So far, one grandchild is down with the flu. This means that a parent must stay home with her and it also means that I cannot babysit today. Influenza type A has been spreading wildly and savagely here, in Wisconsin (we are among the dozen states with the highest reported cases according to the still functioning CDC). I am working hard to avoid viruses, masking at the theater, masking at the clinic, and, most importantly, avoiding contact with those infected. It pretty much means that Ed and I are in a pseudo isolation mode right now. Which, honestly, sort of describes our daily life anyway, with the exception of family and the occasional friend encounters. Some people would shake their heads in dismay at this retreat into our farmette bubble, but the truth is -- we like it! (Again, with the caveat that we love my family, the occasional friend encounters, and of course, for me -- travel, which rips me out of my isolation completely.)
This morning we do have the expected cool down. Forgivable! We're not even halfway through March (at the same time that March is speeding by so quickly, don't you think?).
We're coming around to a more normal schedule. Breakfast is only a little bit late.
Because yesterday's outing was more physically challenging than, say, a walk around the farmette lands, we decided to go easy today. No biking. A simple half hour walk in our local park.
And despite the chill in the air, the sun felt warm on our faces! Gloriously warm
Back at home, I got a message that Snowdrop wants to Zoom. Great idea! We can finish the book we were reading at the farmhouse.)
And we do. And I think to myself -- wow, how times have changed. When Covid struck, Snowdrop was just five and Sparrow was one and a half. We stopped our visits in the fall when parents needed to reintegrate into society. Zoom wasn't handy then. I continued to read with Snowdrop, but outside, at a distance. Fast forward to this day and here we are, perhaps not loving the remote reading as much as a couch moment, but still, it feels effortless and almost normal. Yeah, how much we've changed in these post Covid years!
In the evening I make a pot of chicken noodle soup. It isn't that the day demands it -- we're not sick. The weather, if not balmy, is certainly bouncing in positive territory. And yet there's so much going on right now, on the world stage, and especially in this country, that the head spins and the soul shakes. Yeah, I think chicken noodle soup is a fine idea.
with so much love...
