I’m not living in a shotgun shack or in another part of the world. Neither am I behind the wheel of a large automobile. I have, however, been letting the days go by. And go by, and go by. This is day 349 for me. Three hundred forty-nine days of lockdown.
- 349 days since quarantine began
- 357 days since my last big social event (Knicks game at the Garden)
- 374 days since the last visit with my family
I started quarantine midway through the 2020 Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC), and now it’s time for the challenge to begin again. I had the happy good fortune of stumbling into the very first challenge in 2008 (hence my super-fab “Original Slicer” badge below). It always pleases me to find my way back to this space in March, to check in on familiar faces from the past years and meet new Slicers. Will this year be the same? I mean, it will, of course … but it also won’t.
So much of my SOLSC writing has been drawn from my very active participation in the world: random fabulousness seen on the street, on the subway, in my office, hanging out with my friends. And there is really none of that this year, or at least not very much. I leave my house once during a normal week. One time. I go work in my empty office for a day and then it’s back to my cloister.
Yes, of course, I can easily fill my slices with random not-quite-fabulousness from my life in my apartment, from my life in my head, from my kitchen experiments (I made a raspberry white chocolate bread the other day … and I wouldn’t recommend doing that in exactly the way I did). It feels different, however. It is different.
Yes, different. And also okay. I’ve been extraordinarily lucky in my experience of the pandemic, and I’ll write some about that, too. Yes, I’m alone and sometimes lonely, but I’m safe and employed and have regular virtual contact with family and friends. And occasional socially-distant contact — like the excellent night my friend came by to bring my cassava cake for Lunar New Year! And I have pretty masks (including some from Mo’s Bows!). And I’ll keep ticking off the days, imagining the pleasure of that first hug from my mom, the simple thrill of just being able to hold hands with someone.
Okay. It’ll be fine, this SOLSC. It might even be better than fine.
It’s the 14th annual Slice of Life Story Challenge!
Head on over to Two Writing Teachers
and see what the rest of this year’s slicers are up to!
I like your reflection. I find it very challenge to get inspiration in quarantine. This is my 3rd year and I never feel prepared. I challenge myself to write every day in March for what happened or crossed my mind that exact day. No draft writing ahead of time, so I will always be unprepared. Covid doesn’t help since events are very similar each day. Yet you manage to write about the obvious in extraordinaire ways.
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Hi, Pia! Inspiration in quarantine is quite the challenge. I have faith we’ll both find our way through the month. Your plan of just writing, not worrying about drafting, sounds right to me. Good luck and thanks for stopping by my page!
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missed a couple of years slicing, last here for #sol18 — what treat to see your post when I checked in after posing for commenting.
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Nice to see you again, Vanessa! Looking forward to catching up with you this month!
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14 years! That’s so wonderful. I love the intro to this piece … I’m immediately drawn in: if not a shotgun shack, in another part of the world, or behind the wheel of a large automobile, then … where? I am curious to see how this month of writing unfolds (first year for me!), and how we all reflect on this common uncommon pandemic experience. Also, I am hoping we will hear about that bread …
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Hmmm … I may just write about the bread some time this week …
Welcome to the Slice of Life Challenge! I hope you have fun this month. As for my post, I can’t take credit for drawing you in. My title and those opening lines all thanks to David Byrne and the Talking Heads and one of my favorite songs, “Once in a Lifetime.” 🙂
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Funny, now I want to ride shotgun in a flatbed doing donuts in the mud. We got through the past year by hook and crook and are here to slice about it, no? We’re putting it out there to the cosmos. It WILL be better than fine!
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Always good to see you, my friend. I’ve missed getting to see you in person! Maybe this year we’ll get to do the 24 Hour Project again!
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I have not participated in Slice of Life for a number of years but I am so happy to be catching up with familiar writers this month. So happy you are still writing here.
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Hi, Juliann, and welcome back to Slice of LIfe! Looking forward to catching up with you this month! 🙂
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