Are you sheltering in place — alone or with others? Discuss.

QUESTION FOR A QUARANTINE: I’m curious. How many of you are sheltering in place alone? How many are sheltering with others? Pros and cons? Discuss.

I have been sheltering solo for the past 4 weeks in Chicago. No pets neither. Though I do live in a huge highrise with many residents. And as a caregiver for seniors apparently I am an essential worker (who knew?), so I do go to work four days a week.

CONS — Weekends are weird for me. I have plenty of projects to do (recording an audiobook of my novel, reorg of file cabinets, rearranging furniture, etc) but I find it hard to structure my time since there is little urgency. Wish there was an audiobook contest deadline. Or a spring cleaning deadline. I do have good phone contact with friends. And some fun zoom online group gatherings. And am checking out some new cable shows/movies. I would think the downside of sheltering with others is that you can get on each other’s nerves. Seems we are all a bit edgy these days.

PROS — I don’t have to make plans for the weekend. Though I do miss going out to movies, restaurants, cafes with friends. I miss having people over and visiting friends. And if I want to be lazy I don’t feel like someone is witnessing that! Also the good thing about solo sheltering is if I had a hard day at work and just want to chill, I can do so on my own. And I can often stay up late. I’ve booked a Broadway musical outing (DEAR EVAN HANSEN) in town for July with a friend and my retirement/bday party in August. Crossing my fingers those can happen and gives me something tangible to look forward to.

YOUR TURN: Are you sheltering in place — alone or with others? How’s it going? Are you getting restless or are you turning lemons into lemonades?