SATURDAY STORY - MARCH 13, 2021
Last week I tried working from a Reedsy Prompt. I’m using another prompt today.
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“Write a story that spans exactly a year and takes place in a single room.”
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A single room - let’s see, I’m going to use an “efficient one-room cabin” that does have a bathroom, kitchenette, a sofa that makes into a bed, a television, a computer, and a desk.
I’m also going to assume the person can get food, mail, and other delivery to her door. I will allow Belinda to open the door, but not to leave the apartment.
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BELINDA’S YEAR IN A BOX
Hi, I’m Belinda Yuntz. This is my true story of living in my small cabin for a year during the COVID-19 pandemic of the year 2020. [author - no]
I am 44 but have a medical condition that requires me to be isolated. My immune system is very susceptible to almost any germs. My apartment is an efficient cabin in the suburbs of Denver Colorado. I can handle most windborne pollen issues, but exposure to human viruses and diseases can put me in intensive care for weeks.
I do work and I do have value, but I must do all of my work from the safety of my cabin. Technically my field is called “e-discovery” and is the discovery of all relevant documentation for a case. And, frequently my job is paid for by both sides of a case and I make the elements and documents available to all relevant parties. The reality is that I do the historical underpinnings of a case that create a foundation for the case.
Thus, my workdays consist of hours on the computer, search law libraries, specialized court documents, and much more. I have access to the United States Supreme Court documents, the Library of Congress, and even some common international databases.
As a child, I was fairly normal and active until puberty when my first incident occurred. My doctor thought I had pneumonia and I was treated for that, but the symptoms didn’t go away. For almost a year, I was in and out of the hospital, even to specialty hospitals like the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota. The official name is giant cell myocarditis, but you can think of it as a supreme autoimmune disease.
I was born and raised in the Minneapolis suburb of Apple Valley. Fortunately, my father was a highly regarded professor at the University of Minnesota in Information Systems, my mother was a doula, a very specialized and personal midwife.
When my parents found out about my autoimmune disease they tried to understand what options they could take with me. The first option was to stay in our Apple Valley home with a high-end HEPA filtering system. That somewhat worked. But, Minnesota had a lot of animal-borne illnesses - think of those as the “swine flu” (but also includes dogs, cats, and other animals).
After graduating from Apple Valley high school I went to the University of Minnesota and eventually for a Law Degree from the University of Minnesota and started work as a lawyer. My autoimmune deficiencies continued to grow and soon my law office assigned me e-discovery projects that I could do from home with the internet.
With my medical team and my parents, we found that a cabin in the mountains of Colorado could be good for me. I’ve been there for four years now.
But, of course, COVID-19 was a major problem. So, as a result, I became a total hermit for the duration of the pandemic.
Let’s talk about my arrangements. The cabin is small - one room in the foothills west of Golden Colorado. It is about a mile from my nearest neighbors. I do know my neighbors well and text them frequently. I also communicate with my parents and medical team by texts and emails. I have my own water supply - which is triple filtered before I can use it. My sanitation system is a septic system that is treated regularly. My food is generally from Whole Foods. It has been delivered to my house weekly for the four years I have lived here. I have a refrigerator on my front porch where the delivery person puts my perishable foods and a table for the other food items. I generally leave the refrigerated foods for three days for any contaminations to die off, and I spray my other items (where appropriate) with a food safety germicide (and they still sit on a table indoors for three days before I will eat them.)
That one room is a very powerful room. I do have satellite internet and television services, and a kitchenette, and a toilet/shower. It is about 480 square feet total, about 24 feet long by 20 feet wide. My heat comes from a propane tank that is monitored and filled, my electricity is from Rocky Mountain Power and Light, my water is from a well on the property and does get tripled filters.
Yes, it is small - and yes, I do get claustrophobic at times. It is almost like living in a bubble. I do have a great set of friends that I keep in contact with. My legal firm is in five states and I am frequently on Zoom online meetings.
My daily routine doesn’t vary much. I get up about 5:30 a.m. and have a spiritual quiet time, then breakfast. After breakfast, I try to do a half-hour of yoga (online) and exercise. By 8:00 I am on my computer. I do have breaks planned throughout the day - to stretch, use my treadmill, and get my mind off e-discovery for a while. I work until 6:00 (and sometime later). I tend to be semi-vegan but also eat natural chicken, eggs, and some dairy products. (Technically I am a pollotarian).
And, I do have a boyfriend. I have “seen” him in person twice as he came to visit me. He stayed on my porch and I stayed inside. (Not much of a date!!!) We do video talks almost daily. He is also an e-discovery lawyer but lives and works in downtown Denver. He has a pretty stringent regiment before he visits me. He has to have his hair fairly short (long hair can have all kinds of contaminants. Likewise, he has to shower with some strong disinfectant soap. He has to have a clean car and spray it down with a disinfectant before driving the 35 miles to see me. He must have clean clothes washed in a baby detergent.
(Okay, Shhh. I don’t think my doctor is reading this … on one of those times, I let him into my space and we hugged and kissed.).
