A little different take in all of this business has been an unexpected "silver linings" I thought might be worth acknowledging for future posterity.

I certainly don't want to make light of the fact that many here and nationwide are focused on friends or family dying. There is tremendous personal tragedy and grief going on. Personally, I worry daily about my grandparents in Fannin Co, and my dad who is recovering from colon cancer and multiple PE since last fall. We are taking ever precaution to keep them from exposure...the risk is not worth gambling.

But I've unexpectedly really enjoyed reconnecting with college friends on "Zoom Happy Hours", teaching my grandmother how to FaceTime with distant family, seeing the clear air in Houston and meeting all my neighbors out walking in the streets/neighborhood park in the evening. I don't know why it took all this to just have a few phone calls.

Anyways, most conversations have ended with "hopefully we can do this after 'all this' is over".

Anyone else have silver linings to share, and maybe hope to continue post-COVID?

Time with kids.

Not doing some bull**** social-charity-political-whatever event every night.

Reminds me a little of the gigantic power outage in 2002 or 2003. Everyone was outside throwing the football or frisbee around. Good times. "Why don't we do this more?"

Then power comes back and everyone goes back to their holes.

For me it is having more time with my kids, not just at baseball and soccer practice but enjoying them at our house. Having family meals every night and not take out.

Teaching my 8 year old how to power wash the drive way and mow the yard.

My daughter has learned how to sew and has been making mask for family members.

I feel we can teach our kids some values that we have forgotten about. As much as I dislike homeschool, I feel some of these core values are more important than what they might have learned in school over this short period of time.

I may be one of the few people who actually isn't upset or stressed out or "not ok" with having to stay home.

Initially, I was most anxious about working from home. I thought I would absolutely HATE it (never done it before), but it's actually not so bad. And I'm trying to enjoy it, because I know it's not going to last forever.

I'm home with my 15 year old son. He sits at the kitchen counter doing his school work while I work. He usually finishes his work in a couple of hours and is old enough to entertain himself for the rest of the day.

I like sleeping in, not having to get up at 5:15 am and rush to get out the door, my short "commute" from my bed to the kitchen, and being able to work out at lunch.

I'm totally enjoying not having to go to Boy Scouts and religion class and whatever school/band event that is scheduled. He's doing some of those activities via Zoom conference call, which completely takes me out of the equation (yay!).

We rarely ate out before this (maybe 2-3 times a month), so I don't miss that. And it's easy to get take out from our favorite places, if we really want it.

I would say I miss my workout classes, but one studio I belong to has been doing Facebook live classes twice a day since this first started. I wish the YMCA would open up more Les Mills online content, but that's a minor complaint.

The one hard thing has been the uncertainty around our travel plans. We have a big trip planned for this summer. I moved it from late May/early June to mid-July, and I'm optimistic we will be able to go.

I think part of the reason I'm not bothered by "isolating" is that I've been working hard the last year on setting boundaries with people who aren't good for my mental health. So, I'm not looking at this experience as "isolating" but as a training exercise for establishing and maintaining healthy boundaries going forward.

I also know, though, that I have to be careful not to use "boundaries" as an excuse to become a recluse when this is all over. I have a feeling it might be easy to keep self-isolating.

I have a 15-year old with autism who is completely non-verbal. What is a mundane daily routine for the rest of the family works really well for him.

It's nice to see people out on their front porch and kids playing outside in their yards.

It is good to see all of us realize the most important things in life and emphasizing those. For my family, it is God, family, country, and Aggie sports.

As a Christian, it is wonderful to see all the interest in online services which is dwarfing regular church attendance. And I believe all things work for good and to glorify God. Romans 8:28

As a family, we are enjoying the time together, especially with our new grandson.

As an American, I see more unity even with the political partisanship. And there have been no riots, etc.

I do miss Aggie sports.

Wife being on furlough = multiple walks per day for the dogs.

Result, way less dog crap in the back yard to deal with.

My wife found this wonderful place called Agape Farms in Montgomery County that is owned and run by a couple and their 3 kids. During the virus, they allow 2 families to come out per day and spend up to 2-1/2 hours feeding and learning about the animals. My wife got us in for yesterday afternoon and the place is just amazing for a virus break. My girls got to pet and feed horses, sheep, donkeys, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and more. They had brand new chicks and 8 baby piglets as well. And the couple provided workbooks for the kids, a picnic table to sit at, gave us a dozen fresh eggs to take home, and lots of pets on their dog, cat and prairie dog.

Total cost: Free.

Not related to the thread, but my cousin just had a baby girl. Really worried about her level of care a month ago, but the professionals in Houston got the kiddo here safely!

She is beautiful!

The Jehovah's Witness folks have quit knocking on doors.