I've always been a homebody at heart. That doesn't mean quarantine has been remarkably easier to weather, but I'm comforted to know that leaving the house less than usual in the coming months to travel or socialize won't be a major hardship for me.
Being content at home with family is something I learned to embrace at an early age, growing up in rural Stevens County miles away from my school and all my friends. My sister, brother and I learned to (mostly) enjoy each other's company and the refuge of nature on our 20-acre property. We were pretty good at keeping ourselves entertained and busy, indoors and out.
My lasting contentment at home is deeply grounded in that nostalgic, childhood sense of comfort and safety. When the afternoon breeze makes dappled leaf shadows dance across the white curtains, I'm brought back to hot summer afternoons in the cool haven of the sole air-conditioned room at my grandparents' nearby home. When I lay down to read on a warm Saturday afternoon with all the windows open, I remember my sister and I playing dolls in our stuffy upstairs bedroom. Even if it was 85 degrees inside, we were stubbornly willing to endure the heat with just a box-fan breeze because we had to play inside at that moment.
I'm sure this summer there will be brief escapes from the city, up to Priest Lake or to a nearby trail for a late afternoon hike. But in between all that, I know I'll be just as happy to eat dinner on the patio every night, read plenty of books, take my cat out on her leash in the backyard, tend to my vegetable garden and find simple solace in another summer at home.