On The Road to Five More Weeks
/The big news this week wasn’t unexpected - on Thursday Governor Pritzker extended the stay-at-home order through the end of May, with some modifications, including reopening state parks and golf courses, and requiring masks be worn in places where social distancing isn’t always possible, like grocery stores. My “Kitchen Studio” is becoming the norm, rather than the exception.
At this point, with so many unknowns, this could very well extend into the summer - even if the stay-at-home is lifted or modified, there is still no vaccine - I don’t know about you, but I will be very hesitant to jump back into life as we knew it. Baby steps, to be sure, but for now, I’m focusing on making the best of staying at home. I know the fur-family is loving it!
Speaking of, I did my half of a promo (Hosea Sanders is doing the other half his from home) for the Anti-Cruelty Society’s annual Bark in the Park, which this year is now the virtual “Bark From the Heart.”
I posted another episode of “Fabulous Fur Babies,” this time addressing the recent news about 2 New York cats with coronavirus. I also included some fun and sweet videos of friends and family with their pets. I like to end on a positive note!
Sara and I have gone off the deep end with this puzzle craze! Actually, Sara is the one who’s really jumped in - she’s working on a 3-D puzzle of the Disney Monorail!
Being a dedicated “Cast Member” I also ordered some new character coffee mugs - watch for them to make an appearance on the morning news!
As we continue to adapt to this way of life, I wonder how many of the new and creative things we’re doing will carry-over when we go back to some semblance of a normal life? I hosted my first Zoom interview this week, and put together a video about a new exhibit the Chicago History Museum is creating to document the pandemic. Here’s the link https://scalar.usc.edu/works/chmcovid-19/share-your-story if you’d like to send pictures or videos to the museum and be a part of what is sure to be a fascinating exhibit.
I truly am trying to do as much at home as I can - I never thought I’d be doing my own no-chip (gel) manicure! Not perfect by a long shot, but passable.
I’m not kidding myself, 5 more weeks is not going to be easy. There are 4 humans, 2 canines and one feline in this house. There are times when tensions are high, but what other choice do we have but to take a deep breath, try to work together and remember the common enemy is a deadly virus that could care less if we get along or not.
A colleague recently asked me if I liked working from home and would I want to do this permanently. There are definite advantages - 30 minutes extra sleep, a commute walking downstairs to my kitchen, and having many things at my fingertips. The disadvantage - and it’s a big one - is no personal interaction. I feel isolated from my “work family.” I see them on a monitor and hear them in an ear piece, but nothing makes up for that eye to eye connection in the same room. Sure, I can cover the traffic beat on my own. I can shoot video, edit the piece and send it to the station to put on the air.
But it’s not going to look as good as it would if my videographer colleagues shot it. It won’t flow as well as it could if the station editors put it together. And there’s a hollowness to working alone that could never compare with the camaraderie and teamwork that goes with my job in tv news.
Yes, it’s going to be a long 5 weeks, but I’ll push through because I know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.