“Detachment produces a peculiar state of mind.
Maybe that’s the worst sentence of all,
to be deprived of feeling what a human being ought to be entitled to feel.”
James Dickey
Firstly—
the magic hour currently is 2PM.
Why you ask??
I live for 2PM…
Secondly,
Spring is in the air and we know that lots of bad decisions have been being made…
think Spring Breakers who each defied rational thinking and opted to live large and,
what has now turned out to be actually, living deadly.
Dumb, stupid and selfish…but such is Spring Break and youth—as are the adults
who claim to be their parents–all for having allowed them to go in the first place…
but I digress.
Here, closer to home, we have some Spring breakers who are also not demonstrating wise
decision making…
It seems the purple finches have decided that our last leg of a front porch light
should be the location for all things amore…and egg-laying.
The problem has been getting any and all straw and whatnots to stay in place and
not simply fall out.
Then there’s the matter of the physical getting in and out.
Throw in the overt swinging when there’s a storm or simply wind…
all of which, I imagine, will make for seasick residents.
Thirdly…
I had to venture back out into the land of contagion today to the supermarket in order to gather
more supplies—namely more baby food—along with adult people food as well as some cat food.
My husband has suggested that we simply let the cats run loose to seek out field rats but
I will save that as a last resort.
Fourthly, but still related to thirdly,
Our local hospital has issued the grade of a D for our community on following the guidelines
of sheltering indoors.
This sort of disturbing news comes as this small brood of mine has all but killed one another
as we’ve sheltered in place now for nearly three weeks…all but for my treks out for supplies.
Our county ranks 7th in our state of 159 counties for active cases of Covid19.
I am ashamed that we have been given the grade of D…
Selfish idiots live among us and it all makes me so mad.
I read a story of how some Maine residents took matters into their own hands when a neighbor
would not stay put…meaning they wouldn’t shelter in place.
So they cut down a tree across the neighbor’s driveway.
I’m wondering if I can randomly go out and cut trees down all over our county…
So fithly, and back to both fourthly and thirdly…
I have always loved grocery shopping.
Call me crazy but I really do enjoy it.
I think it’s because I was hard-wired with that whole hunting and gathering notion
pretty strongly.
I love to cook, as it has always been a way for me to be creative
(imagine an art teacher finding her creativity in the kitchen vs an art medium..who knew?!)
plus I love finding new and different things to add to my cooking repertoire.
So the last three times I’ve had to go to the store, it is all I can do not to simply lose
it in the store.
Meaning that this whole madness is about to bring me to my knees in my own local Publix.
I can see the headlines now—“Local woman falls to the floor in a fetal position in Publix”
I so much as told this to the checkout gal who, by the way I know by name.
I told her this today as I was checking out–that I sadly now hate coming to the store.
There is such an eeriness now at the store, not to mention a bareness.
People glance at one another hesitantly, if they actually see anyone else at all…
As in there is very little eye contact and when there is, it is with caution.
Oh, and it is always over a blue mask.
Gloved hands are the new tres chic…that is, except for my bare face and hands.
I feel so last year.
People now make wide swings away from one another or avoid aisles with more than one cart.
Shelves remain bare.
And I wonder why I even bother.
Oh, to eat, that’s right.
So yeah, these are my first and hopefully not last thoughts for the day…
Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me,
to give to each one according to what he has done.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,
the Beginning and the End.”
Revelation 22:13
cookiecrumbstoliveby 
Our stores are not as bare anymore Julie. Except for certain areas – toilet roll and tissues, flour, and for some reason the Darjeeling tea that I love. We managed to get bread flour in a health food shop in town today after Marilyn delivered a quantity of her best homemade cakes to the local hospital where she used to be a nurse. The local butcher was also open so we managed to buy locally sourced sausages and eggs. Time for sausages, eggs, and chips (fries) me thinks!
I know chips David— 😋—we had some last evening with my homemade grilled patty melts! There were some meats and chicken but no flour, no oil, very few cereals remains and oddly no Tylenol— forget disinfectants and little to none dish soap-pasta and rice were still scarce but fruits and veggies were plentiful— odd what people clamor for during such a crisis— how’s your dad managing David?
Pasta also in short supply here Julie. Dad is doing really well. He is exercising and seems very positive. My sister taught him how to use FaceTime and that has been much better than simply phoning. The stores have special hours for the elderly here so he has been out to get shopping. Although he is 89 he is rarely unwell and fitter than many half his age!
