intriguing.

It seems that British people are fairly fond of murder. Their murders are different from ours. Ours are usually gory, psychopathic murders. Theirs are usually accidental where, in some cases, you actually feel kind of sorry for the murderer.
Endeavour, Broadchurch, Grantchester, DCI Banks, New Tricks…we’ve seen them all. We are currently watching one called Unforgotten.
We’ve learned a lot from these shows. We’ve learned that a DCI is a Detective Chief Inspector. A DS is a Detective Sergeant and a DSU is a Detective Superintendent. The “Met” is not the Metropolitan Opera for Brits. The “Met” is the Metropolitan Police. CID is their Crime Investigation Department. And the phrase, “Any joy?” is a way of asking if someone has heard any good news. If someone “tops” themselves, they’ve committed suicide. Who knew?
We’ve also decided that the Brits spend an awful lot of time in Pubs and they seem to be very fond of their “pints” and wine. I guess with all of that murder they need an outlet.

Refined sugar, coffee, and regular milk are no longer my friends.

This has been difficult. What can be worse than being in the middle of a pandemic and realizing that the three ingredients of your favorite morning beverage are no longer friends with your insides? Not much. Even worse, I can’t even have them as individuals and refined sugar is one of my favorite ingredients in almost any food. There has been some “joy” (see above for translation) in all of this. I lost 12 pounds. I’m not sure where it went, but I’m pretty sure I don’t care. Life goes on. I now drink tea with honey and Lactaid milk. It’s my lot in life and as Phyllis Diller once said, “It’s not a lot, but it’s my life.”

I can now cut hair, trim a beard, and the cut funny little hairs that grow out of an old man’s ears.

Let’s face it, Italians tend to be hairy people. When your father is an old Italian and can no longer go to his even older Italian barber, his semi-Italian daughter needs to step up and learn a few things; especially when the funny little ear hairs have grown long enough to be a part of his beard and, quite possibly, are interfering with his already diminished ability to hear. How did I learn to trim a beard you might ask? And I might tell you…YouTube. It was actually kind of interesting and Dad seems pleased with the results! So, all is well and maybe, I have the beginnings of a new career as an ear hair remover!

Finally, I have learned that living through history-making times is difficult. I think it always has been. But, if we look back at others that have lived through historic times, I’m pretty sure we, like them, will be okay…Because in the light of all eternity, it’s really not that big a deal!