I'm Just Visiting This Planet

But I do know that I’m getting kind of tired of this. By this I mean: Grocery shopping every ten days or so because it has become so nerve-wracking. Zoom meetings-I am so over Zoom. Remembering my mask when I go out Trying to remember what “going out” was like You get the picture. And I’m starting to think that “this” is the “new normal.” At least the garden looks good, the garden we weren’t going to have because we were supposed to be traveling. I like this picture so much that I made it one of my “virtual backgrounds” for when I’m on Zoom on my iPad. Garden gate with Tibetan prayer flags How are you doing?

We were sitting on the porch last week when I looked up at the skylights and saw—-well it looked like hundreds but it was probably only about 20–stink bugs. They are quite disgusting, and I couldn’t help thinking, oh great. Another  plague. McHale to the rescue! I won’t even begin to guess how many of these uninvited guests we had, but it was a lot. And of course, every plague has it’s price of removal. But McHale was here on Monday, and although we’re still picking up the bodies, both dead and some barely alive, it was worth every penny. And now, on to the dryer! The steam valve (who knew we even had a steam valve?) is running non-stop and wetting the clothes instead of drying them. Tomorrow it’s time to call Berger’s  and find the number for the Electrolux repairman. Happy self-quarantining everyone!

[Note: I count from March 3 because that's the date that the first case was discovered in Westchester County New York.] So here we are, just over three months into this. And I finally started working on our home office. Mostly I have "before" pictures. Like these: The overall "look"  There's a table under there, under the farmer's market basket and the pile of mail. Stuff on the table by the door  I can't begin to tell you how long this "project" has been on the list of things to do. This office has looked like a bomb dropped for quite some time. There are papers to be filed, like the pile of bills you see on the right below. So I've learned that I can put off difficult projects for, oh, three months with no problem. At the beginning of the stay at home order, I assumed that I would have lots of energy for projects like this. Boy, was I wrong! I barely have the energy for this project now! Stay tuned! maybe by Day 1...

We looked at each other the other day and realized that we haven’t seen anyone but each other in 65 days (Zoom doesn’t count). The days all mush together. It’s hard to remember to show up for Zoom meetings-Anne missed a board meeting, my friend Gaye missed a Committee on Preparation for Ministry meeting. We don’t know what day it is, what time it is, and the gloomy weather isn’t helping. At least the sun came out today. Kali and Shiva in a hug On the other hand, the cats make us laugh, so here are a few cat photos: Shiva asleep Kali on the cable box

Radishes survived the frost Anne examining the "tender greens" Herbs from Hilltop Hanover Yesterday we were able to work in the garden. I was so happy to just be out of the house! We removed the row covers that we put on last week when we had a frost warning. The radishes and greens look fine. We planted all of the herbs that we bought at Hilltop Hanover Farm. After a couple of years of not belonging to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) we belong to two: Hilltop Hanover and Fable We joined these two because they are CSA's that issue you a "card" and you can shop whenever you want and buy whatever you want. We are experimenting with this model--it allowed us to get organic herb starters for the garden that we didn't know we were going to have. The plan was to travel this summer--Ha!--and not have a garden. "Man plans, God laughs" goes the old Yiddish saying and it apparently applies to women also. Once we realized that we...

I’m counting from March 3, so I think that I’m up to day 49-28 days in March and 21 in April. So now the routine is: Up between 6:30 and 7ish Shower Yoga Breakfast Read the newspaper Wait for Governor Cuomo and his update Get depressed Have lunch Watch Fauda  Season 3 (we’re up to episode of 7 out of 12) Start cocktail hour (with fancy appetizers) Make dinner Watch something else—The Plot Against America was last night’s event. Okay so we don’t get depressed every day, especially today—“only” 481 deaths, down from over 700 day after day. Our lives aren’t all that different from the “before.” We are cooking more, shopping less and watching more TV. We’re walking the trails in our neighborhood and have discovered trails that we always meant to walk. We (okay Anne) have seedlings growing under grow lights in the basement—dill, parsley, cilantro and thyme. We have radishes and greens growing under row covers as we await our last (we hope!) overnight freeze....

Okay, it’s official—I am soooo over this. And I’m not really even sure which part has me the most vexed. Is it missing physically being in  church? Is it how stressful grocery shopping has become? Is it how divided my brain is—when neighbors lost power I asked Anne if we could have them over to charge their phones, totally forgetting that we are in self-isolation. I think the worst part is not being able to just leave the house and go somewhere else. Anywhere else. The library, Whole Foods, church, synagogue, the Jacob Burns , Lexington Square  for lunch or dinner. Passover and Easter were very strange. Of course we weren’t the only ones asking “Why is this night different from all other nights?” and laughing. The sunrise service was different, too—I attended in my pajamas, which was kind of nice, and stayed warm while I watched Chip and Tami looking cold. My happiest moments have been outside, in the garden. Here I am filling one of our raised beds so that we can pl...