Sunday Afternoon Tea - A new rhythm to my days

Today's Sunday Afternoon Tea post will have to be shorter than usual.  The muscle spasms have turned into just back pain but I still feel better propped up on my sofa.

I think a lot of us are at that point now in self isolation where the original newness of it all has become worn and we wonder what the future holds.  Not as one who is fearful but let's say... longing for what we have lost?  Life as we knew it changed very quickly.

I have been concentrating on the change of seasons to remind me there may be a pandemic on the planet but the seasons are changing from cold weather to warmer weather here (eventually) and from warmer weather to a nip in the air for most friends south of the equator.

Every year in my world, it seems that Spring arrives from the ground up.  First appearing in the daffodils that grow strong in spite of the cold, the grass then becomes greener, the small bushes begin to bud and blossom, until that time when warmer weather has arrived to stay and the leaves begin to pop on the branches of the tall trees.

Winter doesn't want to let go this year as another snowfall was in the forecast last week.  Since my days are running into each other as they are, I don't mind this slow start to Spring.  It fits well into this upside down new world in which we live.  A world in which I have to look at the calendar to remember what day it is.

I've been enjoying Sarah Clarkson's daily video chats as she shares a poem and a Psalm.  They arrive on my tablet's Instagram and Facebook apps around dinner time.  Although in England, she is reading them close to her bedtime.  Recently she talked about having to change the rhythm of her days within the confines of the Coronavirus lockdown.

I thought that describes so well what has changed for most of us.  We are people made for a certain rhythm whether it be how the seasons follow one another, how the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, or simply how we are used to living within our normal twenty-four hour day.

Even though I am at home quite often, the first couple of weeks of the pandemic lockdown was difficult.  Just knowing I had to make a decision regarding when I would get out of the house each week while remembering to take my mask and hand sanitizer was unsettling.

One would think I would have accomplished more each day but instead my mind was too unsettled to concentrate on most of my To Do list.  I began to appreciate the day-to-day tasks of cooking, dishes, and laundry.  It was not the time to try a new recipe, I needed the old tried and true meals.  I needed... stability.

I came to realize that it was the quotidian details of life that would anchor my life in the weeks to come and they have.  Sometimes it is the same-old same-old of life that gives us the roots we need that, along with a belief that what the Bible says is true, we can face the hurricane force winds of adversity with courage.

I'll chat more hopefully next week but my back is telling me that this is enough for today.  I am getting better, it just takes time.  Once I can move around easily, I will start adding something to the rhythm of my days.  Even if it is only to try a new recipe or plant some herbs for the deck when the temperatures are warmer.

Be safe!

Mentioned in this Blog Post
Sarahwanders on Instagram... here.  (I think her videos are in Stories.)
Sarah Clarkson on Facebook... here.

Image:  Shady Patio