When a stay at home order was issued in March, my desire to write entered a fog that has been slow to lift. I focused on learning about COVID–19 and sorting out which information flooding the airways and cables made sense. My son announced he was working with COVID-19 patients. My grandson could no longer visit. A life-long friend told me he put his house up for sale and would be moving south. There were many distractions in the initial months of the pandemic.

I leaned on past experiences and took breaks from my worries. I worked in my garden pulling weeds and trimming bushes until I was stiff from labor. I let the sprouting perennials give me hope for a new life. I feasted on each new bloom. I cherished the surprise of plants sprouting in new locations. Nature was providing a welcome distraction. I fed peanuts to my feathered neighbors as I sat on my deck. I watched squirrels squabble over nuts. I closed my eyes and faced the wind letting the breeze wash away my tension. There were brief moments of near serenity that allowed me to put words on paper and create artwork for my Wattpad postings.

As the state began to open up, I became ill with an infection. An annoying non-life-threatening illness that created more distractions. There were days I wanted to just mark my Wattpad account as "On Hiatus" and take a writing vacation. Eventually medication eased my symptoms, but I knew I had to stay focused to ensure the illness went away. Hours were spent each day treating my condition. I was often too mentally exhausted to focus on writing. But there were days that the symptoms eased and I sat on the deck and wrote.

As COVID-19 infections accelerated across the southern states, my friend sold his home and moved south. He is not one to social distance or wear a mask. I knew our good-bye might be a final one. While the rising number of infections is frightening, and my anxiety occasionally spikes a bit, I'm not as afraid as I was in the early months of the pandemic. I know a lot more about this virus. I can make informed decisions and take appropriate action. Unfortunately, I cannot control the actions of others. I'll be spending most days at home. When the fog lifts, I will write. I will embrace the life I can live and let go of those things that are no longer safe to do. The pandemic is creating wrinkles in my life, but I can take out my 'iron of determination' and press forward creating a new productive lifestyle.

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