It is abundantly clear that all my vaccinated friends have come closer to a normal life schedule than I have. Sure, I've kept up with medical appointments. And I finally spent time with my visiting friend last week. Importantly, I'm fully integrated into the life of my grandkids, albeit not at the same time, as my younger girl and her husband are not yet vaccinated. So progress, right? Indeed. But I am nowhere near normal. I still don't go to stores, cafes, restaurants. And I don't travel.
But some of this may change. Because, well, if we bounce around surges and ever the newer variants in the next half year, shouldn't one take advantage of the window of protection offered now to those who are fully vaccinated?
It's cold again. And we're going to stay here, right around a high of 50F (10C) for a few days. Still, the early onset of spring-like weather gave a huge push to everything around us. On my morning walk for instance, I noticed the first cherry blossom.
I can't ever remember a cherry blossom as early as tax day here, in south central Wisconsin. (No, I haven't done my taxes. Yes, I should have gotten them out of the way. Yay extensions!)
(Breakfast...)
Outside, daffodils still dominate.
But they are not alone. Some of the tulips survived the groundhog chomp fest. They're nearly ready to add some color to the landscape.
And Merrybells! You have to love the name, no? (A.k.a. Uvularia, which sounds more foreboding, unless you know that the name derives from the Latin name for grapes. Not that these are related to grapes, they're actually a cousin of the lily family.)
And while I am on the subject of color and, too, a return to (something closer to) normal, today, our neighbor (well, of about five miles away) Natalie opened her greenhouses for the season! Last year, we were under lockdown in April. We knew so little about the spread of the virus that Ed and I did not shop even in outdoor spaces. Natalie delivered plants to us and eventually, we did curbside pickups. But science never fails to astound us with its miracles and here we are, vaccinated and ready to go inside her greenhouses. It's too early to pick up the annuals for the pots -- next week's cold blast will not treat theses tender babies well, but we can at least pick up a few of the hardier annuals: pansies come to mind.
Okay, and one hanging basket! I can carry it inside if it really gets cold.
So, not quite a normal shopping expedition, but a big one for us nonetheless. And yes, it felt luxuriously wonderful.
[On the way to Natalie's, we passed what is such a familiar sight to us -- sandhill cranes. But we never take them for granted. Did you know that back in the 1930s there were only about two dozen breeding pairs of sandhills left in Wisconsin? Thanks to legal protections, there are now close to 10,000 and I swear, 9,900 of them live all around us. It's a real success story -- you can read a little about sandhills and other migratory birds in the NYTimes today, here.]
In the afternoon, I pick up Snowdrop at school. Yes, the usual spirited run to the car...
And a quick check on the chicks, the cheepers and"her tree" at the farmette...
Our usual review of the best and worst aspects of the school day have her tell me that the worst part is that she feels exhausted at the end of it all. That's can't be too bad then! Exhaustion is far better than, say, boredom. Adjusting to this, I suggest a quieter afternoon in the farmhouse.
Honestly, she does not seem that tired to me, but we take it easy anyway. Lots of reading, lots of art. And some admiration of the tomato plantings that Ed is tending right now.
Me, I'm waiting for a return of more spring like weather. Maybe a coffee at an outdoor cafe would be nice. Maybe.
