The last few days have melted together in a scenario of living life half unwrapped. Christine awoke on Sunday morning, after a terribly depressing Saturday for her, and boldly said she was, “walking to work” for the next week. Riddled with questions, I held my tongue, smiled, and in reality, indicated that it was a great idea, both physically and emotionally. Stress is a hidden enemy in many a personality structure. Those who contain the anxiety and worry without overt eruptions – and I’m not talking violence or anger – tend toward hypertension, cardiac issues, and off-track immune responses, so when Christine, who struggles with describing her stress, wants to walk a few miles every morning and afternoon, I say go for it. I probably have way too many outlets for my stress, and those include writing, painting, outdoor extremism, games, puzzles, old movies, music, fishing, and a myriad of lesser used buttons, but nonetheless, they work. Granted, I’ve had years and years of immense stress, and through therapy, finally grasped my triggers and found internal switches that divert me to not act-out but to convert raw emotion into productive foundations. Yes, it may take years, but blocks can be placed on blocks until firm footing through murky stress can be found. Thus the last three days. Back to work in the Symons Wine Cellar and General Store has allowed me to feel like a productive Puritan, and I can still get home early enough to do chores, write, and chef. Christine walking to work evokes an energy release allowing her to focus on the difficulties of managing her company through unbridled change and fluctuation but gets her home in time to enjoy an evening feeling better about taking care of herself. As Michigan society positions itself for a very crafted exit from isolation, which is exactly as it should happen, we can step out, test the waters, and find our way without exposing ourselves to gross miscalculations of thinking this virus is dead and gone. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday seemed like a rambling seventy-two hour sequence, but that’s okay. Let’s see what happens…