Coronavirus Chronicles – Day 38

Normally when I start back working in my garden, I start having aches and pains. I have to work muscles that seem to have been in hibernation during the winter. This year has been extremely taxing since I have to build up my new garden from scratch. My legs, back, and arms have been sore. I really wanted to go outside for Earth Day especially since it was the 50th anniversary. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the energy or desire.

I got out of bed right before I had to lead an interview team for a candidate I wanted to hire. I was extremely uncomfortable because my muscles were so sore. I should have popped some aspirin before the interview.

After that, I had to take off my homeschool teacher hat and put back on my mom hat. My sons had more than one disagreement today. Essentially one of my sons kept bothering his brother all day. I’m not stupid; I know this could be revenge from something that happened the previous day. He admitted that nothing happened today, and that he was just mad. I made him sit in the kitchen alone to cool off, and he had to write an apology letter. He is tired, like most of us, of being at home. Today, his emotions spewed like an erupting volcano. He ended the day on a high note and so did I.

During my senior year at Purdue, I joined a group called Haraka Writers. It is one of the performing arts ensembles at the Black Cultural Center. Our teacher, Khari Bowden, held Haraka Worldwide Wednesday this evening. I hopped on a Zoom chat and got to speak to two people who were in my cohort and meet other writers from other cohorts.

We shared who we are and what we are currently doing. Some of us read our work, and we gave feedback. It was great…but someone had to ask what our nicknames were. Our teacher gave most of us nicknames. When Khari got to me, he said, “Shawnta’s nickname was The Assassin.” One guy’s nickname was Peanut Butter, so hearing that and then The Assassin caused a few looks.

Here’s a haiku I wrote during my time in Haraka.

my bluntness might sting,

but I will not hold it in

to keep you from tears

Don’t forget that I’m going to live stream my next podcast episode. You can join in at 1 p.m. EST on YouTube or Facebook. If you write comments or questions during the recording, we will try to answer them.