Appreciating the Beauty Outside

COVID-19 has shut down the Whompton engagement with other buildings that are not our own house. An adult enters the grocery store once a week and Target once a quarter; otherwise, we have not physically entered many other buildings since March. Eric is working from home, Krystal is teaching from home, and the girls are schooling from home. Samantha chose to physically return back to school in August, so she's getting out and about much more than the rest of us.

We're all getting out, though, and the primary mechanism is by foot. Samantha walks the dog twice a day and, pre-COVID, other Whomptons would occasionally join her for one of the walks but it was not a high priority. We'd all get our exercise in other days. Now, during quarantine, we've converted to being daily walkers or runners. 

I average 60 - 65 miles a week of walking, which is one long morning walk and an evening walk with Samantha. In addition to seeing amazing wildlife in my neighborhood -- bunnies, bats, owls, deer, possums, raccoons, and a few times even a coyote! -- I also enjoy many more sunrises. To be fair, in the past, I would often drive to school during sunrise time, but I now have much more time to appreciate them than I did before when zooming past them in my 10 minute drive to MICDS each day. 

The camera on my phone is crap so the colors and lighting are not as gorgeous here as they were in real life but, even so, the pictures are still beautiful. I'm glad that in this stressful time I can still find beauty in the everyday.