A New Year

 

It’s hard to believe that we are already nine days into the new year.  It started out for us with a snow and ice storm on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.  It was beautiful and we enjoyed watching the birds and squirrels as we fed them.  They provide entertainment for us and the cats.  The cats know the word “squirrel” and will come running to the door if we say it.  I tried to get pictures of the birds at the feeder but every time I opened the door they flew away.  However, the squirrels were not so skittish and I could almost walk up to them to get a picture.  Those guys will practically pose for you if you have food.

 

Mrs. Cardinal watching from the trees

This fellow was happy to get a treat

January 1st was my one-year blogging anniversary.  I feel like such a blogging toddler compared to my friends.  I started following blogs six years ago after I retired.  I had not planned on starting a blog myself but after a few years it just seemed to be the right thing to do.  When I look back on my first year of posts it is clear to me that I have a long way to go to be the kind of blogger I’d like to be.  I have lost some of my writing and grammar skills over the years and I am often lacking in good subject matter.  More important to me though is the simple day to day sharing of activities and thoughts that we all do through our blogs.  It’s the friendships we make and the caring for one another. 

 

It’s difficult to realize that we will soon be in our second year of this pandemic.  I remember how at first I thought it would just last a few months.  I guess that shows how little I knew about pandemics.  In many ways it is worse now than it was back then.  But do you know what?  I think we should all be proud of ourselves for adapting as well as we have over this past year.  Yes, it’s been challenging but it has also shown us what we can do when we put our mind to it.  We now have a couple of different vaccines and that has to make a difference for us all.  The authorities here in the U.S. are still working out the best ways to get the vaccines out to the people but I am confident we will get there.  In fact, just a couple of days ago I was able to get Tom and myself signed up on a list for the vaccine with the Health Department.  It may be months before we get it but at least we are on a list for it and that is the first step.  I think every state is handling the vaccinations differently and if you have not heard anything about it in your state it might be worth checking with the Health Department where you live.     

 

I’ve not started this year very well as far as getting posts out but I hope to improve on that.  I always enjoy reading everyone’s blogs.  There are some good people out here in blog world and I appreciate you all!  Take care my friends! 

 

Easing into Winter

 

Some years we quickly slide into Winter with snow, ice and sharp winds.  Other years it is an easier process, more of a gentle teasing of the cold weather to come.  We are fortunate to have the gradual arrival of Winter this year only making itself known more clearly after the change of time that brings the dreaded short, dark days. 

Neighborhood Trees

We had our first snow this year almost a week before the end of October.  Luckily when we get an early snow, we usually have more warm days to come and we did.  Those warm days continued through yesterday when it was sunny and beautiful with a temperature of 74 F (23 C).  I finally decided to tackle the many leaves in our back yard and spent four hours raking and bagging.  I ended up with eight bags of leaves and some pretty good back and knee pains!  Believe it or not, that was from only half of the back yard.  Our yard is not that big but we do have a lot of trees and that means more yard work in both Spring and Fall.  That is fine with me though because I love trees!  By the time I stopped working the sun had disappeared and the sky had that dark, foreboding look.  This morning I stepped out onto our deck and was hit with that sharp cold that is unmistakably the beginning of winter.  We went from temps in the 70’s to the low 40’s (4 C).  Then the heavy, cold rain started.  Oh well, I didn’t feel like finishing the raking today anyway. 

 

Sophie sleeping with her friends

Time does move fast and before we know it the holidays will be here.  For those of us in the U.S. Thanksgiving is just a little over two weeks away and as soon as that is over, we are into the Christmas season.  There is no telling what the holidays will be like this year with the pandemic still here.  We don’t travel over the holidays so the main thing that will change for us will be the lack of local Christmas activities.  I am hopeful that we will still see our kids and grandkids Christmas but these days I know there are no guarantees.  Are you making different plans this year for the holidays?  Maybe someone will come up with some new ways for those of us staying home to celebrate this year?

 

Birthdays and Graduations and Anniversaries, Oh My!

June has always been a busy month for our family and this year is no different, pandemic or not.  My daughter-in-law, Kristi, celebrated her birthday a couple of weeks ago.  For the first time in three months we went to their house in order to celebrate her birthday with them. 

