Since last blog post our world has seemed to flip upside down (in one short month!). FOR US ALL. Maybe I have found the balance between obsessively reading the New York Times & feeling paralyzed with "what-ifs" or working to figure out the new norm, since a blog is happening.
One thing's for sure in the lives of Linda & Sue and our staff and that is all our families are safe in their respective homes - for this we are grateful. Some of the stress for us over the last couple of weeks involved:
(a) trying to decide whether to call off Sue's husband's planned trip home to MT, having that decision made by governments/airlines, and admitting to selves that travel will be curtailed for unknown period of time.
(b) getting Linda's daughter and SIL back home safely from a holiday visiting Australian family (and relieving Linda & Jim of full-on grand baby Toddler Duty), realizing that Aussie family (& new grand baby) won't be traveling back to US in September due to Australian mandate.
(c) the ups & downs surrounding Sue's oldest kid's safe exodus from teaching job in Ecuador as Latin American countries began closing borders last week. (progressively urgent calls from him to change flights, the United agent ending a call with very sincere "Good Luck" when all flights cancelled, the "Looks like I am stranded" message, and finally the "Last ditch effort for flight to Panama" message) And the younger two college kids back to the nest.
(d) The passing of Linda's dad after a battle with cancer.
So family is truly safe and new norms are settling in...
And all of this happening while we work on keeping our little yarn shop going!
We are hoping to stay open and keep our staff working and have social distancing policies set. Curbside pickup and free local delivery are in place. We've fielded phone calls and messages with requests to send photos of certain colors, sale room items, etc. We are rigorously sanitizing doorknobs and surfaces as well as washing our hands, and requesting that customers wash hands before doing anything else in the shop. Products on our website are blooming, a backend process that we have been reluctant to do. And we are trying to get in a daily video from the shop to keep us all engaged, to try to be "social" from behind a screen. In many ways, it seems like we're working harder than pre-COVID days, or maybe it just feels that way right now as we are trying to adapt in the midst of all the craziness.
Plus, we are concerned about our Yarn Bar Family! You are all pretty dear to us and we want you to know this. We like hearing your stories and knowing that we are a little part of your lives, and we really miss it. We know that our personal worries are also yours in many, many varying degrees, and so we are indeed all in this together - - - but apart - from a distance.
"After all, knitting is an act of faith and hope. It is about believing in the future, a time when you will use all those dishcloths" (or wear the sweater, gift the mittens, steek the blanket . . .)
Keep Stitching, with clean hands.
xoxoxo
