It’s hard to believe that we have been home for the past month except for going to work at my husband’s and my respective jobs in healthcare. Life has become a bit surreal and most things that we would consider mundane such as going to the grocery store, running errands and even getting a haircut is now considered potentially dangerous. Life is different for so many, but it doesn’t mean that life is not happening. Things are a lot different, some for the better and some for the worse. I know that one day these times will be over and life will get back to normal, but I hope that we don’t forget during this great “pause” to remember what suddenly became important to us during this time, that was drowned out with unnecessary distractions that we thought were all so pressing.

These past two weeks we did a big clean up of the chicken coop from over the winter. We took down the winter tarps and plexiglass coverings and everything got a good wash down. It took about 3 hours from start to finish, but the girls did not have a good cleaning since last November. I also admit I wasn’t really in a hurry. I had plenty of time on my hands to give the coop a little bit of extra attention.

April shower are certainly abundant these days. The gardens are beginning to show signs of new life. I’ve been spending time weeding, mulching and prepping the vegetable garden for plantings. We will start seeds this week. We have spent many a rainy day inside working on a new norm of getting school time up and running, learning how to drive a car for my son, and my daughter has learned to sew. We’ve tried to stay on our normal schedules for the most part during the week with some sort of structure. Structure has proven to be good for our kids, who suddenly are facing strange days.

We’ve also been spending more time together as a family and that means with the chickens. The kids are older now and the joy of keeping chickens had not necessarily worn off, but was filled with things such as driving, school, dances, after school activities, music lessons and other typical teenager sorts of things. But life has come full circle, as I find the kids sneaking out to say hello to the girls or join them in the yard as the chickens explore. It’s been nice to see them reconnect with the flock again.

There is something about having time. Slowing down and no longer finding ourselves in a rush to get here or there or to the next place or the next thing without truly savoring the moments of the day.

Even at 5 years old the girls have started laying up a storm. We have given plenty of eggs to neighbors and family. In return, one neighbor brought us some clams. Our other neighbor brought over some cookies, freshly picked daffodils and a loaf of bread when we were running low. Neighbors we hardly knew are suddenly part of our daily lives of checking in. I hope that doesn’t stop.

As a self proclaimed non-baker, I finally decided to make bread on my own. It turns out that it wasn’t really all that difficult. Of course I chose a “fool proof” recipe, but truly making bread just takes time.

Slowing down, taking the time to notice the little things and finding those silver linings are what this time for me is all about. I’m not sure that I am entirely looking for life to return back to the way it was. Each day for me now is about finding a few simple joys.  What has this time given to you?