More thoughts in the time of COVID-19 …
A couple hours late. Sorry. Annual check-up.
We had been having rather hot weather which broke with a vengeance last wednesday evening. It began getting dark a little after 4. By 5:30 the rain had started and we were getting pounded. The rain burst was so heavy I wasn’t able to see past the water sheeting on the front windows and there was a small river running down the driveway. Lightning and thunder.
It was the kind of storm George and I used to enjoy … so I enjoyed.
It had come in from the west, over Mt Eddy, which was a bit unusual. Most of our storms come up the canyon from the south or down through Shasta Valley from the north. Regardless of direction, the wet was welcome.
The lightning did start some fires, but mostly off to the east and southeast in the Modoc and Lassen areas. I had hoped it would help with the fires, but no such luck. Our fire zone is short staffed since several of our fighters are over on the Hog and Gold fires. We are being covered by CalFire stations and southern Oregon.
The weather got warm again, but not as hot as north or south of us, and the thunder storms were going around us. Interesting …
For anyone who is interested in our fire situation, the local fire zone has a website … http://hmm4200.org/
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The phenomenon of time speeding up as I age has hit an up-swing. At least it feels as if it is gaining speed. Days are getting shorter … quickly. The sun isn’t coming in my east window until 0700 or later. On the other end of the day, I go out to close in the chickens before 7:45 (1945).
And speaking of chickens … we lost one of the whites last week so we are down to 17 hens now. No indication of what happened … not an animal. She just gave up the ghost.
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Mark has been thinning trees to the south and I can once again see into the meadow. It is part of the mandatory clearing around residences required by the state. The view to the south now is more open but holds all the variety I’ve seen for so long … fir, pine, birch, catalpa, cherry, maple, cedar, fern, meadow grass, yarrow, mullein, …
My head is full of photos.
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Still no decision about whether or not the schools here will open or how. Kamille may be back to work however. She had been doing the morning and afternoon childcare duty in addition to her TA work and special tutoring, and parents will be having to go to work as usual.
Of course, Mark’s work as Fire Chief is a 24 hour thing this time of year. He drives a water tender (which requires a special license) and so takes his turn at the 24 hour shifts. He was called out last evening, but the fire was controlled and his shift was shortened.
And Tyler’s work with the animal shelter continues regardless.
However, my volunteer commitments are slowing down.
All the bicycle and running summer events have been cancelled, so no amateur radio involvement this year. And I may just call this the end of my volunteer radio communication days. It isn’t as much fun as it was when George and I worked together.
Only this week and next remain for packing the free summer lunches for south county children and only three more months of the Tailgate produce events before the growing season ends in the central valley. That will leave only the commodities distributions and the landowners’ association activity.
There will be lots of time for reading, thinning out forty years’ accumulation of stuff (remember I’m a Depression kid and saved everything … you never know when you’ll need “it”), spinning (and resisting the lovely fiber going on sale due to COVID lockdowns since my current stash fills the cedar chest), and who knows what else.
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Reading? … still going strong. Recently finished another of the Arapaho rez mysteries and am reading a fictionalized account of a passenger on the underground railroad. And on to a new Steve Berry titled “the Malta Exchange”. I really like reading novels by Berry and Rollins. Their action moves fast. But the big draw is the research they appear to do (or else they have fantastic research crews) because their story lines are built around history, up-to-date technology, and worldwide politics. Currently, I am learning a lot about the Hospitallers and the Roman Church, both past and current. It will be entertaining to see what those two authors do with COVID.
Current video watching is a Brit series, as usual. The Brits and the Aussies do good tv. However, I do have to say those Brits appear to be a randy sort … spending a lot of time snogging and shagging, especially in suburbia.
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Last friday was my oldest son’s sixty-fourth birthday anniversary. I remember that birth day clearly. It was mid-summer and hot. I was staying at my folks’ place since medical care there was what we could afford (my mother was the day nurse in the newborn nursery). I was afraid George wouldn’t get to us (the baby and me) in time since he had to keep working and it was a three hour drive to get to Hemet. But he made it with time to spare.
It was all a Blessing. My first born continues to be a blessing. He keeps me supplied with hand-poured Prayer candles and the memories are good.
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It seems to me this blog, which used to be far-ranging, has gotten rather insular … turned inward by age, COVID, and now the turn in seasons. We are nearing 140 days into the COVID lockdown here in California.
I wouldn’t say I’m doing “fine”, but I am doing “okay”.
How about you?
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Two communications last week … one genealogical, one familial … another death … my generation continues to disappear.
“Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness.
Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could.”
… Louise Erdrich
I’ve decided to follow the advice recently posted by Dan Rather. He said to call someone every day. I have a list of family and friends, and I’ve started. If you are a reader and would like to be included, let me know. I’ll put you on the list.
So … ‘til next week …