Day 36, April 29, 2020 -- Is it Sunday Yet?

Sorry I missed a few days of posting.  Easy to let this slide as nothing seems to change day to day. 

On a good note, my Nespresso order arrived in 24 hours!! On a bad note, still waiting for my wine✌

Yesterday Russ, Chuck, Omar and Ceilidh took me to Little Washoe Lake to put the kayak in for an hour.  I was able to paddle around until the wind picked up and made me have to work my shoulders off to get back to shore.

While I was there I was treated to the sights of wildlife.  I saw pelicans and loons. The biggest show however was that put on by the herd of wild horses cavorting at the lake.  There must have been between 20-25 horses of all sizes and colors.  I saw at least 4 foals one of which was a pinto.  The horses galloped about, played with each other and ran down to the water where some of them rolled around as if taking a bath.  Lots of splashing.  I couldn't get too close because I didn't want to chase them away or at me so this is these are the best pictures

Lucky Me, Huh?

We spent the rest of the afternoon reading, puzzle working and watching TV (anybody seen that Netflix documentary on the Baghwan? ).  I never personally knew who anyone who got sucked up into that cult drama in Oregon.  Did you?  

My book arrived from amazon -- Little Fires Everywhere.  Digging into it now.  I had to buy a real book this time because for some reason I wasn't able to purchase it on the kindle -- it is available but it just can't be bought.  Sometimes I have to scratch my head (not my face) at technology . . .  

Dinner last night was a porterhouse steak split 3 ways.  I got the filet and Russ cooked it perfectly!

Here are some pictures of what spring is doing to my garden!

Day 33, April 25, 2020 -- The Big Score!

For the first time since February (maybe even before that), we have a new package of toilet paper in the house!  Thanks to Chuck who ventured out to Target and while getting other stuff he crept up on the toilet paper aisle and low and behold, there were a few packages left!!  Thank you Chuck for helping preserve my peace of mind.  

Spring still creeping into Reno.  I have never noticed how it changes day to day until this year when we all have to just slow the hell down.  My backyard is beginning to rebirth itself and from the looks of it, we will have many apples this fall.  The blossoms are abundant and beautiful!  

We had a zoom meeting with the west coast family tonight -- spent 1.5 hours talking to each other.  SF, Reno and LA.  We all agreed that the national news doesn't really care about anyone else but NY.  

One of the things that scares me about this entire period of time is the fact that the day goes by so fast.  One would imagine that if you get up at 6:30am and go to bed at 9:00pm there would be a lot of free time in your day while you are sequestered in your own home.  This has not been the case however.  It seems that the few things that we do all day such as exercise, walk the dogs, eat, read, do crafty things, puzzles, talk on the phone and do other communications are beginning to take up the entire day.  The statement that lots of retirees make: "I don't know how I ever had time to work," is becoming my mantra now for sure.  I really don't know how people who work from home and school their children from home (like my daughter Montana) do it.  But they do!  Must be youth.

BTW has anyone else's taste gone to this vintage yet . . . . .

Day 32, April 24, 2020 The Big Hike & still no Toilet Paper

Ceilidh and I walked about 6 miles today with my friend Cirila.  We started out at the 5190 foot level and climbed

for about 1.5 hours until we reached Ophir creek at 6060 ft

The water was flowing and a bit deep so we decided not to cross it and turned back.  There were quite a few folks on the trail but no one seemed to get in each other's way and we were all sorta happy to see other humans and dogs. 

Saw this on the way down the hill which reminded me greatly of my camino journey last year.  

When walking the camino, I was directly constantly by arrows of all kinds to show the way.  

As a side note, I am so glad that I did my camino last year.  This year it would have been impossible with the coronavirus.  Spain was hard hit like the rest of this planet.  Next year (2021) is supposed to be the anniversary year (based on St. James' Birthday) and the way would have been packed already.  Now with the backlog of the folks that were supposed to go this year (2020) it will be a totally different walk.  I'm beginning to realize that it was a once in a lifetime experience and I did it at exactly the right time.  

I stopped on the way home at a grocery store (2 in fact) and, still no toilet paper.  We aren't critical yet but . . . . just thinking about it pisses me off 😖.  What are all those people doing with all of that toilet paper?  Why does it disappear so quickly?  I never saw this phenomena before.  Why now?

April 23, 2020, Day 31, The Big Chill!

nothing distinguishes this day except I was able to visit with my college friends on Zoom.  Besides knowing that they were all well, here is what I learned from them about the COVID in their cities.

Michele:  lives in Amsterdam.  They appear to be still in a state of lockdown.  Michele says that the people in that country listen to whomever it is that is telling them what to do or not do and no one protests or argues about it.  Of course that country is the size of one of the states in the US.  We are not quite the same.  She also said that some small, neighborhood restaurants are opening up with very limited seating.  The plan there in Amsterdam is to continue to social distance -- no school for the rest of the year.