Our senior hours are like 7 or 8 am— getting up and out by 7 is not nearly as easy for me as it once was 😴
Different stores here have different hours and rules. At one stage our local supermarket was only allowing forty customers to be inside at a time. Everyone else has to queue six-feet apart in the car park. They seemed to have more people inside last time we went over. The supermarkets are possibly the only businesses making money – apart from the banks!
Gregory said the very same thing— throw in the liquor stores!!!
I’m heading to the grocery as soon as I finish saying good-morning to you, Julie! When I return home I will be sewing more masks. This batch will be dooled out to family members and friends whose health is already compromised by other pre-existing medical conditions. I worry for them…and even though I know they are being diligent by staying home they must venture out for necessary appointments and the likes. Listening to the news these past 48 hours I do believe masks for the common-folk will become the norm. Be sorrowful for the change but embrace it just the same, I suppose. 💔
When y’all get to my lap top I’ll forward you the link to IB’s post yesterday “the glove queen”— she’s a nurse and shared some good insight into the whole glove / mask thing— I can’t figure out how to share it via my phone—
There’s this thing called biology is her site / insanity bytes
[…] via firstly… — cookiecrumbstoliveby […]
As usual, you amaze me for your bravery. I usually make the shopping trip only once a week. The new normal is freaking me and many others out. Read Mark’s post today on the subject of COVID19. It’s hilarious. We must keep our sense of humor during this time. We’ll never forget the Easter season of 2020. I did manage to pick up some jelly beans.
What loveliness when the Mayor’s office closes a bit because the utilities have been cut off.
I guess it’s not odd that we talked about the same things this morning. It is the hot topic and the lockdown is affecting each of us. For me, giving me more time to write and clean house. For you, more loving insanity with grandchildren. Think of it this way, when they go back home, you might sleep for three days. Then you’ll wake up missing them.
I know— now the governor has closed the schools down for the remainder of the year so teaching from home for 2 more months— yay!!!!! 😬😑😶
Our governor just extended the stay-at-home to all counties. It’s odd, Pittsburgh had not been on lockdown, while our county was. But Pittsburgh (Allegheny county) had twice as many cases as our county. I guess money talks.
Napping at 2pm, sigh, what a luxury! And nice to see Percy again, has he healed from his injury?
I agree with you on the weirdness of people being suspicious of each other. I was out for a walk yesterday and noticed a woman well in front of me with trying to coax her her cute little daschund out of the bushes by tugging the leash. The dog was having one of it which caused me to smile and give a nod of sympathy and cheer to the woman. She quickly picked up the dog, gave me a dirty look and took off across the street. Honestly I was floored as it symbolized a defining moment for me on how this shutdown is changing society. A lot of dark cards are lining up in place, doesn’t bode well for the future.
I hope you and your clan are all doing well. Do you have on line grocery shopping available in your area? Check out Amazon Fresh and Instacart if you have not done so already.
Thanks Tricia— exhaustion will take me long before a virus 🤨
Your observation about “Gloved hands are the new tres chic…that is, except for my bare face and hands. I feel so last year” gave me a chuckle. Sad but so true. I can’t imagine where everyone got face masks, so I’m very last year as well. It has been over two weeks since I’ve been to Publix. I just got my first Instacart delivery with fresh produce from them and that is the way I’ll be shopping for the foreseeable future. We just can’t take a chance because of my husband’s heart condition. Stay smart, stay safe and stay healthy.
You too Karen ☺️
Ahh your words are like fresh air to my heart!! The pics of magic hour are so funny.. I well remember that hour when my boys were little, and cramming every bit of work and relaxation into it. 😂I like hat nature marches in despite our human craziness, it’s one of the things keeping me sane right now. And the contagion place… the dreaded store… the thrill is definitely gone. Xxx
I pray we return to normal in the grocery stores. It’s a real burden to hunt down food staples like the caveman once did.
Me too Ed
Can’t wait for this shortage to be over. Like you seeing young ones brighten my day during this time
As a Lutheran, I’ve never used the drive-through lane at the liquor store. But now that’s the only choice. I only needed to replenish the rum, but I had to sit in line with the other customers. The manager finally did what they do at Chick-fil-A: he came out and took orders from each car, then went inside and started lining up the bottles to speed the service. It’s a new world. J.
I’ve actually enjoyed my curbside order and pickup at our liquor store but I do miss perusing all the pretty bottles — I hand them my list and card and in a few minutes later, they come out( full masks and gloves) put the bag in the back and off I go— reminiscent of a car hop 🤩