GROUNDED
(Covid 19)
I really can't complain about anything. We're lucky to live out in the country, with polite and caring neighbors. We have five neighbors, and we congregate in the dirt road that runs in front of our house to visit....socially distanced, or at safe distances on the porch. This dang Covid 19 has everyone afraid, and social distancing and masks are the norm.
We take a ride daily, if only to get a loaf of bread at the store. Royster goes in From 7:00 a.m to 8:00 a.m. every day is Old Folks Shopping at Smith's. Everyone is politely distanced at 6' and masked. Puck and I stay in the car. I could no longer navigate a grocery store or any other establishment to find anything, as I have not been in any of these establishments in three months. I will not go to any medical facility unless it's a dire emergency. I am considered "High Risk", as I'm old and have a respiratory issue. So far, so good! There is one doctor that is pestering me to go get a cat scan because, according to him, it's been 17 years, and it's time. I'm pretty sure he was just drumming up business. He couldn't give me a good reason for it, so I politely declined with, "Are you crazy?! No!" I think I hurt his feelings.
Staying at home has it's merits. We've found more time to do the things that make us happy, plus a big task going on in the back yard on the mountain. As usual, my beading makes me happy, and I can get totally lost in it, meditating and molding a beautiful piece of art that speaks volumes of my moods and surroundings.
The large project in the back yard is a big wall made of railroad timbers to hold back the mountain erosion behind the house. It's really a huge undertaking, and it actually looks good. I will be planting seeds of hollyhocks and sunflowers in front of this wall.
Our little garden on the hill is coming right along, with a couple of kind s of green beans, tomatoes, onions, yellow squash, zucchini, cabbage, and rhubarb occupies a prominent place in the garden. We've found a great deal of satisfaction in growing our own veggies. And, yes, they do taste better than store-bought. Royster made us a "Tomato Garden" in 10, 5 gallon buckets next to the driveway. It's tomatoes, peppers and lettuce. This makes it easy to just go out and pick a salad for dinner on any given night.
We had some much needed rain, interspersed with a bit of hail yesterday. Puckster loved it, and stayed out in the middle of the back yard until the hail started. After the rain and hail, he ran down to join his buddies Bob and Daney to go play in the mud in the river below us. He has no shame, but he's usually cleaned up enough by the time the sun goes down to come in the house, at which time he sits in the kitchen and mumbles at me. Apparently this is our time for "conversation". He mumbles at me, and I mumble back. He really is a good conversationalist. This volley goes on until dinner is ready, when he waits patiently and attentively for anything to fall or perhaps something gets tossed his way. He's a good catch. Never misses.
The river below moves on and the beavers build again. The rainbows out my kitchen windows are spectacular, and I miss our kids and grandchildren. I wish they were here. All the grands are grown, and going to college, getting married, and living their own lives. Life is good on our mountain in the Taos Canyon, and the beat goes on and on and on.
