Paradigm Farms Horse Retirement: The COVID Diaries Jason Volume

Thursday, April 23, 2020

The COVID Diaries Jason Volume

The hardest part about COVID 19 is that in some ways our daily routine really hasn’t changed very much.

If all goes as normal we get up in the morning, feed and thoroughly check the horses, have breakfast, work at whatever outside task presents itself through the morning, have lunch, repeat working at outside tasks, do chores, have supper, and end the day.

We have not had any issues getting an appointment with our vet when one is needed. Ditto for farriers. Ordering feed and getting it delivered is no problem. We really haven’t even had much problem getting Amazon orders delivered. I can go to our local Co-op and if I call ahead and pay over the phone by credit card or leave a cheque on the dock, they will have my zero contact order sitting on the dock waiting for me when I pull up.

We just can’t easily leave the farm. Or rather, if we’re going to take social distancing seriously we have to plan out where we’re going and try our best to minimize or eliminate any direct contact we have with other people. We also have to remember to tote hand sanitizer along with us. Or gloves. And masks in various iterations. Honestly it’s usually easier to try to have a no contact order than it is to remember to do all the things we have to do in order to have even modest contact with other people.

People have asked what I miss most about the time before COVID 19. They’re usually surprised at my answer. Largely I don’t miss people or hugging or parties or other social interactions. I farm for a reason and I am very much at home with my own company. Being alone with my thoughts on a large land base isn’t hard on me mentally, even for extended periods of time. Melissa perhaps feels less like this than I do. I enjoy having Carter around on the farm all the time. We have our moments to be sure, but probably no more than we had when he spent much of his day a mile away in school.

What I miss, perhaps more than anything else, is the ability to get in a vehicle without arduous mental and physical preparations and go to a store, buy what I want in a quick and painless transaction and come home. It matters not one whit whether the store in question is Kroger for groceries, NAPA for auto parts or hydraulic hoses, or any of the innumerable farm parts places I frequent, ESPECIALLY when I can’t call ahead because I’m not exactly sure what parts I want or need. In this respect COVID 19 has turned this part of my life into a royal pain in the rear.

What parts of your life do you want back most?

Wilson, Squirrel and Rubrico