Before the virus arrived, my daily routines were boring. Nap-inducing. But now I realize I loved them. Loved them.
Here they are/were:
Up about 5:30 a.m.--doing some kitchen chores (emptying dishwasher, etc.), then showering, dressing, then firing up the computer for the day--checking Quicken and bank accounts and updating my journal and looking at the new word-of-the-day on my tear-off calendar and writing for our son and his family a quick doggerel using the word.
About 6:30--heading over to Open Door Coffee Company, chatting with some of the regulars, reading the day's New York Times on my Kindle, editing/texting the vocab doggerel to the family, then launching into my morning's reading. Three or four days of reading each week go to the book I'll be reviewing on Friday morning for Kirkus Reviews. I've been working for them since March 1999 and have done about 1550 reviews. They publish semi-monthly, and I'm proud (and lucky) that I've not missed an issue, not missed a deadline.
About 8:30 or so--heading home and going upstairs to talk with Joyce, who's returned from her morning exercise at the gym and is sitting in her study at her computer, working on her various writing projects.
Then down to my study--downloading into Quicken any recent bank transactions, working on various writing projects (including this blog).
A little before 10, heading back upstairs to have Joyce read the blog post (she inevitably finds typos--thank goodness).
Afterward, flopping on the bed for an hour's rest/nap.*
Up about 11 or so for some more working in the study until time for preparing lunch with Joyce. Mine is simple: a cup of yogurt and fresh fruit, a piece of sourdough toasted bread with a light coating of fresh jam, some water, 8 oz. of pomegranate juice.
A little after noon, cleaning up and walking back to the coffee shop for my afternoon's work--and for some talk with good friend Chris (and, sometimes, his wife, Michelle, who can occasionally join us). Reading the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Akron Beacon-Journal on my iPad, writing my latest lines for my blog Daily Doggerel (currently the theme: the seven deadly sins; I'm writing lines based on the synonyms for each of the seven). Then--reading 25 pages or so of a novel--till about 1:30. Doing some editing (via One Drive) of some earlier things I've drafted.
Walking home, talking with Joyce, then heading out to the gym for the most unpleasant hour-and-a-half of my day. (I had stopped doing this shortly before the virus shutdown: my dizziness had made it dangerous.)
Driving back home about 3:30, talking with Joyce, working in my study, getting ready to shut down the computer for the night.
Preparing our supper (I do most of the cooking)--mostly chicken, fish, veggies, sourdough bread (no jam this time--just warmed in the microwave), salad. No dessert.
Cleaning up--then heading out to get a Diet Coke or a decaf somewhere. (We like to go to Aurora, where I taught for thirty years.)
Home--and getting ready for bed (I'm usually in the sack by 6--though not to sleep), reading about an hour in various books, streaming bits of shows for about an hour.
Lights out about 8. Joyce, who does not like early-bed, stays with me until I nod off, then goes to the back bedroom, where she works another hour or so.
Z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z.
Weekends are much the same, especially Saturday, though in the evening we like going to a movie, or out to Mustard Seed Market and Barnes & Noble and Panera in W. Akron.
Sundays are very different. Mixing and baking the sourdough bread (some of which ends up with our son and his family), going to Panera for a light bagel breakfast, then over to Acme, then Heinen's, for our week's groceries, napping a little more, making fresh omelets for supper, running out afterwards for coffee or Diet Coke.
And that's a summary of my boring week--a boring week that I now miss with an intensity I never would have believed.
*re: the napping: I'm on a med that has greatly diminished my energy.
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