This summer, with theatre closures due to the pandemic, I am not racing to sit in a darkened theatre for tech or dress rehearsals. It is very weird, and oddly, I am getting less done this summer than I normally do. With no pressure to work around fittings and rehearsals, it feels like I have all the time in the world, and yet, my living room is still not stripped of its old paper, the dining room floors are still not refinished, and the bathroom still not repainted. But books have been read, and conversations had, marshmallows roasted over wood fires, wine sipped slowly in the warm evenings, and family dinners have lingered long after the food was consumed, so I would call this a success.
We have tended our sheep, hayed the fields, eaten fish caught from our pond, created paintings and collages, taken walks and had long talks. So much of this would have been bypassed with our normal frantic schedule. Do I miss creating amazing productions with my theatre family? Of course. I would have had five shows in two different theatres, but I would have missed the evening the boys and I went fishing in the Susquehanna, watching the sunset over the swirling water. I would have laughed with my actors friends, but perhaps missed hugging my youngest son as he navigated the first rough patch with his first real girlfriend.
Now, as one of our children heads off to law school in two weeks, we are happy for the gift of family time that COVID-19 has afforded us by forcing our schedules into a lower gear. With all the sadness and anxiety brought on in this dark time by this virus, we are grateful for the silver lining.
Be well, my friends.