Sure, it is confining and the walls seem to close in on me. I used to take short walks outside, around the house. Two years ago, I got bit by a mosquito and I had an allergic reaction. I could douse myself in some bug repellent and wear a bee-keepers costume, but it is just safer to be inside my tiny cabin.
Now for some of the negative aspects of being totally isolated this year.
HAIR. I like my hair short. Short hair cannot hold dust and contaminants like longer hair. In the past, I did allow myself one or two trips out of the house in a month - one of which included a stop at a salon. I thought about allowing my stylist into my cabin - but decided against it. Youtube is great for things like cutting your own hair. So, yes, I did cut my hair. (And, fortunately for my various Zoom, Facetime, and other online meetings, nobody sees the back of my head. It is hard to trim the back of your head and make it look good!!!)
DEPRESSION. I think many people suffered depression this year. And, in that I have been isolated for so many years in the past, it might not have been the same.
I can tell when my mental health is off. I get moody. I do take Zufor for depression. I get my medications by mail or Amazon and by requirement, they are delivered to my door. (Walking to a mailbox would expose me to too many germs.)
When I am moody and depressed (when I realize it, which sometimes takes a few days), I try to do video chats (generally Facetime on my iPhone) with my parents, boyfriend, and other friends.
There are also times when some of my friends get depressed. It is amazing to me, that when I “sense” a friend might be in trouble I call them. (Is that a form of ESP - that is extrasensory perception - or is the Holy Spirit working in me?)
But, I did have a boyfriend and I did miss him. There was a week around Thanksgiving and again around Christmas when I missed my family and my friends terribly.
WEATHER.
My cabin can get snow - and even a LOT of snow. Snow can put pressure on my roof and it cuts off the sunlight to my solar panels. If I was driving, snow could block my steep driveway and the road into town. I do have propane so, unless it gets empty, I do have heat, and use of my stove. I can also use propane to run my generator. My propane tank has an automatic display in the house that also goes to my propane company. Unless there is an emergency, the tank is generally filled long before it runs out.
I did get a lot of ice and snow this winter. I did lose my solar power for about a week. That was almost okay as I used my propane for heat and cooking - and some limited lighting. I have three outlets when I am using my propane for electricity, and one is charging my MacBook Pro; one is charging my Internet Router, and the third is powering one light in my one-room cabin. Not perfect, but reasonable.
DELIVERIES
I use Amazon for a lot of my food (especially their Whole Foods division). There are very few things that I can’t get from Amazon. I do call and have other things delivered.
MEDICAL
This is one of the scary aspects of living alone. I arranged online meetings with my doctors. There have been times when my primary care physician wanted to do blood tests. I find it hard to draw my own blood. My physician sent me the materials for taking my blood and I really didn’t want to do it. What if I didn’t get it to stop bleeding? What if I got an infection?
I did finally sit at my desk with all the materials and drew my blood. I contacted a delivery courier to pick it up. (They didn’t want it sitting outside for a long period of time.) The UPS driver texted me when he turned on my road, and I opened my front door and put it in the box where I get my groceries. It must have worked out and I got a message from my physician that they had checked my blood work - and other than a few areas that were either a little high or a little low, they all were in the normal range!! Likewise the check for attacks on my immune system. Dust and mites were on the high end of the contaminants in my cabin. During the year, I have a highly-skilled, industrial cleaning company come once a year to clear my cabin (so, the dust and mites disappear). Unfortunately, that couldn’t occur this year. It does seem (to me at least), that I washed the cabin with bleach almost daily!!!
I can take my blood pressure. I do have medications that I take and those get delivered to me.
I MISS life terribly. I can’t go to restaurants, events, bars, or even church without exposing myself to some issues. I’m kind of a girl in a bubble. I yearn for a normal life, I ache for people, for hugs, for love. Yes, I am alive, I am healthy (as long as I stay within my strict boundaries. I feel I’m always on the verge of a nervous breakdown - people weren’t supposed to live like this - like hermits and outcasts. Yes, the thought of ending my life occurs to me.
I always wanted children. Mom was a doula and she talked of the amazing babies and mothers she helped with. My maternal instinct was part of me - until I learned that babies can be a fountain of germs. I cried when my doctor suggested that I couldn’t have a baby. Of course, I couldn’t have a dog or a cat either. (But they are poor substitutes for a baby). I have thought of adopting an older child - maybe six of seven. But, the poor kid, when they got off the school bus, would have to go through my ‘clean room’, and be sprayed with disinfectant. But, now in my forties, I’ve started menopause. I feel cheated by life, but on the other hand, I have been blessed. I have an internal positive attitude. If you will, God is good!!
The Words of Ecclesiastes chapter 1:2-6 ring in my ear (but I can’t let them penetrate my soul).
“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!” What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.”
I repeat my mantra to myself “I am valuable, I am important, I am a strong woman.” But, there are times when I cry myself to sleep.
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End of Saturday Story for March 13, 2021
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LOVE WINS
HUGS
Karen
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