When all of this craziness is over, remember how things used to be. I will never take for granted the fact that I can give someone a hug or greet them with a handshake. I will never take for granted a kiss from a family member who does not live with me. I will never take for granted going to the store and finding the shelves full. I will never take for granted being able to meet a friend for coffee or lunch. I will never take for granted that I can purchase toilet paper whenever I need it.

I have to say here that I never understood the fact the toilet paper flew off the shelves and caused confrontations in the stores. This was not a stomach flu, it was mostly respiratory. Who knew that people were going to go crazy over toilet paper.

Empty stadiums, empty schools, closed businesses — all of these things show how much we care about each other. One good thing about this pandemic is that all of the political ads have stopped. In my mind that is a good thing. I was mighty tired of hearing the same ad over and over.

For the last few weeks things have been crazy. I get that people are scared. I get that they have turned to God. Might I add that it is about time. I do not understand why it took so long for people to get the idea that isolation is the only cure at this point. The longer people are out and about, the longer the whole process will take.

We are fortunate to still have two houses that we can go back and forth to. At least it is a change of scenery.

We do things outdoors at both houses so that relieves the monotony also. I made a trip to the cemetery to get the grave ready. I trimmed the bushes and tidied up around the grave. Who knows if there will be a Memorial Day service this year?

What a strange year 2020 has been so far. I am weathering the storm quite well considering. We are healthy and still able to work on things at home. It is not a social time. When I went to the store the other day, I forgot that it was the first of the month and people would be out spending their checks. I just got what I was there for and left. We stopped for sandwiches on our way home so that was a treat.

Today I hauled soup out of the freezer for our lunch. I shared some of it with the neighbors by leaving it on their front porch and calling to tell them it was there. Remember that we are social distancing.

Yesterday I cleaned the back cupboard. That is where I kept the games that the grandchildren and I used to play. Since they are grown, I probably will not need them for a while so I decided to move them to a cupboard in the living room. We really needed the space for our coats and hats.

In a way it is nice to not be in a hurry. It is nice to have time to do things that have been on the back burner for far too long. It is nice to be able to connect with the family – even if it is by phone or e-mail. This has been a much slower two weeks than we have had for a long time.

My heart goes out to the farmers who are still out there working in their fields. The plows have been turning over the soil in preparation of spring planting. Soon the fields will be sprouting green. I am guessing that the farmer I watched yesterday is preparing his field for corn. I guess I will just have to wait and see.

I have said it before but I will say it again – farmers are the ultimate optimists. They plant and wait for things to grow, then it is time for harvest. In the years that I was directly affected by agriculture, we never suspected that the seed would not grow or that there would not be a harvest. There were years when harvesting was difficult – like when we had rain every day and the fields were so soupy we could not get the machinery on them.

There are movies of us out in the field harvesting corn by hand. We picked the ears off to be ground into cow feed. The stalks were cut by hand and fed to the animals. Although it was labor intensive it saved the crop from ruin. We did not mind. The whole family was out there. We made the work fun. After a hard day of work, we all went into the house for a shared meal. The cousins were delighted to be able to be together.

That is how it always was on the farm. We worked together and played together. Whatever we did was fun even though it was often hard work.

Canning was the same way. If we worked together, we got a whole lot more done. I recall having to sit with my leg up because one of the children in school knocked over a chair on my foot. It swelled up instantly. My principal wanted to drive me home but I assured her I could make it on my own. Calling for a ride was not an option because the men were out in the field. My daughter and daughter-in-law made pickle relish that evening with me as the consultant. I was able to help with the prep work though because I could sit at the table to do it. How strange it seems to be writing about that. I had not thought of that in years. We were able to enjoy ourselves that evening in spite of things.

Life is strange these days. I am recalling a whole lot of things that I had completely forgotten. It seems nice to remember these times.

Ann Swanson writes from her home in Russell, Pa. Contact at hickoryheights1@verizon.net.