It certainly is true that the Covid Epidemic caused problems: people died, work was lost, and (in mine and many others' opinion) was yet another ridiculous stepping off point for conspiracy theorists.
But while many complained and moaned about their routines being turned upside down - I found great delight in the new opportunities it presented. At the time, I was quite tired of attending social obligations and the shutdown offered me the perfect excuse to stay home.
Fortunately, as self-employed craftsmen - Rick and I had plenty of work we could do in isolation. We didn't slow down at all.
But I never expected that having all that extra time would enable me to get so much done around the house. Our back fence fell down at one point, and as we built the new one, neighbors would walk (safely) by and, eager for connection, would have the most wonderful conversations; with people we lived next to, but never stopped to chat. That's what disasters do - they bring people together.
And I read. And read…
Here's a list of the books I ready during Covid, and a list of some of the things I got done.
Reading:
Hombre - Elmore Leonard
Perry Mason "The Case of the Singing Skirt" - Erle Stanley Gardner
Perry Mason "The Case of the Crooked Candle" - Erle Stanley Gardner
Shaman - Kim Stanley Robinson
The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Russian Revolution - Robert Goldston
Great Son - Edna Ferber
The Complete Sherlock Holmes - Book 2 - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Complete Sherlock Holmes - Book 1 - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Wall and other Stories - Sartre
The Bobbsey Twins on the Pony Trail - Laura Lee Hope
Sybil - Flora Rheta Schrelber
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Sherlock Holmes - A. Conan DFoyle
The Idiot - Dostoyevsky
On the Shores of Night - Adrienne Mans
The Thirty Nine Steps - John Buchan
Illusions (The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah) - Richard Bach
The Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum
In Search of Noah's Ark - Dave Balsiger and Carles Sellier, Jr.
In Dubious Battle - John Steinbeck
The Death of Ivan Ilyich and other Stories (Happy Ever After, The Cossacks) - Leo Tolstoy
Fire - George R. Stewart
The Vintage Turgenev: Smoke, Fathers and songs, First Love
The Gambler/Bobok/A Nasty Story - Dostoyevsky
Oblomov - Gancharov
Netochka Nezvanova - Dostoyevsky
The House of The Dead - Dostoyevsky
Hell Yeah, or NO! - Derek Sivers
War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
Mountains and Molehills by Frank Marryat 1855
Short Story Classics (Foreign) Volume 1 - Russian
Kipling's Works Volume 1 - Plain Tales from The Hills
A Raw Youth - Dostoyevsky
Crime and Punishment - Dostoevsky (note the variation in spelling of last name)
Jesus, The Son of Man - Kahlil Gibran
Russian Stories (A dual language book)
The Forged Coupon - Tolstoy
The Unknown Chekhov - Stories and other writings - Chekhov
Don Quixote - Cervantes
The Centaur - John Updike
Cup of Gold - John Steinbeck
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea - Jules Verne
Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
The Mysterious Island - Jules Verne
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
The Best Known Works of Anton Checkov - 1929
Jungle Ways - William B. Seabrook - 1931
Saints and Strangers - George Willison - 1945
Music:
Recorded "Kaw-Liga"
Recorded "Jambalaya"
Recorded "Birds" with student Cooper
Recorded "Helplessly Hoping" with Ann Whittingon
Recorded "Sand In My Crackie"
Recorded "Hannah"
Recorded "You Better Get Ready (To Kiss My Ass)"
Arranged and recorded strings, percussion and bass for Christie McCarthy songs
Produced several songs with June Coha:
Psycho Killer
Cry Me A River
It's Impossible/Somos Novios
Finished recording several songs of my own:
Fire and Rain
Have You Ever Seen the Rain
Created videos with Rick Zeek
Started Lovers Theme song
Recorded "Something Stupid" with Rick Zeek
Construction:
Fence along back of property
Fence along back side of property
Fence behind mom's house
Fence along side of yard at mom's house
Had electrician finish downstairs bathroom work
Insulated and closed in bathroom
Created outdoor workspace for table saw and tools
Built cabinet in laundry room
Built recessed cabinet in bathroom
Build archway for shower in lower bathroom
Painted Laundry room
Built shelving unit in upstairs bathroom
Installed shelf in music room
reframed and rehung upper bathroom door
Designed and built copper towel rod for lower utility sink
Demo'ed and rebuilt full bathroom, tiled and painted.
Repainted entire interior of Bethel Hill rental, re-framed front door, fixed numerous problems
Thank you Covid - for shaking things up and letting them resettle into a new pattern.