Life is different. Not drastically different . . . yet. We are on our second week of homeschooling, and today our county issued a “Stay At Home” order.

Sheltering at home with your spouse and children has its benefits and its trials. We are enjoying and enduring a lot of family togetherness. 

We know we are lucky. We can still get food, even if some of the shelves are wiped clean (toilet paper is still a hot commodity). Many parents are able to work at home, but some no longer have work to go to. Our school district and teachers worked at record pace to implement online learning (many of the parents are still figuring out the whole process). Kids, parents, and teachers miss school. Our elementary school teachers had a car parade throughout our neighborhood to see and cheer with their students!

You need two things to survive a pandemic with your sanity intact: community and humor. That’s where my my community, my neighborhood shines. If we move, we move within our same neighborhood. We know one another’s kids. We visit with each other’s dogs on the walking trail. We meet up for drinks in each other’s driveways.

Our neighborhood is special, but we are not unique. Happily, many other neighborhoods have similar community ties. That is a good thing. Across the country we will need to lean on one another for help and for humor.

So while we are in the beginning stages of this global pandemic, let’s enjoy a little levity. 

We are Living La Vida Corona!