Good morning, neighbor!
I hope you’re all staying safe and taking care of yourselves. I spend a lot of time thinking about this pandemic and its consequences. Not only because I have a family, so I worry and want to see them stay safe, but because as a reporter I cover this day in and day out — the good and the bad.
It’s because of this that I have been spending a lot of time thinking about how we can all take care of ourselves. I’ve been talking with experts to get some advice. First, they’re telling me we should all be active. Though we know there are places we can’t go yet because of social distancing, we can take walks and get some fresh air. Just don a mask and you’re good to go.
They also said we all need to learn how to be calm. We’re worried about the unknown, but take a few minutes a day to breathe deep, stretch and just be still, and please stay connected with family and friends by calling frequently or meeting up with each other using video chat. Preventing isolation and loneliness is very important at this time.
The one thing I’ve found difficult in all of this is being away from family. In the spirit of full disclosure, I have seen my children and grandchildren, but not like before COVID-19 struck. I go to my daughter’s house a couple times a week and sit outside watching 7-year-old twins Owen and Travis have fun on their trampoline, or I walk around the yard with 18-month-old Lilah while practicing social distancing and appreciating how much her vocabulary has grown in the two short months since I had to stop spending as much time as I used to with her.
But I can’t hug and kiss them, and that has been quite difficult for all of us.
I also visit with 2-year-old grandson Drew by taking a walk with him each week, and 8-year-old Justin by sitting on his back deck and watching him play with his dinosaurs, something he and I used to do together for hours while we talked about all sorts of things. I’ve also FaceTimed with 10-year-old grandson Cole a couple of times, but FaceTime isn’t like being with someone in the same room.
What I’ve learned through all of this is that my four-legged family members have played a huge role in our healing. Thankfully, none of us have contracted COVID-19, but we still need to heal from all of this.
My daughter, Christina, has two dogs, four horses, eight chickens and a cat. We’ve all heard how simply petting a dog or cat can reduce your blood pressure, but what I’ve seen is that horses truly do heal. Owen, Travis and Lilah spend a lot of time in the barn and paddock with their mommy. They groom the horses with her, ride them and untack them. They help feed them and do barn chores. That’s really helping them get through this, but it’s when I see them with the horses, or Christina sends me a photo, that I realize that what I’ve heard about horses is true.
They connect with people. They feel people’s happiness, sadness, anxiety and more. They know when to approach and when to stay away. They know when to gain experience with humans and learn to associate certain signals, such as attention, emotion and intentional gestures, either positively or negatively.
Research shows that socially, emotionally and cognitively, horses are more sophisticated than we give them credit. Horses are thinking, feeling and engaged, and when I see my grandchildren with them, I have no doubt this is all true. Their horses and other four-legged family members are definitely helping them through this difficult time. We could all learn from our animals.
I just celebrated my birthday and I’ve been thinking a lot about my best friend, Judy D’Antonio, whom we lost two years ago on my birthday after a long medical battle. She used to say “this too shall pass” all the time. As sick as she was, she truly believed there was always hope.
I hope that through all of this we recognize the humanity and joy we’ve found in the little things, and I hope it stays with us for the rest of our lives. Be well, stay safe and be good neighbors.
Senior Reporter Anita Fritz grew up in Franklin County after moving from Spokane, Wash., when she was just a few weeks old. She covers Greenfield and does regional and COVID-19 reporting for the Greenfield Recorder.