Ken:  lives in Illinois and serves the farmers with his business.  He says that farmers are getting desperate.  They have pigs that they cannot kill -- no place to process their meat.  Ken predicts that the repercussions of this situation will reverberate down the food supply line.

Anne:  Stuck in Akron, away from her kids and grandkids.  Also concerned about the education situation.

Bill:  a Beer distributor in Dayton, OH.  Says business has never been better.  His daughter owns a bar which is currently only open for takeout -- beer and food.  He thinks her business will survive but will use up all of her savings.

Chard:  in the Philly area.  Didn't get too much out of him other than he is consuming quite a bit more alcohol than he did prior to this virus.

Kathleen:  lives in the Villages, FL.  This senior enclave apparently has figured out how to do partying while social distancing.  The golf courses are still open.  Everyone has to have their own golf cart and they can't touch the flag (?).

One of the things that kind of struck me was that none of them seem to wear masks as a practice.

Tomorrow is another day.  Heading out with Cirila for a hike.  Please pray for me -- she is kinda fast and 20 years younger.

I'll leave you with this.

My College Crew - Still Crazy After All These Years
💖

Day 30, April 22, 2020 -- We Gotta Get Outta This Place!

And I did!!

My morning started off with my workout buddies on Zoom.  Michelle records all of her workouts for later use on Youtube.  If you are tired of sitting on the couch or just looking for a new workout, she has some good ones.  40 minutes and I am sweating.  check it out here:

Michelle's HIIT workouts and stretches

Then after that and before I got out of my workout clothes I continued my fitness program with this routine

Following that Russ loaded up my kayak in his truck and took me over to Little Washoe Lake where I was able to spend a quiet -- except for Pandora -- hour on the lake.  There were several other kayakers there but we didn't get in each other's way. 

Think I will take the day off tomorrow . . . .

Actually went to two stores today.  Yes, I wore a face mask.  One trip was to the local grocery store for supplies.  The first thing I did was check the TP aisle and alas, they are still out of any products.  I asked the store personnel when the toilet paper would be in again and she told me that they deliver on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 4pm.  I will let you know what happens on Friday afternoon.   The place was not crowded at 7:30 am and most people were wearing masks and all of us were practicing social distancing. 

Later I went to Walmart to get some material to attempt to cover a chair.  The fabric aisle looked like the toilet paper aisle.  Decimated.  I suspect that crafters have a lot of time on their hands right now and since Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Joanne's Fabrics and other craft stores are pretty much shut down, Walmart is taking the brunt and their suppliers are on a regular schedule that does not make accommodations for coronavirus concerns.  I picked up some material and thread quickly and got out of there but NOT before I checked out the TP aisle where it was also empty.  I did manage to score some paper towels though.  The employees all have face coverings on but I will say that the customers were not exactly as well equipped nor did they seem concerned about keeping social distance. 

Tomorrow I do a Zoom with my college friends.  Some of us are more techy than others to I am hoping it works out.  We are are several different time zones.   Looking forward to it.

Stay safe you all!

Day 29, April 21, 2020 - SOS

Yep, SOS

I got up this morning and took a 3 mile run around Virginia Lake.  Amazingly there were quite a few people at 7:30 am.  Spring is finally here and the weather is warming up -- bringing out lots of folks.  Guess I'm going to have to get up earlier. 

While I was running I happened to look over at the shoreline and noticed that the 4 goslings were there with both their natural family and their adoptive (kidnappers) family.  Wow, how interesting.  the plot thickens, were these just the grandparents babysitting one of the troublesome youth?  Could be.  In any event I'm really happy to see all 4 goslings surviving and learning to swim.

Life is so boring right now.  We are trying to find anything to occupy ourselves with.  When we first entered our quarantine I went to order some jigsaw puzzles from amazon but alas, others had the same brainstorm!  Managed to get to Walmart a few weeks back and found one puzzle -- the aisle was almost as vacant as the toilet paper aisle.  We finished that puzzle and put it in the mail to my sister in Michigan.  A couple of days ago we received 2 puzzles from her.  We are working on this one now:

Also, I have been working out in the basement.  Here's my gym:

Tonight we walked the dogs around the lake and noticed that there were very few masks.  I hope that Nevadans continue to take this virus situation seriously.  I sense that some are beginning to tire of the lockdown.  The advent of spring and beautiful weather is bringing people out of their homes and since they aren't at work, they feel that they may as well congregate.  I pray that they continue to hang in there -- we are doing good in Nevada.  Our Governor Sisolak is being very cautious.  He is outlining phase I of the reopening but he has given NO opening date.  PLEASE WAIT everybody.  I know it is painful but I believe it is for the good of all of us!

April 20, 2020 -- day 28 Sun's out! But not now .

Random thoughts:

1)  anyone else wear the same set of clothes every other day?
2)  are those clothes workout clothes?
3)  anybody else in my generation see the dead count on the nightly news in the evening similar to another time?
4) Taking a shower used to be automatic now it’s a measured decision.

