Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. ~ Winston Churchill
This is week five of working from home and week four of the British Hubby and I being home together. We are several days into a mandatory shelter in place order for the state. Only essential stores and those workers are open or out and about. Stores have reduced hours, curbside pick-up or in some areas free home delivery. What I’ve noticed this week is how eerily quite the neighborhood is without people out and about. Sure, the weather has been crummy here so not much yard working happening right now. We’ve been able to reduce our outings to only the grocery store and kitty food. Fortunately, we do not need to get cat food every week, and the canned food is being sanitized before pick-up when you call ahead. We’re wearing gloves to handle items, washing our hands and have created a space to store delivered items a day or two before use. The British Hubby is still doing late night shopping one day a week if needed. Now it’s just not as late as earlier in March.
Two weeks ago, I was mourning the loss of my hot yoga sessions, tea with friends, the library, pursuing the yarn store, and professional hair cuts. (The British Hubby needs a trim, but he hasn’t gotten desperate enough for me to try it at home. Either, he’s going to cave, or we see how long our hair can get.) Last week, I needed to go into the day job for a few items. I wasn’t expecting the fear or the tears at leaving the house. The fear that I was taking an unnecessary risk. The fear that I would bring it home. The fear that I would some how spread the virus even though I’ve been socially distancing for the past five weeks. Logically, I knew my fear was unfounded. I’m not in a high risk group, and I’m healthy. That didn’t stop the tears before I left the house. I’m sharing this because whatever you’re feeling about the world situation is normal. In many ways, we’re all going through the grieving process even if you haven’t yet lost someone to COVID-19. NPR has an article on this. Action might be how you’re keeping the fear in check. Here’s a charity worth checking out Masks for Humanity.
This week we discovered a gift from our area birds, a mystery plant in the garden. Triadenum is a form of St. John’s wart according to Google Lens. Looks like it’s going to flower at some point. The photo is above.
I also discovered I prefer grilled asparagus than par boiled. We were excited to find asparagus at all! Now, I have more time to try new recipes. This week we made baked cherry pancake from Easy Keto Breakfasts. Sure, I had to adjust the recipe as I had cherries instead of blueberries in my freezer, but wow did this taste like a decadent carb filled dessert. Yum!
Another positive is the extra workout time I’ve gained when I normally would be sitting in traffic. I committed to working out when I normally commute at least in the mornings. In March, I lost 2.5 kilos or about 6 pounds.
Burt and I have spent quite a bit of time together this past week. We’ve bird watched, listened to an audio book, had tea and just hung out. He’s a good listener especially if you rub his head.
Still a few hours left in March, I’m off to cast on another project or two.
WIP 