Stay. At. Home.

When the governor issued the stay-at-home order in March 2020, it impacted all of our lives forever. At first, it meant we could not grab a cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie at the local diner or catch a movie. As time moved on, it meant no haircuts, no visits to the gym and no trips to the pet store to buy our dogs' favorite treats. And even more tragically, it meant we could not visit our relatives at the nursing home or at even at the hospital.

Soon we began to realize that we would have to adapt the way we lived our lives on a daily basis. So, what changed?

We learned to use technology. Zoom, a digital platform that allows us to see and speak to one another, became our lifeline. We met with friends and family members via Zoom, and Zoom was also the way we were able to stay at home to work. We learned to educate our children virtually. Our kitchen table became both an office and a classroom.

We met our neighbors. Our dogs got plenty of outings during the stay-at-home order. We walked them many, many times a day. On our travels we talked to our neighbors outside - from a distance. Funny, how I remember all the dogs' names, but not necessarily their owners. Agnes. Precious. Asher and Millie next door. Reilly. And Blue the Rottweiler. On warm days, Blue would sleep outdoors in the sun. He was untethered, and at first, we quickly changed our route when he was outside. But we soon learned that Blue would just lie there peacefully and watch us pass.

We enjoyed family time. Of course, we began to watch more TV and movies, but when we got tired of that, we broke out the board games like Scrabble, Operation and Ker Plunk! We even found an old jigsaw puzzle, which we put on the dining room table. We would work on it from time to time and enjoyed watching the picture come together.

We found the outdoors. When we wanted to get out of the house, we visited local outdoor sites. We went to Hopewell Lake in Elverson and Marsh Creek State Park in Eagle. We watched the French Creek as it cascaded over the rocks in St. Peter's Village in Warwick Township. We even went to Lancaster County and visited Poole Forge in Narvon to sit by the water and take photos of the covered bridge.

We read books. I have always been an avid reader, but during the pandemic reading became even more important. The problem? All the libraries were closed. So, I learned about Little Free Libraries. These are book boxes created by people in the community with the motto, "Take a Book, Leave a Book." I visited the boxes religiously during the pandemic, dropping off books and taking some back home.

We went to church virtually. It is not the same as attending church in person, of course, but seeing our pastor and hearing his message on Sundays was very comforting. One pastor told me that this option should have existed all along, so that older people or those who were at home sick that day could still participate in church. Now that churches are open with limited capacity, we are able to worship God and at least see members of our church family although there are no social events.

We cleaned. I no longer have a junk drawer! Well, it's not as bad as it used to be. I dumped the junk drawer contents, which included old birthday candles, batteries, safety pins, rubber bands, a warranty card for the dehumidifier and so much more. Now that drawer is pretty well organized. We also cleaned closets. We boxed up clothes and toys and home decor. The boxes and bags waited for a while in the basement until, thankfully, the thrift stores opened once again.

Now that life is gradually getting back to normal, we have continued to practice what we learned during the stay-at-home order. We still walk the dogs - a lot. I still use Zoom to talk to our relatives from other states and for work. We still go to church and we smile at one another through our masks. I never did tackle cleaning the basement, but I continue to read books from the Little Free Libraries. We still play games together, but not nearly as much. And the jigsaw puzzle is still on the dining room table.