There & Back Again: Traveling Home During COVID-19

The week North Carolina executed their stay-at-home orders, I was due to fly back home for a long weekend. I had several photography sessions scheduled and was terribly excited to see my family and the new puppies. Needless to say, I ended up cancelling my flights and the trip.

To be completely honest, I was angry, stressed, and terribly frustrated. If you could punch COVID-19, I would have. It wasn’t just the trip, it was everything that this invisible virus cancelled, disrupted, and deprived folks of. And, I knew that it could be so much worse. I had little to no right to complain. Still. My heart was feeling all the things. Eventually I worked through it all, but honestly, all the negative emotions still raise their ugly heads.

BUT, this blog isn’t about my emotions and thoughts of COVID-19. It's about a glorious trip that was postponed but not cancelled.

Travel

Almost everyday I tuned in to Governor Cooper’s COVID-19 updates to see when the state would open back up. As soon as it did (phase 1 at least), I booked a flight and rescheduled my photo shoots. While I researched all the new flying protocols and have flown countless times before, I was nervous of the unknown…and of the people. Let’s be honest, airports and flying often times puts you in contact with some rather rude people. Would it be 10 times worse in current times? I ended up worrying for nothing as it all went smoothly.

For those curious about air travel currently, it was much better than I expected. I flew United and have nothing but good things to say. Middle seats were open. Everyone was required to wear a mask (they were given one if they did not have one). You could move to another empty seat if you wanted. They gave out hand sanitizing wipes. They boarded you buy row rather than zone (perhaps my favorite part). My first flight had a total of 7 people at 6:30am. ORD (Chicago) was the busiest airport I was in, but it is Chicago and there was still room to socially distance yourself. RDU (Raleigh) was a ghost town. The most people I had on a flight was probably 2 dozen people, but we each had our own row or had space between us.

Honestly, I felt safer flying than I do at grocery stores.

I understand that this may not be everyone’s experience, but I would say it is the norm.

Puppies

After landing in NC a bit after noon, Mom and the boys took me to Cookout. Gosh I miss that place. After getting my fix, we went home where I was introduced to the puppies.

In case you missed it, the boys were out riding the golf cart a few months back when two puppies came running to them, tails wagging. They were the cutest darn things you ever saw and seemingly had been dumped. It didn’t take long for them to become permanent farm dogs and companions for the boys. Chapel is the black one and is very inquisitive. Kaya is more timid, but so sweet and has recently had her tail turn black. She also has a unique ridge of hair going down the center of her face.

While the girls had grown quite a bit since they first were found, they were still total puppy. I got all the puppy kisses, helped teach them to lay, and learned they are excellent tag-alongs when feeding the sheep.

Shearing

While home, I was able to help out with shearing some of the sheep. Sadly, we didn’t get them all done before our clippers gave out, but we were able to do about half of the flock. Shearing is hard work, and I promise you will feel it in the morning. Together, though, we put in some work and got some beautiful fleeces.

Sheep

Speaking of sheep, one of my favorite things to do is take pictures of the sheep. I much prefer that to shearing. The silver lining of my trip to NC getting postponed was that we had lambs on the ground when I finally did get to visit. There are some beauties this year, although, we are struggling to tell all the white ones apart. Some are easy like Charlie who has pink tints around his eyes and ears or Loki who has uniquely decided to grow horns (that’s a first for us). Because I so love naming the lambs, I wanted to share this year’s names. Nessie was the only one I named, but I approve of the rest too.

Nessie
Willow
Fiona
Pearl
Loki & Freya
Odin
Gale
Cobalt & Mercury
Pat & Charlie
Ezekiel

Aren’t those just the best?! Now, let me put faces to some of those names.

Photos

It wasn’t just sheep that I got to take pictures of. I also got to take engagement photos of a sweet couple (they were originally supposed to get photos done back in March) and some amazing farmers.

I truly love the art of photography, but it has obviously been a while since I’ve been able to really get behind the camera (apart from cat photo shoots). It felt so good to capture and edit these special moments of people and scenes from Eastern NC.

Day on the Lake

One of the things I miss most about NC is the chance to load up the boat and head out for a day on the lake. I was so excited that Mom and Dad planned for a day on the water. While the water was much too cold for me (the boys braved it), I so enjoyed riding the boat, and soaking up some sun. Pure perfection!

We ended our day at Alec’s house where we ate Brightleaf hot dogs (another staple when I visit) and brownies.

I’ll find a cat anywhere. This is Alec’s cat Ramses.

Family

Despite all the cuddly lambs, Cookout, photography, and time on the lake, the best part of going home was seeing family. I’m so thankful I got to help Grandma with her quilt, sit and talk with Papa, take a joy ride with the now permitted Isaac, teach Gideon the art of Photoshop, listen to Alec’s funny stories, watch late night movies with Mom, and have a Zaxby’s date with Dad.

COVID-19 has certainly disrupted life, but it can’t (or shouldn’t) disrupt relationships and making memories.