We are quickly approaching the year mark since this pandemic was declared and our daily routines began to be vastly different. Today marks day 332 for me as a working from home employee. Does this number scare me? No, not really. Having lived in Alaska for as long as I have, which includes time spent living in a village, and living in the interior of Alaska, has given me a stronger sense of self fortitude to endure long periods of alone time.
During the long, dark and extremely cold winters in the interior of Alaska my family and I developed (mostly) healthy coping mechanisms to combat cabin fever and the lethargy that always managed to find its way into our lives. When I say mostly healthy coping I am referring to the binge eating of homemade macaroni-n-cheese, and buffalo sloppy joes with potato steak fries covered in homemade cheese sauce. Oh man that’s some good stuff for sure, when the cheese is gooey, warm and sends a flush of heat to your cheeks. There is noting like it for supper when it is -40 degrees outside.
Except maybe that one time when we persuaded the boys to walk to Lemongrass, our neighborhood Thai restaurant, to retrieve an evening meal. It was Christmas break, it was -45 degrees, the ice-fog hung weighty in the air obscuring the distant street lights from view. The boys needed some physical activity and us parents just needed some quiet time. The four of us had been home together for a solid week, only venturing outside to check the mail every few days, which involved a round of rock-paper-scissors. The looser had to put on some sort of footwear or not, and run to the end of the street to check the post box for any newly arrived letters. This too became a cabin fever coping mechanism game of “I dare you”.
You might be thinking, is this a story about winter comfort food or the fortitude to be alone for long periods of time. My intent is that it is about being comfortable with only yourself for company. About making the most out of the contact and communication you do have with your family and friends during long periods of isolation; no matter the cause, a winter storms, life in a small village or a pandemic.
A friend of mine recently asked how I was coping with working from home and not physically being around any co-workers. My answer is rather well. Video conferencing several times a day feels like walking into one-another’s office to talk over a particular task. Emails and phone calls from students are no different than if I was in the office or working from home. You see my work office on campus is in the administrative wing of the building so students would call or email, they rarely stopped by in person. And faculty have very little time between classes so they would call me from their office or from other places around campus. We barely saw each other in person. Once we all grew accustomed to this new work from home environment, at the end of the day there is no tangible difference.
On the home front we are seven years into being empty-nesters so we have adjusted to not having the boys at home. We miss them terribly. But everyone grows up, moves into the world, and forges their own lives. This means in our home it is just the two of us. My husband has a traveling job and he is away for five or so days at a time. Yes, even during the pandemic – essential employee and all that. I have grown quite content to work from home. The commute by the way is super sweet! Since I am working from home this allows us to maximize our time together. We have more quality time together than we would if I had to be away all day at an office.
As for those moments when I am alone, just me, no other voices, I rather like it. I like me. I am comfortable with me.
And now that Ol’ Man Winter is moving along, us Alaskans can start our migration into the sunshine for an afternoon walk or an evening bike ride.
