The Burrow

I planned to read all 23 books.... but, it turns out, there are only 22 of them.  I finished the series this morning, much to my dismay.  I'll miss the characters and Alaska..... equally.  This left a hole in my day's planned activities.  Further complicating the situation was a technical glitch with the Pilates program and by the time it was all sorted out I was on to cleaning the bathrooms.  It's not my favorite chore, but it needs to be done and I'm much more efficient than TBG and I was peeved about missing my exercise hour and therefore in the perfect mood to be cleaning toilets.  our I spent some quality time with the lime remover and a Mr. Clean eraser in our shower.  The tiles are lovely but require a lot more maintenance than a drop in shower with a plastic insert protecting the walls.  As I sighed a bit more loudly than I might otherwise have done were I not looking for solace, I reminded myself that that's the price we pay for beaut...

I was alive today.  I exercised and cooked and showered.  I read half of the 22nd book in my 23 book series. TBG got the mail "because that's something we should still be doing, right?  And I don't have to change my clothes if I just go to the mailbox, right?" There was nothing of importance, which made me grieve for the USPS for a moment before my brain moved away from the discomfort.  San Francisco has extended its stay at home order through May, though Big Cuter has been (as of 4pm on Tuesday) unable to determine what steps are being taken to reopen life, right, because I don't mind staying in if it's productive to do so and if there is a plan.... but, is there a plan?  he wondered. I don't like it when my boy is discomfitted, but I'm powerless to assuage his angst.  I'm really in need of a distraction.  That last sentence had too many ten dollar words, and it's kind of embarrassing to flaunt my education so extravagantly.  I see...

It was BYOE at our house.... or, to be precise, on our driveway.... last night.  The E stood for Everything:  Chairs, Liquid Refreshments and the vessels thereof, snacks if needed..  It was the easiest party I ever hosted.  I was in charge only of knowing when the shade would hit. The six of us - Dr. K and Not-Kathy, Fast Eddie and JannyLou, TBG and I - sat appropriately distant from one another, the breeze either blowing the virus away from us or onto us, depending on whose version of the facts we chose to believe.  The tiny flying bugs weren't too annoying and then the bats came out and we stopped swatting.  Not-Kathy pouring her mini-mason jar of light brown liquid into a fancy-shmancy glass, Fast Eddie sharing good news.... there was nothing really outstanding about any of the little things that happened over those 90 minutes..... and it was the best time I've had since the beginning of March.

It's not only staying in my pajamas all day and thinking that it's just fine. It's not only recognizing that I haven't used deodorant since we've been locked down, and that, if TBG is to be believed, I haven't done anything to raise a stink since then either, .  The sense of accomplishment washing over me after Pilates-On-Line and a shower would be perceived, in any other time frame of my life, as absurd. It's not only the rush I feel when we have new groceries in the house, or  Little Cuter's  We hit the jackpot!! when   SIR scored a mega-pack of toilet paper at Costco. (There are people who feel that way on the first of every month, and I sent a donation to the Food Bank as I typed those words.....). Hamburgers on the grill with fresh meat and fresh buns have never tasted so good. It's not only feeling no guilt over staying inside and binge watching Billions , it's feeling virtuous while doing so.  Friends are sending masks my way. ...

I won't let her inside the house anymore to help us clean, but My Young Friend still wants to work. I'm using her energy and enthusiasm to tackle the outdoor projects I've been putting off forever. This week, we tackled the third garage, the one most people use for their golf carts, the one TBG bequeathed to me as my Garden Garage, hoping to contain my clutter.   Sadly for him, that was never going to be the case.  I'm capable of keeping things neat, but as my desk has proven over the years, maintaining that status is nigh on impossible.  The same was obviously going to be true of the Garden Garage.   Once I was perforated and bending became more painful than it was worth, things deteriorated further.  I'd start out with great intentions, and return, my hip defeating my heart's desire.  Putting things anywhere other than the nearest clear(ish) surface was all I could manage.   And so, I had piles and piles of piles on pi...

