Social Distancing/COVID - How it impacts the Farm

Since COVID - 19 impacted us, there have been some big and small changes in how it's impacted the farm and forest operation. March 17th is when I started working from home for my job at NSCC and now we're in week 11 since I have been in the office and primarily on the homestead. This has impacted my lifestyle in what I'm categorizing into two buckets; Thankful for and Wish it wasn't

I'm thankful for many things out what is a terrible situation globally:

• Aside from my office work, my farm time has hardly changed. If you are sitting home on weekends now and wondering what to do, my weekends and evening are identical to before the pandemic. I still have a ton of farm work to do and I hardly ever see anyone. I can go the whole day without even seeing Christina because I am working around the farm somewhere or in the woods for 12+ hours. 
• I've had more time to actually spend around the farm even in the evenings. With no commute to the city, I save 3 hours a day. This means lots of time for chores and plenty of time from 4pm till dark to work on lots of tasks around here. Although I miss my friends (that's in wish it wasn't), I have never felt healthier (I know the irony) and have actually lost weight from less take out food and more exercise. 
• More clarity of thought. This blog is an example of that. I now can work 7.5 (or often longer) days at my HR job plus do more work on the farm but without some of the other impacts that drain your brain, I've been able to take on projects and hobbies I haven't done in years or ever:
• I spent all spring planning out a new fencing plan and building it. 
• I was able to build a new farm website with e-commerce ability. 
• I was able to pick up reading books again in either audio or hard copy format. 
• I started this blog which has been years in the works. 
• I spend tons more time with the cattle which means they are even tamer with me. 
• I have been able to cut more firewood for market and for both our house and for my parents. 
• This is less farm related but more general to life, but having time to enjoy my coffee and breakfast while the sun rises is something I have really enjoyed. It's been a better start to every day that usually follows an even better sleep that I've been able to get since being around home more. I haven't had to set my alarm once since all this went down but have been able to naturally get up around 5 or 5:30AM with tons of energy.

The other category would be "wish it wasn't" and that goes like this:

• I wish it wasn't impossible to see my friends. Although we do virtual happy hours and coffee time, I miss seeing some of the people that are important in my life. Social time is super important to me with those people (you know who you are) and I've really missed that. 
• Not being able to spend a little time in the office has been hard but lately I've really been settled into the routine around home with work and farm life and I've felt a lot more settled. 
• I wish it wasn't so crappy to go out for groceries. I've spend quite a bit of time travelling to the city for firewood but I don't see anyone and I rarely stop for anything else because it's so stressful. I used to enjoy shopping for groceries or even at Princess Auto and now that's a thing of the past, for now anyway.

The realization that has been most profound it how living on the farm and building this life for the last 9 years has been inadvertently preparing for this event. From having our own meat, produce and heat source right down to being able to cut my own hair, I've been building to this event by accident for years. I've actually had little change to my weekend routine and gained more on my weekday routine. I've got more energy for my office job and more time for my farm work. 

As glad as I will be when COVID is all over, I do hope some of this lifestyle is a permanent thing.