My ten day quarantine ended yesterday, Sunday the 7th of November. I didn’t do much different than I had for the past week, but it felt good knowing that the quarantine was finished. I spent most of the quarantine at home, inside, with the exception of a short drive up the road and a couple of short walks on the property.

The first few days of quarantine I was really sick and didn’t do anything but rest, watch some tv and rest some more. As I started to feel better I napped less, but still spent most of my time in our living room, swapping myself from chair to couch and back again. I met my goal of writing to a friend every day until the last couple of days when she was in New York and I had run out of anything interesting to write about.

I had one day of entertainment, unfortunately due to someone else’s misfortune. We have an landing zone on the property for Reach helicopters. Watching them fly in, land and then take off is quite something. I love helicopters which makes it better for me. The day they came in was crystal clear but there was a strong wind blowing. I took a short video of the landing and then a couple of shots of the helicopter on the ground. I sat in my car a ways away - I don’t want to gawk at the poor person who is being flown out nor do I want to get in the way of the fire and ambulance crews who are doing their work. Also, having Covid, I did not want to get close to anyone. That didn’t stop the pilot from wandering over while they waited for the ground ambulance to arrive. He stood about 15 feet away and we chatted. It was nice to be able to thank him directly for the work he does.

As I felt better I assigned myself the task of catching up on back issues of Atlantic magazine. While I did not get fully caught up, I did get through about four issues, which felt good. I also read through a few back issues of The Sun magazine and quickly went through a handful of old Beacons and AVA’s that had been collecting around me.

As the days went by I slowly started to feel more myself - less cranky and snappy, more patience for tasks and inquiries from both family and work. My sense of taste came back a few days ago, just a little at first - I noticed the lemon in my water more one morning than the day previous. My sense of smell is back as well, but is hindered by my sinuses which seem to insist on becoming infected every chance they get.

My one drive was up the road to my mom’s house; she lives with us but still has her house that she rents out. The previous tenants had moved out and the new tenant hadn’t moved in yet so my husband and I took a drive out to visit the place. It has been several years since I was there and it was fun to roam around the house and the grounds and share memories. The thing we noticed was the quiet - there is a lot less traffic on the middle of the ridge than there is down on our end. It was also a glorious day - sunny, with a breeze.

I’m back at the office again, starting today, Monday. I’ll head across the street this afternoon and get another Covid test just to satisfy everyone who keeps asking me if I’m going to get tested again. I think it will also feel good to see a negative test result after seeing that positive one. I’ll get my booster shot in a month or so and hope not to get another breakthrough infection again.

The end of Quarantine or what I did on my forced "vacation"