A friend had heart surgery in early February, before we knew just how scary things were.  Her plan to hike (in sections) the entirety of the Arizona Trail was put on hold while her body revolted.  She wrote a series of goals while preparing for the procedure, starting with Don't Die!  Having accomplished that,she began to rehab, aiming to get back on The Trail as soon as she could manage.  She had family and friends to encourage and support her every step of the way, until they couldn't any more.  Thanks to Covid 19, she's socially distant, restricted in her options, and at risk every time she goes out her front door.needs A friend is considering a variety of treatments for a cancer that just won't seem to go away.  Options include an intense, 2 week trial and a less intense, 7 week, well established regime.  There are pros and cons enough to consider without adding on the now necessary consideration of the number of times he'd be exposed to Th...

( This is the 8th post I ever wrote, back in 2009.  I like it just as much today as I did then.) I like Earth Day. I was there at its creation, after all. Created in large part by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, in 1970 it was a touchy-feely alternative to the harsher realities of the anti-Vietnam War protests. War was such an uncomfortable subject and arguing against it made your parents wonder why they were spending tuition dollars while you were telling the lawfully elected President of the United States of America that you knew more than he did. With your picture in the crowd on the front page of the NY Times. At 18 years of age, no less.  But planting trees? Recycling newspaper? Not littering? And all this in service to Mother Earth. Who could be aggravated about supporting Mother Earth? Earth Day had teach-in's. They were more fun than sit-in's, which invariably involved police and disciplinary action. They were less fun than be-in's, which owed more to Timot...

My Pilates studio  is offering classes via Zoom.  Today, I took two of them. Then, I swam laps, working on my endurance and breathing. The pool is surrounded by my springtime blossoms.  Violas and snapdragons and gomphrena and roses.... oh, my roses..... surround the pool in the backyard.  When the breeze is blowing just right and the sun has heated the blooms to their most fulsome loveliness the aroma is everywhere.  Just sitting outside and breathing heals my soul. I miss being outside with the Prince scholars.  On the other hand, my own garden has never looked this good. And now I've discovered a wonderful way to connect with Scarlet  - on-line Mah Jongg.  We FaceTime on one device and play together on another, each in our own houses but together. Staying Home has brought the amount of time and enjoyment I get while playing games into specific relief.  I missed all the aspects of it - the game itself, the friend across the table, the ...

That's how Little Cuter described her family's approach to staying home.  We're living our best life, right FlapJilly?   Right, Mama! That was all well and good until this weekend, when being grateful for food and family and shelter and the internet and a backyard and (finally, now that the snow melted) playing outdoors just wasn't enough for a little girl who's supposed to be enjoying the last two months of kindergarten.  Getting ready to start the grades is a big deal, at least for the scholars at Prince Elementary here in Tucson.  There's a strong sense of putting aside childish things, of accepting the responsibilities of homework and reading on your own and of climbing the stairs to the classrooms of the 1st and 2nd graders.  e-Learning is fun and productive and full of creative, do at home presentations that would not be possible from FlapJilly's classroom. The Marvelous Mrs. MacCambridge and her colleagues have done a great job, but the kids...

The New York Times is worried about kids . They cite alarming statistics - the loss of 30% of reading gains is just one - in store for students without face-to-face teacher time. Fifth graders, who need to shore up their math skills for the rigors of middle school instruction, are at particular risk. This worries the Times. The learning setbacks that schoolchildren commonly experience over a summer vacation can easily wipe out one or two months of academic growth, they tell us, and the disruption caused by the virus will be even worse.  What to do?  What to do? I've been smiling at all this angst.  There's always been a solution to the losses over the summer - Year 'Round School.  I've been on this bandwagon for ages. My school board colleagues looked askance at me whenever I broached the topic.  Vacations?  Summer Camp?  Family Immersion Time?  What to do???? Well, a quarter system consisting of 10 week blocks of learning separated b...

