Furloughed

When your oncologist tells you that if you continue to work

in a hospital,

he'll be the one on the other side of the glass pane 

when you're in the ICU on the ventilator ,

holding up the sign saying "I told you so",

you'd better pay attention.

When your adult kids remind you that you're the only parent they have

and, as flawed as you are, they're not ready to be orphans quite yet,

you'd better pay attention.

So, being no dummy, 

I did.

I'm now on a 2 week furlough,

to which I could add 2 weeks of vacation,

which I could then morph into another retirement.

All options are on the table -

and I honestly don't know what I'll end up deciding.

For now, 

I'm cleaning out closets, 

reading,

Zooming with family

watching another spring unfold before my very eyes

and thinking deep thoughts.

I'm only 3 days in.

It feels like I've been housebound for weeks.

My only association with being home during daylight hours is "sick day" -

which must be why naps are figuring so heavily into my schedule.

I've been working since I was 14.

56 years of ingrained habit is gonna take longer than 3 days to kick.

On my last excursion around the city -

in the isolation of my car -

I explored the city.

 

 I also found what I think is a good representation of COVID 19,

at least in my mind.

Not being with this one is the hardest part of the quarantine.

Trying not to project out too far and taking it a day at a time...

Anyone else want to play along?