Today started out really nice.  The sun came out and it seemed to promise a warm day.  It didn't last long.  I got my morning exercise done in the basement with zoom, did a few emails and read my book.  Once again the day passed without incident.  The only excitement was seeing the kids riding their bikes down the empty street.

Things are really beginning to green up around here.

Remember what I said about the geese with 3 goslings that originally had been 4?  Well here they are.

And it looks like my "kidnap" theory proved out because not far from the above family, here is a family with only 1.  What kind of goose has only one egg . . . . I'm not judging, I'm just glad there are still 4!

And here is the mama that is sitting now (maybe 2 weeks) on her next in front of all of us.  She got a little pissed when my dog approached.

Sunday April 19, 2020 - Day 27

Not too much to report today.  I have pretty much picked up a daily routine. 

1)  Sleep in until 6am, have coffee while I peruse the news on my cell phone;
2)  Get up, make the bed;
3)  go out for a run or get ready to do an online HIIT class via Zoom;
4)  eat breakfast;
5)  read, work a puzzle, check social media (pretty much all day long);
6)  eat lunch;
7)  do a little housework, laundry, vacuum dust . . . ;
8)  more reading -- falling asleep;
9)  take the dog down to the lake for a walk;
10) 5:00:  turn on the local news, 5:30 watch the national news;
11) pour a glass of wine;
12) eat dinner;
13) watch TV;
14) go to bed.

I wonder, does all of this look familiar to you?

Today I did all of the above but I also zoomed with some friends who live on the other side of town.  It was fun and we decided to do it again next week and make it cocktail hour!

Here are a couple of pictures I took today.  You can see that spring is arriving -- regardless of the virus.  Not too much we can do to slow down mother nature.  On my walk around the lake today I saw the big goose still sitting on her nest.  People have brought her food and water so that she doesn't have to leave.  It is really sweet.  I'll try to take a picture tomorrow. 

There is a new family of geese -- the first goslings of the year.  The parents have brought them down to the lake -- they all have to cross the street.  Originally there were 4 goslings but now I only see 3. 😢 I wonder if the Mom missed the last one when it disappeared (from what, who knows?).  Survival of the fittest or just plain low creature on the food chain.  Kinda sad though. Or maybe with any luck at all the gosling was kidnapped by a childless mother!  One can only hope.

It's Sunday, slow news day.  I suspect that there will not be any real update tonight but for some reason I feel compelled to watch.

None of us left the house to go to a building today.  It has been 10 days since I entered a store.  Amazing how much I miss just shopping.  Weird.  Today I almost went out to buy some fabric to make a cover for a chair -- I was fooling myself, I can't just go to the store right now.  Maybe Thursday.  See how long I can last.

Star Date April 18, 2020 -- in the middle of this mess

I have been meaning to put my thoughts into words for many days but the inertia of being on lockdown has me paralyzed. 

About a month ago Russ and I were in Arizona, camping and heading for a scheduled visit to San Felipe, Baja, MX.  We had been camping and without much contact with the outside world but we had heard of the mounting concern over this new virus named COVID 19.   

We had our visas to enter Mexico and our auto insurance and I really wanted to go, looking forward to camping on the beach and waking up to the sunrise over the Sea of Cortez. 

The fact that the Baja 1000 had been cancelled because of the virus really made me look forward to the trip even more -- no loud, crazy people running up and down the beach and over the sand dunes.  

Yes, I think it was on the 18th of March that we heard that the border between Canada and the US had been closed.  Although I had been telling myself that this virus was not going to affect me -- going by truck and trailer to the little fishing village, doubt had been creeping into my head and this closure was the last straw.  Could Mexico be far behind?  

So we packed it up and headed for home.  We arrived home on March 25, 2020 and have been basically locked down in our home since then.  Other than going to the grocery store about 4 times, we have been housebound.  No more gym, hairdresser, doctors, restaurant, visits etc.

What have I gained so far?  The biggest thing I have learned so far is how self contained we can be.  Thanks to the internet I am able to take workout classes and actually interface with the coach and the other participants. I am also able to visit with my family and friends, pretending we are at a cocktail party is not too difficult with Zoom.   It really does help.  

My workout thank God

We did have Easter -- at a distance.  We went to my daughter's house, 2 miles from us, brought our own chairs, our own food, our own drink and sat 10 feet from each other.  

Joye Mitchell -- my Sis in Law

My kids, Montana, Uriah and Cohen Mitchell

Chuck Jackson and Russ

My grandson -- Cohen, had received a stuffed bunny for easter.  His new kitty -- Tyson, totally took a liking to this bunny and this is where the family found Tyson and his new best friend, the day after Easter.  Seriously, he dragged it here:

Obviously this bunny was meant for Tyson

Cohen gave the bunny to Tyson.

And this past week, I did manage to get out and kayak (with a lot of help from Russ) at Washoe Lake where there were very people and we all respected our space:

Washoe Lake from the middle

As we go along, it will be interesting to see how this thing spaces out.  I will report and try to post daily.  We will see . . . .

Stay Safe you all!