When I was a kid I enjoyed Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie books immensely. I often dreamed I could live the life of simplicity she described.

Many years later, when I was in my late 30's, it suddenly dawned on me I had finally achieved that dream!

We were somewhere in the South Pacific and I was reading aloud as I would do daily to keep the three of us entertained on a long ocean passage. Carly was about 7 at the time and the book we had chosen was Little House on the Prairie.

It wasn't long before we all realized the similarities between the Ingalls crossing the vast prairies in their little covered wagon and our crossing of the ocean in our sailboat. Both were small sturdy vessels loaded down with supplies to last us for months, as well as being cozy little homes. She described seeing endless waves of prairie grass while we looked out at an endless blue sea.

We each had set out for a far off destination that was so remote we had only ourselves to rely on. We had to be prepared to meet any challenges that came up, be it medical, mechanical or weather related. We simply had to be totally self sufficient.

One of the aspects of those ocean passages I particularly enjoyed was to try to keep life as normal as possible -- keep it fun and pleasurable despite the often difficult conditions.

And that's what has helped in our new situation of dealing with COVID-19 and the Self Isolation. We have done many long passages over the years so we have had lots of practice at Self Isolation! And this is actually easier than a passage because you don't have to keep someone on watch 24/7.

But the downside this time is, of course, the virus that is wreaking havoc in all aspects of life. The worrying for family and friends and society as a whole along with the uncertainty of what will happen day to day takes a toll on everyone of us.

We are all in this boat together!

The best each of us can do is practice good habits of distancing and disinfecting and remind ourselves that "this too shall pass".

Take pride in being self sufficient and weathering this storm with optimism and be sure to help others in any way you can.

Simply make this difficult passage as pleasant as possible for yourself and everyone around you.