PAIGE LANGENDERFER

I recently asked my 88-year-old grandmother if she could recall another time in her life when the world was so apprehensive or so wearied.

Without a moment to think, she said, “no, I haven’t lived through anything like this.”

Granted, she was a very young child during the Great Depression and just a teenager during World War II, but having lived through those difficult times and still finding today’s environment uniquely challenging is a major statement.

While this is certainly not war time, I feel very anxious for our two young daughters.

This pandemic has changed some of our routines.

Going to the grocery now makes me sad. People will not even look at each other or talk.

At home, my husband works 40 hours a week in our basement office, most of the time with an earpiece in trying to communicate issues that are far easier to explain in person.

My daughters Quincy and Amelia, ages four and three, want to know why the “germs” have closed the playgrounds and parks, and why the neighbor kids won’t play with them anymore. They ask me almost daily if the “germs are gone” so they can see their friends or go to school.

And while all of that is scary and stressful, there is one part of our lives that has been absolutely untouched. My husband and I raise goats, sheep, and chickens (with a llama named Bob and a giant dog named Artie for protection). The animals have been our source of comfort.

While the rest of our lives are messy, the work on the farm remains exactly the same. Every day they greet us with the same excitement and anticipation for food. Just like every spring, the goat’s feet need trimmed, the sheep’s wool needs sheared, and the fence for the spring pasture needs built.

In the time our community has been quarantined, we have hatched 14 chicks and welcomed five new baby goats and one little lamb to the farm.

We had to cancel Amelia’s third birthday party. She spent the day at the farm instead, chasing baby goats and playing imaginary games that reminded me of my childhood.

I absolutely look forward to the day when we can visit friends and family and enjoy our community again, but it is also comforting knowing that even in the chaos some things never change.