Last night we celebrated my husband Tom’s birthday with the family.  His actual birthday is later this week but it is easier to get everyone together on weekends.  We went to his favorite barbecue restaurant and then came back to our house for cake.  This was the first time we actually went in a restaurant since early March.  I must say the restaurant did an excellent job of social distancing.  They even had employees in the parking lot telling you where to park and letting the waiters inside know that you had arrived.  We did not go in the restaurant until the table was ready and then they took us directly to our table.  There was a QR code on the table that you scanned with your phone and then you received the menu on your phone, thus doing away with physical menus, so nothing would be shared between people.  It seems like there is a whole new way of doing everything these days.  Tom did have a very nice birthday and we really enjoyed seeing our family again.  He actually gets a double celebration this weekend because tomorrow is Father’s Day here.

Tom's Birthday Gifts

Next weekend our grandson, Gavin, will be graduating from high school!  We were not sure if there would even be a ceremony due to the Covid restrictions.  However, many of the restrictions were lifted in our state last week.  His graduation will be held in a much larger auditorium than would normally be required in order for there to be socially distancing seating.  There are only seven tickets available per graduate and each family will sit together but be spaced from everyone else.  Gavin is our second and last grandchild and I can’t believe he is graduating already!  We are very proud of him!  

Then just two days after Gavin graduates my son and his wife, Chris and Kristi, will celebrate their 25^th wedding anniversary.  Time does go fast!  My brother, Charlie, also has a birthday on July 4^th but he lives out of the country and I have already mailed him something.  This is definitely a busy time of the year for us!

Tom and I have been very good about following all lockdown restrictions since they started last March.  We have only gone to the grocery store and have worn masks when there.  We have not spent time with family at all until this month.  Since many restrictions have been lifted, we are not breaking any this month but we are seeing family each weekend.  With the exception of the restaurant last night and the graduation next weekend we are not spending time around large groups of people and even those are guided by social distancing rules.  It is so strange that in these pandemic days there can be a concern about even being with your own family.  I am thankful we are able to see our family now while many of the restrictions have been lifted.  However since the state has opened up, we have seen a slow but steady rise in the number of cases of Covid and there has been some mention of the possibility of another lockdown.  I certainly hope that is not the case but if so, at least we have gotten to see family a bit now before we lockdown all over again if necessary.

 

Motivation

Boy is this a loaded word.  The dictionary definition for motivation is:  the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way, or the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.  I’ve always had a little trouble with getting my energy going to get things accomplished but usually once I get started, I’m good.  However, since all this isolation and staying home has been going on for over a month now I have developed a new fear.  I may be turning into a sloth.  Sloth definition:  a slow-moving tropical mammal that hangs upside down from the branches of trees.  Wait, not that sloth definition but this one:  having a reluctance to work or make an effort; laziness.  Yep, that one. 

Is it just me or does anyone else feel the same way?  I always have plenty to do and I’m never bored.  There are many household “jobs” I need to do each day such as laundry, cleaning and cooking.  I am getting most of those done but only because they are necessary to living.  I do like to have clean clothes to wear and it is nice to have meals once in a while.  But I have an unending list of other things I would like to get accomplished and it’s just not happening.  I mean this is the perfect time to clear out excess clutter in the house or to work on one of many hobbies I have, but I’m not doing it.  Oh sure, I’m doing a few things such as reading or watching an occasional TV show.  I’m just not getting anything done off my list of things I need and want to accomplish.  At the end of the day I like to be able to say I got something completed other than a few of the necessities of life. 

This blog is a perfect example of my lack of motivation.  I started this the first of the year and made the decision I wanted to enjoy it and not push myself.  I knew I would never post every day, but I thought even I could post once a week.  I have managed to post once a week – barely.  Of course, I never expected a world pandemic and all the crazy changes to our lives to hit us three months into the new year.  I suppose when you consider all the changes we have dealt with in our lives recently we could be forgiven for an occasional lack of motivation.  Still, I am hoping I will be able to kick myself in my butt and start getting a little more accomplished each day.  Any suggestions?  Anyone else feel similar?     

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone has an enjoyable Easter.  It will be different this year for most of us.  But that doesn't mean we can't celebrate what this day means to us personally.  Those that wish to can still attend virtual church services.  We can visit with family by phone or some form of internet FaceTime.  And the young ones that are in isolation with their parents can still have Easter egg hunts in their home or yard.  This is a good time for us to appreciate the many blessings we do have in our lives and to realize that maybe we are each a little stronger than we thought we were when we first got hit with this pandemic. 

