Day 45

I decided to go back into stores.  Everybody else is doing it, and they're fine.  I had a list,  Mike's mom and sister gave me a list, Sarah gave me a list, and Noah and Mike each asked for a few things, so I went to Kroger and Costco this morning.

It took way longer than usual, because you can only go down each aisle one way, and you have to stay 6 feet away from everyone else, so  there's a lot of standing around, waiting for people to move.  Everyone was wearing masks, but we can still recognize each other.  I saw a few people I know that I haven't seen for weeks.  It's been a long time since I've seen people in person that I'm not related to.

 There are markings on the floor to show you where to stand,

 and reminders on the shelves so you don't get close to people.

I made the delivery to Mike's family, kids helped me haul all our stuff in, and then they had a virtual Kuk Sool Won class while I put everything away, unloaded the dishwasher, did a load of laundry, made a wonderful fruit salad.

Noah is off to mow a few yards, Sarah is doing school, and I'm suddenly overwhelmed by an inexplicable wave of irritation with everyone and everything, so I'm taking a quick jaunt to Paris in my mind to see the Eiffel Tower.

Day 44

Chilly rain all day.  I managed to book an imaginary helicopter tour over the Amazon rainforest, but that's all I did.

Day 43

Spent a few hours this morning working, focusing on the rush jobs. They pay higher (72 cents a minute vs. 54 cents a minute), but can involve a little stress, because if you run into a problem, you don't have much time to resolve it.  Sometimes (like today) I'm in the mood for rush jobs, but mostly I stick with the low-stress, lower-paying jobs.

Then I went on a pretend African safari and saw cheetahs and giraffes.

Sarah and I went on a little trip.  She got a free taco at Taco Bell and free fries at Steak 'n Shake, and I got to watch geese.  I saw my Walmart babies at the kiddie pool at Lake Steak 'n Shake, with their parents watching over them.

But the big fun happened at the park where I usually go in the spring to watch geese.  We happened to get there right when goslings were hatching.  I got to see babies from two different nests hatching one right after the other.  I even got to see some baby turtles.  It was pure bliss.

 I think it's so funny when they stick their butts up in the water like that.

 I would love to be able to glide from flying to land gracefully on the water like they do.

 I called this one Mr. Wonky Feather.

 This mother stood up and I could see the baby coming out of the egg, and a few minutes later, he appeared from underneath her wing.

A few minutes later, another poked its tiny beak out.

I found a nest with four cold eggs in it that had been laid too close to the water and got flooded out over the weekend when we had a lot of rain and the pond water rose. I'm sure there's no hope of hatching it, but I brought one home and put it in the incubator with my duck egg, which is due to hatch tomorrow, but surely won't.  

I managed to sit in goose poop while I was taking pictures, so I had to take my pants off before I got in the car and drive home pantless.  

In other news, even summer events are starting to drop off our calendar.  Today it was the Youth Group mission trip to Denver in June.

Day 42

I drove to the goose nest today to find it happily empty.  A quick scan of Walmart Pond showed they weren't there either.  Then I drove to where I hoped they would be (Lake Steak 'n Shake), and there they were.  Mother Goose and all six babies.  The pond is fenced off, but they were nearby, and they were with a huge flock of geese.  The adult geese fly easily in and out of the pond, but Mother Goose seemed to be having a hard time getting the babies to go through the fence.  She was nudging them with her beak, but they weren't going.  I'm sure they'll figure it out.  I'm relieved to see they made it to a good place.  It was a long walk for the poor little ones.

My pretend adventure (suggested by my mom) was to see the cherry blossoms in Japan and the tulips in Holland, which would be a lot of travel in one day, but thankfully, imaginary flights are always on time, so I made it to both.

Also saw a spectacularly beautiful cat today:

Day 41

What a perfect weather day!  Mike went for two long motorcycle rides, and he hiked with me at my newly-discovered spot.  He was Lewis and I was Clark.  The kids opted not to go.  It was a little muddy from yesterday's rain.

 My imaginary excursion was to the dense forests of South Africa, where I was attacked by this anaconda:

On the way home, we drove through the Walmart parking lot and visited the goose nest I've been watching for 2 or 3 weeks. I had zero hope of ever seeing these babies, because I didn't know when the mother started brooding and was too far away to check on them regularly.  But it just so happened that it was hatching day, and we got to see the adorable, yellow fluffballs!  Maybe that's my consolation prize for what happened with Hannah and Cyrus' babies.

There were six live ones and one dead in the nest.  I wanted to watch way longer than Mike did, so we went home and I got my camera and went back.  Mother Goose tried to get the babies to follow her to water, but they refused to jump off the curb, so she came back to the nest.  I made a ramp out of a piece of wood I found in the parking lot and the floor mat from my car.  About 30 minutes later, Mother Goose tried again.  She stepped off the curb near my ramp, and the babies tumbled down it.  She led them right into traffic.  I stood in the middle of the parking lot, directing traffic around them.  She headed for Walmart Pond, which had dried up to a little muddy sludge.  She surveyed it, then turned around and headed back, with her little followers stumbling along behind. They all settled into the nest again.  I watched for a long time before I finally decided to leave because my back hurt, my phone was dead, and I had run out of water.

Marching out boldly.

Returning in defeat.

40 days!

Chilly rain all day, so my imaginary excursion was to Seattle.

I delivered groceries to Mike's mom and sister, held hnads under the covers with Shiloh, and went to virtual church.  That's about it.

Mike delivered a care package to his dad at the hospital. 

Day 39

It was rainy and foggy this morning, but I still managed an imaginary trip to Yellowstone and got there just in time to see Old Faithful erupting.

Sarah and I finished the tie dye project, which involved laundry, bleaching the kitchen sink, and mopping the floor. 

Noah worked with Brad. 

Day 38

This one started out bad and ended up good.  I was disgruntled and unhappy this morning, but then I decided to try to find somewhere new to hike.  I went way out to the northwest edge of town, bumbled onto a dirt road that turned out not to be a real road, almost got stuck in the mud, got a little bit lost, and ended up in some woods that I had never hiked before.  I pretended to be Lewis and Clark.  Our whale-watching expedition of a couple days ago gave me the idea to go on a new adventure within my own town every day until I run out of ideas, which should be about a week. Today I went to Niagara Falls.

Lots of pretty flowers and trees in the woods, and beautiful bird songs.

 My poor car after almost getting stuck in the mud.  I gave her a wash on the way home.

 I rather unwisely crossed the creek on this log.  I threw my phone and keys across to the other side before I crossed, in case I fell in the drink.  

The Lord provided me a nice seat at the end of a long hike.

When I got home, Sarah and I spent the afternoon tie-dying.

Marty surpervised.

When Noah got home from working all day with Brad, he tie dyed his pillowcase.

We got this email today: Due to numerous scheduling changes for Senior’s final attendance day in your schools, we feel it is necessary to end our Construction WBL Program on May 1, 2020.  Certificates of Completion for the WBL Program will be mailed to students by June 1, 2020.

And the governor announced today that the stay-at-home order is extended through the end of May, and masks will be required when you go anywhere as of May 1.

Mike's dad got moved out of ICU into a regular room!