Friday, March 13, 2020. The rumors are flying. Ironically, it’s the students who tell me that school is cancelled. It hit the Twitter feed and spread like wildfire. Seriously, the students told me a good five minutes before the announcement came over the loudspeaker. I’ve been on lockdown at home since March 13, 2020, when we were told by our administration to grab what we needed to work from home and leave campus. I haven’t been back. The transition to online learning has been fairly smooth for me, as our school was part of a green initiative and I already posted all assignments on Google Classroom. I’ve used less than a case of paper per year for three years, which I think is pretty good. I guess I’m lucky. I’m not here alone. My nephew, an actor, was rehearsing for a cruise gig when the world stopped. Rather than go back to New York, he opted to join me here and wait out the virus. So luckily, I’m not sitting here staring at the walls and worrying. And he’s a health nut, so we’ve gone keto. I’ve managed to lose 8 pounds so far. And since I’ve discovered InstaCart I really have almost no reason to leave the house. My car is currently getting three weeks to a gallon, so that’s good. The garbage collector left a flyer about AA, but he’s always been a bit judgmental. But I miss my school. I miss having someplace to go every day. I miss saying good morning to Ms Evans. I miss Renée calling me Mr. Cantstandyou (Seinfeld has been off the air for how long?) I miss my students greeting me with Bonjour, Monsieur every day. I miss lunch with my colleagues. I even miss my hall duty (ok, that one might be a stretch). But I do miss speaking French with my colleague who had duty with me. I really shouldn’t complain, all thing considered. I have a job, a roof over my head, health insurance, food in the refrigerator, money in the bank, toilet paper. I’m healthy, my friends and family are all doing well. Things could be so much worse.I just have to learn to not worry about things I can’t control. I worry about my students. I worry about my sister, who is a nurse. I worry about my brother, who is a first responder. I worry about my mother, who is of a certain age (she’d kill me if I gave her age here). I worry about my neighbors. I live in a 55+ community and apparently we had our first Coronavirus death today. I worry about the people who are protesting to open the state even though it makes absolutely no sense to do so until we have adequate testing in place. I worry that there’s going to be a second surge. I mean, I get it. Put your trust in the Lord, if that’s your thing. But my philosophy along those lines has always been Trust in the Lord and keep rowing toward shore. In other words, it’s great to have faith but putting oneself into harm’s way and then crying Jesus, take the wheel! seems a bit presumptuous. I guess my philosophy will have to be Trust in the Lord and wash your hands. And stop touching your face.So, I guess I’ll close now. Time to work on our third jigsaw puzzle. My nephew had a puzzle with him and put it together the first day he was here. We tried to buy more, but apparently others had the same idea. Walmart, Target, Amazon, all had empty shelves or 5 week waits Luckily, my mom, who lives in Georgia, loves puzzles and sent us a bunch of them to help pass the time. I hate puzzles. I’m colorblind, so puzzles are really challenging for me. If I manage to find 10 pieces in a 350 piece puzzle, I’m pleased with my accomplishment. In conclusion, I guess the greatest impact of the corona virus on my life is that it has taught me to be patient. When the Lord wants you to learn patience, He doesn’t hit you with his magic wand and say Be patient. He puts you in a position where you have to learn patience. Or not learn it. Peace.