Editor's Note There is humor, joy to be found By Darcy L. Fargo

April 1, 2020

As I write this (Sunday, March 29), I’m on day 10 of not wearing real pants (nothing with a zipper, button or other closure). It’s my mission to see how many days I can extend this streak. To me, it’s a small thing I can do to make myself as comfortable as possible at a time when I, like many others, find myself very uncomfortable.

As I’ve previously indicated, I’m an “extreme extrovert.” I’m energized by social situations. Previous experiences have taught me that a few weeks of home confinement – or anything close to it – can wreak havoc on my mental health. I guess I’m lucky I know this about myself. It’s made me aware I need to implement strategies to combat it. One of those strategies: Looking for humor and joy.

Since the official publication date of today’s paper is April Fool’s Day, it seemed appropriate to share a few of my observations so far:
• Cats make horrible colleagues. Since I started working at home just over a week ago, I’ve had a cat sit on my laptop keyboard, show his hind end on a video meeting and lick a plate I placed on my desk after eating while working.

• Pre-teen boys can sleep through ANYTHING. Stove timer? Didn’t hear it. Vacuum cleaner? No problem. I’m fairly certain a bomb could drop in the back yard at 8 a.m., and my son wouldn’t even stir.

• The two introverts I live with – one I married and one I gave birth to – are living their best lives. The young introvert sleeps until noon, does a couple hours of schoolwork and housework, and spends the rest of his days playing with toys, board games and video games. The older introvert keeps jumping from project to project (furniture refinishing, home improvements, art projects…), taking breaks only to spend time online researching his favorite hobbies. Isolation looks good on them. They dig it.

• Trying to maintain “social distance” while still being kind and courteous can create rather comical results. I went to Stewart’s for bread, milk and gas one day this week. As I exited the store, a kind, older gentleman pulled the door open for me. As I started to exit, I’m guessing it occurred to him that we were closer than six feet apart. He let go of the door and jumped back. I almost ran into the door.

These are unsettling and uncertain times, but there is still so much joy in the world. God is everywhere, thus goodness and joy are everywhere. We just have to look for them.

I’ll just continue to look for them while wearing comfy pants.