It’s been over a week since I started keeping this Coronavirus journal. When I started, I wondered what my life would look like in a week. A week later, I’m feeling the same way. Things can change so quickly. Yesterday, we didn’t go outside. I just couldn’t stomach walking past all these people sitting on picnic blankets.

Today, however, Dot kept asking to “go to fresh air,” so we tried to go up to our apartment complex’s rooftop deck, but the key got changed and I guess we no longer have access. Then, I tried to go to the cemetery, thinking she could run there, but it was closed and there were signs up. We ended up back at the school grounds. No one was in this big field, so I let Dot run. But as if we didn’t have enough signs of apocalypse, there was a random pile of seagull feathers, and another pile of crow feathers, as if birds are now exploding. 

When you walk with a toddler — or at least my toddler — you never go from Point A to Point B. You stop to dig in the dirt, use a stick as a microphone, investigate rocks, touch bark, say hello to flowers. Today, Dot turned over a plain grey stone, and it was painted underneath. A nice little moment of surprise: a little bit of colour added to our day. I hope that a week from now, we still have moments of calm and peace.

An oval white stone painted with faded vines sits on a larger gray rock