More thoughts in the time of COVID-19 …
The last few days have been 5-minute days … don’t like the weather? Wait 5 minutes and it’ll change. The mix has been fog, clouds, rain, wind, snow, sun, melt, etc. etc. etc. You name it, we’ve had it, except for flooding. Our house is on a rise at the foot of the meadow and runoff etc. goes around us.
I was up this morning a bit before 0300 for a trip to the loo (I find the term “bathroom” awkward ever since my request in a Cornish pub for directions to the bathroom resulted in this response from a barmaid … “Well luv, that depends on whether you’re a Brit who wants to take a bath or a Yank who wants to use the toilet.”).
At 3 this morning the slanted north window was clear. When I got up and went downstairs at 0615 there was about half an inch of snow on the ground covering some icy patches and it is still snowing lightly (at 0930). We’re being told to expect 3 to 6 inches with this low pressure. We’ll see.
A neighbor had cleared the upper drive so Kamille is getting out to go to work. She is from the east coast, where 4 inches of snow is a bad storm, and was having cabin fever. The car I drive won’t clear more than 2 inches and there is a 7 or 8 foot berm between it and the cleared drive. However, I’m used to this.
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I was finally able to go out to care for the chickens. The snow was still deep (between 2 and 3 feet after settling) and there was some ice and some collapsing, but I have grippers on my boots and a ski pole for stability and so I tried. I needed some cardio exercise and was successful for 2 days.
This morning the report is ice with/under the snow so Mark did morning duty for me. Maybe I’ll do the evening chore.
Also doing some weight lifting as in bringing in firewood.
Ladies are still being a bit awkward. The bring-in is only three or four eggs a day. Oh well … warm will arrive soon.
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Last week I made a couple of batches of herbal salve … one to encourage sleep to be rubbed on the soles of your feet at bedtime (feedback has all been appreciative) and one for the healing of Boo-Boo type injuries. That one I’ve been using on George and myself for a long time and always have at the ready for grandchildren or anyone else with scratches or scrapes or bruises or minor burns.
My Israeli friend asked for some to take back with her when she and her husband return to Haifa this month (COVID permitting). This time I am including the recipes.
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I haven’t been out, as you know, and so my to-be-read books are sitting at the library waiting to be picked up. I’m finishing the prequel to “Practical Magic” and re-reading a couple of old timers. But I hope to be able to arrange to get some new ones today. Mark will be going to the church this afternoon so he may be able to pick them up for me … three mysteries, a fictional take on Tudor England, a philosophical treatise, and a fable by Octavia Butler.
Those should keep me busy for a week or so.
I spent three days last week watching the new Mystery on PBS Masterpiece, “Miss Scarlet and the Duke”. Not bad but not as good as some. I guess it’s time for me to catch up on “Endeavour” and maybe follow-up with “Morse”. I have a dream of someday wandering the streets and colleges of Oxford.
Oh well …
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… and here’s a story to end this week …
I hired a plumber to help me restore an old farmhouse, and after he had just finished a rough first day on the job: a flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric drill quit and his ancient one ton truck refused to start.
While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands.
When opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation. His face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.
Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.
“Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” he replied “I know I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing’s for sure, those troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again.”
“’Funny thing is,” he smiled, “when I come out in the morning to pick ’em up, there aren’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.”
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance. We all need a Tree!
So … ‘til next week …