Dana Stabenow published Book 23 in her Kate Shugak series earlier this year.  It's been a while since Book 22 came out; I was waiting for the dog days of summer to reread the series in its entirety. I didn't wait for June; I started with Book 1 once I realized that I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.  I've been averaging a book and a bit a day.  They are all on my Kindle; I just keep clicking and downloading them from where they've been lurking in the ether.  And today, I clicked on Book 19. Three more in my queue.  One more to purchase and download.  I can't tell you how sad that makes me.  I've been able to escape lock down; I've been in Alaska with a dozen or so recurring characters and a few dozen others who have been my neighbors and boon companions for the last month.  I'm missing them already. I have other series, thousands of pages worthy of immersion.  But I've grown accustomed to these faces.........

This day makes TBG nutty. He stresses for weeks before.  He has to gear up to get going.  The paperwork spreads over the dining room table for one very long morning, then I take it all to Kinkos to copy it and mail it off. This year, we have until August to file. I know I'm just putting off the inevitable, but I have to say that this has been one of the most delightful April's I have spent with the man since we began filing taxes jointly. I hope your day is as nice as mine is going to be.

JannyLou and I were going to sit an appropriate distance apart on the path between our houses today,  But the wind was blowing and her allergies were acting up so we postponed until things settle down. And, as she texted, maybe I'll have something to say by then. ***** I tried to take a nap, more from boredom than anything else.  Trying to fall asleep, I lay on the bed, wondering what t-shirt I was wearing.  I wanted to remember, I didn't want to look..... until TBG came in and I sat up and saw Little Cuter's breast cancer awareness's pinkness above my shorts. For some reason, the fact that I couldn't come up with that on my own continued to bother me all afternoon. ***** We're getting really good at unpacking that which comes in from the Outside.  One of us has dirty hands  and does all the collecting and opening and tipping onto the plates that the other, clean hands, has laid out.  Though it pains me to toss rather than recycle the containers, ...

My Peace rose tree is in bloom. Giant blooms are about ready to burst - this was the first one.  The bush outside our bedroom window is also flush with flowers, some yellower than others. The vases were gifts from a friend who was to celebrate her marriage here in Tucson on Sunday afternoon. Since the happy couple and her children are in Washington, D.C. and the rest of us are sheltering in place here where she used to live, all I could do was break out her glassware and send them a virtual hug.   And then there was this butterfly, exhausted from being drenched by an hour long rainstorm, drying out on the patio.  She was too tired to move, even as I came in for the close up.  In troublous times, when Easter Egg hunts are family-centric, when Seders are Zoomed, when nothing seems to be as it was, the natural world reminds me that life goes on.

Once again, I'm reminded that cliches are cliches because they are true.  Today I realized, once again,  that it is the little things that matter. My young friend was willing but I was terrified to let her come into the house to help me clean.  I'm sure she's taking care, but I'm not there every minute to be sure.  She's found work at Door Dash and Instacart so she's in and out of places all day long. No one can tell me for sure how long the virus lasts on surfaces or in the air; I haven't had her touching the bed or the laundry in weeks.   But we want to pay her and she wants to work, so, today, she took everything out of the garage and washed the floor to within an inch of its life.  Then she put everything back where it started out.  Our cars are still in the driveway; it's too pretty to move them onto that floor.   And then, because there was still time owed, she took my list and my credit card, and JannyLou's list and so...

Feel free to insert your own caption.)  ***** There are many Seders being held on Zoom tonight. None of us (I hope) are sharing physical space with extended family groups, those people we see once or twice a year, who make us nutty and whose absence we mourn around our Seder tables.  And yet, there are stories.  There are the stories in the Haggaddahh (spelled that way because no other transliteration looked any better) and there are the stories about what happened the night that Auntie's green jello mold actually did end up on the kitchen floor.  More often than not, those are the stories we remember long after we've forgotten the answers to the 4 Questions. Sometimes, those stories are about recurring behaviors, revolving more around personality than the actual facts of the particular matter.  Again?!?!   Cue the rueful laughter.   Here is our story. One year, Brother's family hosted the rest of us in Maryland.  Th...

