Count Your COVID Blessings

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc with the world.   Millions have sickened and over a hundred thousand are dead.  Economies have ground to a halt and people are out of work in record numbers.   Unquestionably, the pandemic is tragic for much of the world. Blessedly, here on the Hislop Half-Acre, the trials have been few and the blessings many.

“Count your COVID blessings,
Name them one by one,
Count your COVID blessings, 
See what God had done.”

Here are a few of our COVID blessings:

1. Closets organized.   The mysterious black hole properties of the under-the-stairs storage space have been conquered!   The things tossed there over the past 20 years that had disappeared without a trace have been recovered.  And, even better, thanks to a bout of organizational frenzy, we will probably be able to find them again, should we ever need them (...providing, of course, that we remember that we have them….)
2. Jam!   Bags and bags and bags of frozen strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries converted to 26 pints of freezer jam.   For a solid week I had to make a loaf of bread every day to keep up with the family’s appetite for jam.
3. Zorro moves.   It is a miracle almost as amazing as the aforementioned conquering of the black hole.   Zorro, our big, hairy, overweight, lethargic canine romps playfully multiple times daily with Zoey, Grace’s 6 month old puppy.   He feigns irritation as he repeatedly accepts Zoey invitation to play. Watching them is delightful.
4. Chick moves too.  He has been laid off his graveyard shift at AutoLiv which means that, instead of sleeping all day, he moves about the house during daylight hours. We love seeing him at home.   
5. Babbs, the angry bird, has gone south.    She squawks at Tanah in Cedar City now. We love seeing her at Tanah’s home.
6. Grace, the U of U student, has come north.   Grace brought her remote receptionist job to our basement where she works in the morning, watches Zorro play with Zoey in the afternoon, and plays Pinochle at night.  
7. Pinochle every night.   Every night. Every night.
8. Home every day.  Every day. Every day.   I am an at-home Mom again and I love it.  LOVE IT! I teach online in the early morning, hound my son to do his homework in the late morning, and work/play in the afternoon (and play Pinochle at night.)    With my OPA students I explore earthquakes, natural hazards, and light and sound waves. With Miles I watch Shakespeare, ride my bike (beside him while he runs) and play disc golf.  With my at-home time I clean, organize, mend, cook, weed, plant, prune and catch up on the Honey-Do list that I have been making for myself for years.
9. Dune.  I am reading the book.    Decades ago someone recommended I read Dune and I said that I would…..someday.  The libraries are closed and locked inside of them are all the books I had hoped to read sooner than later.   So now I am reading a book I planned to read later than sooner. And I am enjoying it.
10. I get to wear whatever I want.  (See photo.)
11.  Buy chicks...but not from the store.   Traditionally I buy baby chicks from a local farm store but this year, thanks to a sudden influx of fledgling backyard chicken owners, getting chicks from a farm store involves waiting in a long line and being limited to only 6 birds.  Nope. Friday I found a man who sells chicks from his backyard. The chicks are older and healthier than those I usually purchase. COVID has hatched a new tradition for chick buying.
12. Visits with my parents.   I have grounded them (something they never did to me in my youth….) which means they cannot leave the house to go shopping.   I shop for them, which means I have to deliver their groceries, which means I see them at least once a week. Sadly, I did not see them that often before COVID.  Hopefully seeing them more frequently will be another new tradition.
13. Worship at home.  “Where one or two are gathered in my name, there I will be also.” (Matthew 18:20)  Closing chapels opens homes. As we have gathered in His name we have been blessed by His Spirit.  Worshipping with family, both remotely and in real time, has been a true COVID blessing.

“So amid the conflict,
​Whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, 
God is over all.

“Count your COVID blessings,
Name them one by one,
Count your COVID blessings, 
See what God had done.”

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