Digital Nomad Family – Course Update #17 – Staying Still in Santa Fe

We are living through an unusual time. I am writing this on Monday, March 16, 2020, and just in the last few days the Covid-19 virus has finally reached us here in Santa Fe.

At the moment there are only 3 cases in town, all from people who have recently traveled to infected areas. However, just south of us in Bernalillo County, I have watched as over the weekend the number has grown from 3 to 10 cases, and we are seeing the beginning of community spread in that area.

While I don’t want our course update to become “all about this,” there’s no denying that it’s having an impact now on our world and decisions. So, I figured I’d start by sharing a few local stories…

For weeks, we’ve watch as other countries scrambled and succumbed to the virus. Then, we began to hear about the reports in Seattle and Federal Way very near our previous home. We’ve been in touch with friends there, and they all confirm that it’s very scary. Fortunately, so far none of them have been directly affected.

Then, on Thursday of last week, the first New Mexico cases were announced. Within 24 hours, the governor had declared a state of emergency, and announcements about closures began coming in from every direction. Pumpkin’s school has been closed for the next 3 weeks as have the libraries, state museums, historic sites, and cultural institutions.

All large events have been cancelled, and while I haven’t seen the grocery store shelves completely ransacked yet… there are definitely gaps in many key areas.

After a few hours of scrambling, we were able to find a nanny to come in and help out with our Pumpkin in the mornings before nap time. Which means that day-to-day, while things are different, we’re still continuing to work reasonably well. Thank goodness we’re both completely used to working remotely, so other than trading days and kicking off slightly earlier in the afternoons (basically whenever she wakes up from nap) much remains the same.

Obviously, the biggest difference so far is that many places we would have liked to visit in the next few weeks will be closed. However, overall, I feel very blessed.

We are in a beautiful place. There’s a park with trails directly across from our home, which gives our Pumpkin and her nanny plenty of reasonably safe outdoor spaces to play. Brian and I have reconfigured our space to ensure that we’re both able to focus on work even while she’s home playing.

At the moment, I can gratefully report that all is currently well for us. I am starting to “self-quarantine” my brain from the news however (a practice I highly recommend) because falling into the swirl of anxieties, fears, and projections is not helping me or anyone. So, I’m beginning to intentionally stay off social media and news websites except once in the morning and once after work.

Like most of us, our feeds have become overrun with comments and articles ranging from the moronic and absurd to the scientifically valuable and useful. However, I don’t need to fill my mind with the former, and checking twice a day ensures that I have information from the latter in time to consider what if any impact that’s going to make on today’s decisions.

Mostly, this process feels like an excellent practice in presence. In this present moment, we are safe and healthy, so are our families, and the simple joys of life continue on…. with a bit more hand washing, but still rolling on.

Fortunately, for the last month the weather has been gradually improving, and we’ve enjoyed more walks into downtown Santa Fe. For years, Brian and I talked about how one of our favorite parts of our old home town of Salem, MA was how walkable our lifestyle was. Finally, we are yet again living somewhere that we can easily walk into town.

So, that’s what we’ve been doing. Walks to Canyon Road to explore the galleries, visit to museums or the library, and many trips just to let our Pumpkin run around the Plaza and have fun.

In many ways, it’s been a very simple life for the past few weeks, but in truth, it’s just “our speed” for right now. We’re fairly happy to just stroll the streets and enjoy the art (which is abundant here.) I love the fact that almost everywhere in town you will run into art… from highly realistic Native American statues to abstract and colorful curiosities to dragons peeking over buildings.

I feel like every time we wander we find something fun and new.

Provided we stay away from groups and crowds, I see no reason why this is likely to change in the next few weeks. Because there’s so much beautiful architecture to see too!  We’ve had a couple really lovely days when the light on the buildings was simply magical.

So, we’re very happy to simply wander and explore the town a bit…

Truly, not a bad place to be “stuck” at all, and we’re keeping life very simple.

With the closure of our Pumpkin’s school, we have been even more grateful that we spent an afternoon a few weeks ago to create our “Worldschooling supply kit” with a collection of arts, crafts and other supplies that are versatile enough to be used for a variety of activities, inexpensive enough that we’re comfortable donating most of the remnants when we leave in a few months, and small enough that what we decide to bring with us will likely fit in a shoe box in our car.

So, we’ve been exploring and setting up different activities for Pumpkin to play with each day. Numbers, letters, color sorting (because she is the daughter of a professional organizer, after all), and a few new educational iPad games too.

The “downside” of this new abundance of options (if you can even call it a downside) is that her new favorite thing to say is “I want another activity.” She’s so excited to try all these new things that often they only hold her attention for 10+ minutes at a time. However, I’m not concerned. Her natural desire to dig in and not be interrupted has been reasserting itself more even just in the last week.

I am even more delighted to have her nanny’s help in developing an interesting “curriculum” for her over the next few weeks, so we’ll see what all those supplies end up becoming!

The biggest news from the day that everything started getting shut down was that our Pumpkin (2.5 yrs old) got her first haircut. She had actually been asking for a haircut for a few weeks, and finally the appointment day arrived for us to bring her in.

Really, the primarily purpose was just to “even it out” since she had a bunch of long wispy sections in the back and more shoulder-length layers toward the front. I’m hoping that we haven’t seen the last of her curls since they were always so cute, but only time will tell.

While she was very quiet and reserved through the whole experience, the real fun was when the stylist offered to put in an “Elsa braid” for her. Talk about magic for a little one… she was delighted (even if her new hair was barely long enough to make it visible for her from the front.)

For now, I imagine that life will continue on for us somewhat simply. No one can know what’s going to play out over the next few weeks, and since we were already planning on being here through the end of April, we’re currently just in a holding pattern and not making any more decisions for 2-3 weeks.

By then, we should have a better idea about whether our plans to head back to CT/MA for May and early June are definitely off the table or not, and we’ll consider our alternatives.

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