Ordinances and Scrambling

Today we were rushing to film something ahead of time, given the fact that much of the state of Georgia will be ordered to stay at home, but only if you are on essential business.  That being said, we were scrambling to film something for KidPak, and we couldn't do it at the church, because the city of Gainesville was already on that lockdown.  That's why we went to the place you see above.  This is Amy's home, a place up in northern Habersham county.  She's Josh's brother, seen a few times here on this blog in the past as Thunderbolt, a Summer Xtreme Hero.  In the photograph above, if you keep walking to your left, you'll wind up where Josh lives.  The last time we were here was August 21st, 2017, when we drove up here to see the Great American Eclipse.  This visit was a little different, although under the same umbrella of "dramatic events going on in our nation right now."  From this point on, everyone will understand what this is all about.  But to shut down an entire country is nearly impossible to think about.  We're still trying to figure it out in our minds, asking each morning when we wake up, is this for real?  Unfortunately, this virus that's now sweeping the nation is in fact real, and there's even a death toll.  Mommy has been tuning in to the Presidential updates each afternoon, and listening to the doctors and advisors, and it's been clear:  we're all trying to figure this out as make adjustments.  Many people are doing some wonderful things - from their homes - to try and bring love and joy to others.  Some people are complaining.  And then there are the new previously unacknowledged heroes, those working in the medical profession, who have been working extreme hours and finding themselves exposed to this virus more often than they'd prefer.  Many have gotten sick themselves.  It's a new world.  Just like after 9-11, it's a new world.  Things were going one way, and suddenly we got a earthshaking jolt that has changed the way we do life.  Suddenly, we're doing a lot more from home, and realizing we can do a lot more from home.  And while there, we've been spending more time with our loved ones.  That's a gift, actually, and one bright spot in all of this.  Driving through the neighborhood, you see families outside on their front lawns together, socially distant from others, but together as a family.  That's a blessing.  It's almost like some bizarre holiday - you walk or drive through the neighborhood, and families are outside working or playing, but they're all together, forced there by this worldwide circumstance.  It's an unique moment in history.

We filmed our bits today - it was Lance, Josh and Amy filming this time, so we didn't have too many people involved.  This was for our Easter service, and there's another notable thing.  Easter is a massive service with people dressed up in their finest and huge crowds going to church.   There were four of us filming for this one, and two of us were certainly not dressed up in our finest.  This is because we were playing egg roulette.  But you'll probably see that on Easter.

It was a relaxing time up there in the mountains, just as it was last time we were there.  We filmed what we needed to, and then roasted hot dogs for lunch.  Afterwards, we were playing this virtual reality game called "Vader Immortal," which has changed the way that Daddy thought about virtual reality games in general.  Historically, they have been clunky and not as responsive, and more of a novelty thing.  But this was pretty amazing.

I drove home afterwards, and came by an old landmark just to see it.  I wish I hadn't.  The covered bridge at Sautee there is now a monument of shame.  The entire interior and (a good part of the exterior that you can reach) is covered with spray painted names and graffiti.  Things are carved into it, and just walking through this covered bridge is embarrassing for White County.  People should be ashamed of themselves, taking a pleasant landmark like that and ruining it.  That was a sad little stop on the way home - I was hoping to find a place to stop by with Madison at one point so she could snap some pictures.  This was the best I could do, above, because it doesn't showcase the graffiti as much.   I drove home after that, the roads quieter, and many businesses already closed.

Madison spent the day doing classwork again.  She had a big online test in Social Studies, and has been reading "The Outsiders" with ELA.  She's been keeping up with her piano practice, and of course today was a day to join her class for taekwondo online.  Daddy got home just in time for that.

One assignment she's been given is to take photographs from nature.  Given the stay-at-home mandate from the government, that might be restricted to just our yard!  But Daddy snapped these pictures of some of the flowers in bloom in our garden, and I don't think Madison will have a problem finding good source material when she heads out there.

We stayed up late tonight, which has been a bad habit lately.  We sleep in a bit and stay up later, and that's something we'll probably need to adjust to.  It's an interesting side effect of all this, as we have nothing to go to first thing in the morning, and no appointments.

Tonight's move was "Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2," which has gotten better with each viewing.  Apparently, we're on a Marvel marathon, sort of slipping into that one a bit.  We might want to shift to "Star Wars" though, given the final movie should be in our home soon.  This quarantine might be the perfect setting for a nine-movie marathon!

Prayers tonight for the world, for those who are sick, for those in the hospitals working.  Prayers for all of us as we roll into this Easter season.  We read from our devotional, and from our Star Wars book.  And not long after that, we were asleep pretty quick.  Like I said, we were up way too late!