This was my weekend for a grand adventure to South Carolina; this was my relax and get away from the reality of my daily life.  Not too grand of an adventure, just a long weekend to enjoy the Atlantic Ocean on a different beach than the one I live on, a beach with fewer waves and fewer rules.  A place where I have no obligations, just to enjoy myself. This trip was going to be a bit different, usually my hostess has to work doubles on the Friday and Saturday with Sunday and Monday off.  This time no doubles, only day shift, so we could spend more time together.  I also planned to explore the salt marshes via kayak and visit a metaphysical shop or two.

Then came the phone call, Young G has symptoms and has been exposed.  He is a young healthy man, his mother is monitoring him, although he is a 21 year old man, he will always be her baby boy.  She is also concerned as one of her staff (that she worked shoulder to shoulder with behind a bar) said she wasn’t feeling well, as it turns out the girl’s boyfriend tested positive for COVID.

This family was so careful during the initial outbreak, one member is a healthcare worker, seeing first hand the virus at its worst.  The other two ladies of the house became shoppers for those that were home bound.  The men of the house, including the one that is now ill, are essential blue collar workers.  They soldiered on as a family, taking all the precautions to avoid illness and continue to serve their community.

The virus cancelled our plans as a family, a group of twenty had booked airfare and hotels in Las Vegas to celebrate the 21 birthday of the twin young men.  That was obviously cancelled, some family members met up on a large farm in Georgia to celebrate, I was not able to attend as most of the group.

I am a firm believer in the Universe will prevail, and for what ever reason, I am not meant to be in South Carolina this weekend.  I am meant to be home for this weekend, not travelling: it is the New Moon, and Summer Solstice, so I can celebrate openly here.  This may be the weekend to get the garden in order, set up my outdoor altar.

There are many chores that need to be done, I am torn…take the weekend and celebrate, no chores just relax and enjoy or delve into the To Do list.  Some how a balanced mix is not really possible. I have some things that will need to be done, shopping and cleaning; I could get those done tonight after work.  

The biggest relax I was looking forward to was not getting up at 6 am- I am not a morning person.  Since the schools have shutdown, I have been hosting my grandsons on mornings that their father works.  My daughter drops them off at 6:10 and heads to her essential job as a healthcare provider, her husband is a police officer.  I am retail manager for a private post office, also an essential worker.
I have gone from working morning shift to afternoon shift.  Gone are the days of a peaceful walk on the beach before work starts at 9 am.  Gone are the quiet hours of morning to complete the managerial tasks of ordering supplies and product.  Now I arrive  mid day, there is no opportunity to inventory, order supplies, just retail service.

I am also the secretary for the business owner, I manage his automotive business (essential workers) as well as his property manager for rental homes.  I am overseeing an eviction (as soon as it is allowed) the tenants only rent payment is a check that bounced in January 2020, I am also monitoring a felony worthless check case.  None of this was difficult when I had 30 minutes of quiet time prior to opening, but now I am juggling phone calls, customers and computer work simultaneously.

Now, I manage files from home, working while I have the boys doing their summer school workbooks and reading assignments.  I have to rely on two part time staff members to do far more managerial work than intended, I am creating a new system to make sure we are all on the same page.  Inventory sheets for product and supplies, all while keeping the business sanitized and disinfected.

I really needed that long weekend, to just physically get away from all the responsibilities.  A few days to not concern myself with how many rolls of tape, where on the planet Earth my stamp order is located and will the boxes ordered arrive or will we receive envelopes instead?  I just needed a time out.

The boys are getting restless, time to write thank you notes for the masks a friend made for them and then may be a quick episode of Ninjago.  My day is far from over, and not much of an adventure.