Sunday was John Covert’s birthday and also our friend Zoë’s birthday. Opting not to bother John too early on a Sunday morning, we were surprised when he called at 9:30, announcing that he was up and able to accept birthday greetings! We offered him the same and then received an update on their family doings. Lynn is continuing to recover from her hip replacement surgery. She was at therapy three times last week and is now graduating to a cane from a walker.
We took an afternoon walk and delivered a birthday present to Zoë - really just an excuse to see Iris and Esme through the window. They also take a daily walk and pass by the house so we can stand on the front porch to holler at them.
Wednesday was a big day. Mark went to the Hospice House for Master Gardening, this being the first time this season to get out and begin the clean-up. Nine members of his team plus five members from the “traveling crew” were on hand to help and all practiced “social distancing” as best possible. It was a warm, sunny day and all were glad to be out in the dirt, gossiping with old friends and bringing each other up to date on the winter.
Also on Wednesday, Deb went off by herself to do the shopping, stopping at four different stores, trying to take advantage of the senior time shopping hours. As usual, people were still standing around in the aisles, meandering and chatting rather than practicing the distancing and single mindedness that shopping is supposed to be in this time of trouble. Shelves were filled to varying degrees, dependent upon the store. Toilet paper and soap seem to be in short supply at most stores. Canned soup and simple things like Mac & Cheese are also the first to go. No doubt a sign that 90% of children throughout the country are home from school. In the old says, if one walked into the grocery store with a mask, they called the authorities to escort you out, now when you show up without a mask, they call the police to escort you away from the robbery going on inside the premises.
We watch the nightly news to see that over one half of the States are under shelter at home rules. Although Nebraska has not hit that level, it may not be long, no matter how much our Republican Governor protests that it will not happen here! Being a mostly rural state just means that there are less hospital beds and further to go to reach medical help; the virus will find us.
Most afternoons, we walk around the neighborhood. Now that so many are working from home and all the children are not in school, we see complete strangers that only live around the corner or down the block. We nod or shout hello from the sidewalk, occasionally engaging in conversation or a quick “nice to meet you.” We have always commented to each other on the houses we walk past, admiring a nice lawn or recent touch-up; shaming those that seem to neglect their gardens or exteriors. As we stop in front of one house or another to discuss our critiques, we see people looking at us strangely from the windows - maybe they think these two old people are casing the place?
Today, winter returned to eastern Nebraska, overnight temps in the lower twenties and freezing rain then snow covering the ice. It won’t stay long as the forecast is to return to the upper forties and low fifties in the next few days, but it does bring one up short to step out in 23F morning air to retrieve the paper, luckily our delivery person landed his throw on our porch this morning, saving some dancing down the icy steps.
All travel plans are up in the air and in doubt. We had planned to fly to Maryland in June to celebrate our youngest grandchild’s high school graduation, then driving south to Fredericksburg area to see relatives. All is on hold as the country sorts out its troubles and tries to fight free of this pandemic. Stay safe, have your masks near, and keep washing your hands.