I looked out the bedroom window and saw this: I went outside and looked closer at this:  I moved out onto the patio and saw this:  which looked like this: yesterday. My tomato plants started as one, planted three seasons ago.   The yellow flowers will soon be small red blobs of deliciousness, read to be picked off and eaten.  And then there's TBG, for whom this is every bit as beautiful. Thank you, Amazon, for recognizing that chocolate is essential for him in times of woe.

Little Cuter was jealous that my roses are blooming.   She thought you'd like to see photos.   Because I am an obliging sort, and because today was like yesterday, and because I cannot write about politics since that would involve watching He Who Makes My Blood Pressure Rise, and because there's no need to excuse sharing beauty, here they are.   These white ones are budding out profusely.  Up close and personal, these,    on the same bush. But there's more than just roses. The sweet acacia,  a volunteer pooped out by an obliging animal,  is covered with delightful yellow balls which fall  and land everywhere, spreading concentrated doses of pollen far and wide., even invading my tiny vegetable garden. The onion is continuing to sprout happily, joined by the radishes popping up beside them.  In the next few days I should see the carrot tops popping through.  Brother sent me a del...

All the items on my grocery list were available.  I didn't know that would be the case; I ordered chicken in all its variations, hoping that one or two would end up in my trunk.  My freezer is now filled with filets and cutlets made from the many packages Safeway provided.  I drove 19 miles to pick them up, with the mask Sister made for me firmly in place when I lowered the window to accept the receipt, and 19 miles back from the only store that had a pick up date within a week of the order I placed.  TBG and I spent a long time disinfecting and re-wrapping and wiping and washing with soap before we stored our treasures.  I had a giddy smile plastered on my face throughout the entire operation. We have a decontamination station in the garage, which holds the clothes we wear when we venture further than the mailbox.  We've devised an I'm Clean/You're Dirty system to handle opening packages and wiping down the contents.  Cooking requires mental p...

Governor Ducey thinks that gun shops are essential businesses and shouldn't close.  The absurdity of arming people who are forced to stay inside with those who probably annoy them the most is beyond my comprehension, but we chose to move to the wild west, and we have to shut our mouths and move on until Giffords  or Everytown   gives me a plan to effect change.  On my own, I have nothing to do but write to him and express my outrage (which I did). Personal Care Services are also deemed essential - that means that I can get a manicure or a haircut if I choose to put myself in the chair.  My nail salon has closed for the duration (they are mothers of young children and Family First is their mantra).  TBG has agreed to cut my hair (he's really good at it) and since I've never applied color to my tresses I am among the lucky few who aren't worried about exposing their roots (according to Sister, the line in the post office in New Jersey had social distan...

I've been wondering why people hoarded toilet paper.  Pasta and sauce and sugar and butter would all make sense to me.  Toilet paper did not jump to the front of my mind when we last walked through Albertson's, Thursday, March 12th.  I wish that Rao's marinara sauce had. Onions and potatoes are available; eggs are not.  Aren't the hens laying?  Somebody's got those eggs, which aren't getting any fresher, and there are probably workers who'd like to help process them.  If we only had testing with immediate results, the supply chain would be much happier. Alas. So, back to what's on the shelves.  My $200 Safeway order resulted in two bags of groceries - a sad head of iceberg lettuce, an onion, three bananas and three tubs of ice cream.  Chicken?  Nope.  Mozzarella cheese?  Nope.  That spaghetti sauce I love?  Not at any price. JannyLou and I discussed this yesterday afternoon, outside, on the path between our houses,...

Did you ever leave an urgent message on a friend's answering machine from Mr Lyon, with the zoo's phone number? Did you ever wake up to a saran wrapped toilet bowl under the it looks okay to me seat first thing in the morning? Did you ever open your bedroom door and find yourself looking at another door, comprised of newspapers taped together, blocking your way? Did the salt ever end up in the sugar bowl...... or was it the other way around? Who, me? It's hard to be foolish when the world is going to hell in a hand basket, but Happy April Fools Day anyway.