Alone Is Fun

But It’s Nice to Venture Out

By Marylyn Cork

When Covid-19 shut down the state, I decided to regard the stay-at-home order as a challenge. I would take the governor and the medical establishment seriously, and self-quarantine at home. Having been retired for some years now from active life in the community, I had already relearned what I knew in my youth—I really like to be alone. But in all my life I never had been alone for any great length of time.

Isolating myself would be a test—would I pass or fail? I wanted to know.

For the first month or so, I didn’t leave my property except to venture the eighth of a mile to pick up my mail at the bottom of the hill, except on one occasion. I had left my car key in the ignition and ran the battery down. When my elder son started the car again, I drove a loop through the community to build up the battery.

Except for my son and his wife, who stopped in briefly every third day or so, I didn’t see a soul during all that time, nor did I want to. I cleaned house, gardened in the yard when the weather would let me, wrote a little, and read a good deal.

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Marylyn Cork

About Marylyn Cork

Marylyn Cork has lived in Priest River more than fifty years and in Bonner County more than sixty years. Writing since she was nine years old, she retired as editor of the Priest River Times in 2001. She enjoys reading, gardening, hiking, camping, and traveling.

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