When I was growing up Easter was special church services, baskets filled with treats and of course Easter egg hunts.  I always got a new outfit to wear to church on Easter Sunday.  Back in the 1950s that outfit included a hat, white gloves and sometimes even new patent leather shoes to go with the dress.  I didn't get new clothes very often, but I always did for Easter Sunday. 

Easter 1956

Many of my Easter traditions were continued with my two sons and then later with my two grandchildren.  The children would have Easter baskets and of course many egg hunts both inside and outside.  We would all share a big dinner and enjoy a day of family time together.

My Granddaughter Annika

My Grandson Gavin

My sons and my grandchildren are grown now so even if we were able to spend the holiday together there would not be the egg hunts and some of the other activities we enjoyed when they were young.  But we will talk on the phone at least and I will make sure they all know they are loved and cherished just as much today as when they were little.  We may be living in this crazy pandemic world of isolation but I hope we will all remember that what really counts is what is in our heart and we can still reach out to our loved ones in different ways.

Happy Easter to all my very special friends and thank you all for being there!   

So How's Your Isolation Coming Along?

I feel like we are all pioneers in a new world with this Pandemic Isolation leading our lives at the moment.  There's been Pandemics before but not of this level in our life time.  There is a lot that is extremely sad and frightening of course but we still have to deal with our everyday lives.  I don't know about you, but I find the most common question most people have is simply "What day is this?"  Even those of us that are retired still had certain schedules that marked our days.  Maybe a class, a meeting or an appointment on certain days each week.  For many, Sunday was marked by weekly church gatherings.  Tom and I had a senior exercise class every Tuesday and Thursday morning and that helped to mark our week.  No more.  All of those designators of days are gone now.  Except one, very important day - for us that is Wednesday - Trash Day.  I am so grateful that these hard workers are still doing their jobs and I am equally grateful that service is giving us some method of designating at least one of our days.  Now for us, all the rest of the days can be a guessing game but we've got Wednesday covered.

How are you doing with maintaining your food and necessary supplies these days?  A simple trip to the grocery store has turned into a venture into the unknown.  It's a bit nerve rattling to shop for groceries not knowing if you'll be exposed to the virus from another shopper or if it is really safe to touch and pick up that can of green beans.  Now here in the U.S. the CDC has recommended we start wearing masks when we go out.  The last time we bought groceries we did wear masks and it just felt strange.  I've never worn a mask to the grocery store - what is happening in our world?  Of course the other shoppers had masks on too and that made it feel even more weird.  Yes, I think we've landed on some new planet and we are pioneers trying to tame and settle it.  We were buying groceries once a week and now we are trying to do it every two or three weeks.  And then when you get home you have to deal with all those groceries.  Are you trying to wipe them down in any way?  Here it has been recommended that we do that so we've been going over everything with a sanitizing wipe and hoping that is enough.

Are  you finding new things to do around the house now that you are staying home all the time?  How many jigsaw puzzles have you put together so far?  Okay, I know not everyone likes jigsaw puzzles but there has been a big rise in their popularity.  I read that puzzle sales in the U.S. are up nearly 400% in just the past two weeks.  And that is just in one country.  They said the surge in the demand for jigsaw puzzles is similar to what it was during the Great Depression.  That is something to think about.   

A puzzle I worked on recently

We all live in different places, big cities, small towns and even different countries.  Do you think where your home is located has much effect on you during this isolation?  If you are in a big city do you feel safer or more at risk?  And of course the same can be asked of someone living in a small town.  I live in a small suburban town of about 15,000 and for me I think it is easier.  Everyone pulls together for the most part.  Today we had a parade of all the school teachers drive around town honking their horns and just letting the kids know they are still here and still care about them and miss them.  Tonight at city hall the city officials will be passing out a free disinfectant cleaner/hand sanitiser to any citizens that need it.  And yes, many of us are still keeping those Teddy Bears in our windows for the kids to see and sometimes even count.  This morning a father and small son were walking around our neighborhood with a piece of paper noting and counting all the Teddy Bears in the windows they could find.  I love that.

I hope I don't sound like I'm trying to write a downer post because I don't really mean to do that.  We are all going through pretty much the same experiences and at least for me, it helps to know I'm not alone in all this.  Everyone take good care of yourselves!