Coffee, Write, Repeat

It’s, what, day number 845 of the year 2020? Is that about accurate?

It’s hard to find anything interesting to blog about during a pandemic, especially if one tries her damnedest not to get overly political on her blog. Not a lot is happening right now. Sleep, wake, coffee, write, repeat. Coffee, write, repeat. Coffee.

I don’t mind any of that, really. Sleeping is nice. I don’t sleep nearly as well in the summertime as I do late fall and winter. I like it to be cold in the house. Really cold. Much colder than I can get it during the summer. I’ve spent my fair share of time in walk-in coolers and freezers and I’ve always believed if I had a bed and thick blankets in a walk-in cooler I would get the best sleep of my life. I like fresh sheets that smell nice; my fragrance of choice is honey mixed with jasmine and vanilla.

Waking is even nice, and it’s really the only part of my day that is rooted in routine and I do love routine. Wake, care for dogs, make husband’s lunch, make coffee, water my garden, send husband to work, write. I do miss the habit of using my French press on the weekends, though. I suppose nothing is keeping me from using it daily now, since I am home. Every day.

image sourced from Canva

Coffee gives life. When the pandemic shut everything down, I was concerned about a lot of things, among them was what would happen if I didn’t have coffee. I’m sure that weighed on my husband too, thinking of me without coffee. Thankfully, I never ran out and all remained pleasant in my household. My “everyday” brand I can access easily at any of our local grocers is Community Coffee’s toasted hazelnut. My favorite, cannot-begin-to-describe-how-much-I-miss-it coffee is one I used to serve daily at the coffee shop I used to manage: 1000 Faces Coffee, Aldo’s Blend. Oooh my. I used to be the type who had a little bit of coffee with my cream and sugar, but that was before I really had good coffee.

Then my day consists of writing. I am stitching together what I loved from each of the drafts I had written before my hiatus. I anticipate my next article assignment will show up in my inbox any day now, so I’ll have to take a little time away from Harlot. It’ll be difficult because I am so enamored with it…but money is money, so I’ll gladly take the break from fiction to make some cash.

One of my favorite things about writing historical fiction is the research. I was one of those weird teens who enjoyed writing history papers. I love old books too, especially cookbooks and household guides from the 17 and 1800s. I love museums and historical sites—if there’s a historical marker on the side of the road, I really want to stop and read it.

Which is something we did recently. It was just a nice day for a drive and while we had no plans whatsoever about where we were going or what we would do, I happened to spy a sign for a historic covered bridge. Lo and behold there is a scene at a covered bridge in Harlot, so of course we stopped.

Campbell’s Covered Bridge—Landrum, SC

There’s something about physically visiting places as opposed to just reading about them or seeing them in pictures and videos. I’ve got plans on revisiting this place, perhaps on a cooler day, and walking the area as if I were in the scene itself. It sounds fun to me…don’t judge.

It was easy to stay socially distanced while we walked around. There were a couple families splashing around in the stream and a couple we accidentally interrupted canoodling down a little trail that led to a more secluded section of the stream.

Oops.

But it was a lovely little stop and I look forward to going back hopefully sooner rather than later. Truth be told, the husband and I have talked about renewing our vows for our upcoming 15th anniversary in September and this would be a lovely spot for a vow renewal…you know, except for the whole pandemic making such a gathering difficult. Sigh.

Seriously, my hair doesn’t fit into the picture because it’s so long.

I am looking forward to a post-COVID world. I would like to get out of the house and see some true normalcy. We went to our local farmers’ market a few weeks ago but it wasn’t the same with only half the farmers, no local coffee vendors, one-way foot traffic, and sparse crowds. I’d like to visit a salon and get a frickin’ eyebrow wax and my hair at least trimmed.

I miss my standard weekly writing dates at the library with my friend Christa, who introduced me to the magazine editor.

I miss my travel blog. I miss finding local coffee shops and going inside and leisurely browsing their menu boards and I miss stopping at little mom and pop shops in the mountains and buying some local fare…though, I did mask up not long ago and procured a jar of local raw honey—but it helps with allergies, so I’m counting it as a medically necessary outing. 😉

More than anything, I miss visiting my family. My father is a hospice patient. We still visit, but not as often as I’d like and the visits are modified. Hugs require masks for each of us, and I generally don a Tyvek suit, too. Some say that it’s overkill, but I live in a hot spot (#2 county in my state) and his immune system is nil. We’re lucky he’s been able to convalesce at home with my mother, otherwise visits would be nonexistent… and in all likelihood, he’d have already caught it, which would be bad. To say the least.

I miss my little nephew too who has asthma and would have a hard time fighting the virus. We have virtual visits via Google Duo calls, but it doesn’t equate.

But the virus lingers, therefore I guess I’ll stick to sleep, wake, coffee, write, and repeat. And just because it can’t be escaped, I’ll keep doing laundry too.

What’s the pandemic been like for you? Did you ever run out of TP? Stay safe, stay hydrated, stay awesome out there. ♥

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