Day 17

It's been over 2 weeks since I've been to any store, so creating a healthy breakfast is an adventure.  The last greens I bought was a bunch of kale, because that stuff is hearty and will last a long time.  I stored it carefully and use a little on most days in some way.  It's starting to get a little limp, so it's perfect for smoothies.

I still have some of the coconut milk I used for cream of quinoa, and that is one of my favorite things to put in a smoothie.  It's full of creamy, fatty deliciousness.  I found half of an extremely overripe banana on the counter (Sarah used the other half in a smoothie yesterday) and four very soft clementines in the fridge.  Add half a bag of freezer burned mango from the Great Defrost, and there you go.  It's not the best smoothie I've ever made, but it's certainly not the worst.  I couldn't decide whether to drink it or turn it into a smoothie bowl, so I did half and half.

And kitty gets to lap up the dregs.

Now I'm off to set up a socially-distanced treasure hunt in my friend's neighborhood for her birthday.  She's another of the bananagirls, so of course I'll be wearing my banana suit. This time I'm adding a super hero cape, so if you see SuperBanana driving through Morton, you'll know.

 See the clue? It's by the pool, which rhymes with school, which is where the grand prize (toilet paper) is.

I went for a walk and a guy tripped in front of me and almost went facefirst into the asphalt.  I spent the next 20 minutes of my walk wondering what I would have done if he had.  Would I have touched him or just called 9-1-1 from 6 feet away?  I ended up deciding I would have touched him but then after he was in the ambulance, I would have gone straight home and scrubbed like a surgeon.  

It still seems slightly offensive when people steer a wide berth around you as if you're revolting.  I wonder if, when this is all over, it will seem strange to be close to people again.  In less than a month, we've gone from handshakes and hugs to fistbumps to elbow and foot bumps to airhugs from 6 feet away.  I saw a  mom and toddler approaching on my side of the street, so I gave them a friendly wave and crossed to the other side.  I heard the kid asking his mom, "Why did she go way over there?" and the Mom said, "We're not supposed to get too close to people, remember?" and he asked, "But why?"  By then I was too far away to hear, but it made me realize something new that I'm thankful for: not having to explain this whole situation to a curious toddler.  

Then I saw an 11-week-old maltiepoo coming around the corner.  It was adorable, and it was rushing excitedly at me.  I asked its mom if I could take a picture from 6 feet away.  It was gutwrenching not to pet it.

Mama Duck is on her nest today.  Walking by on the sidewalk, one would never guess that there's a mother there, keeping a dozen babies warm.  It makes me smile every time I go by, because she and I have a secret.

Lots of good artists in my neighborhood.

I am not a good artist, but I leave messages for my little boys across the street.  They turned 4 and 2 this week.  I'm looking forward to being able to play with them again.

Day 16

There's a thing going around social media right now encouraging people to put greenery on their doors for Palm Sunday.  These are the examples I've seen:

I think Jesus is saying, "I love that.  It reflects my qualities of creativity and beauty."
And here's what I made:

to which I picture Jesus saying, "I love that just as much.  It reflects my qualities of grace and acceptance."

I visited the nest today and found that Mrs. Duck had laid yet another egg!  The nest is now absolutely crammed full of 12 eggs.

I saw a super friendly dog who was so desperate for me to pet him that he charged up and rammed his head under my hand.  I pulled my hand inside my sleeve and stroked his back once with the outside of my jacket, came home, washed, and petted my cats like crazy.

Day 15

I went for a walk this morning to check on the duck nest.  I was about to plunge my hand into the bush, and I was startled to find Mrs. Duck sitting on the eggs!  She's extremely well camouflaged.

Today is my friend Bev's birthday.  She's one of the four of us (affectionately known as the bananagirls) who play bananagrams together.  She thinks we're meeting online for a group game of bananagrams like we did last Monday, but we're going to surprise her by driving (individually in our own cars) to her house and popping up in our banana suits (yes, we each have a banana costume) outside her window (6 feet apart)!  I've never given toilet paper as a birthday gift before, but this year it's an actual valuable commodity, so that's what she's getting.

Noah is happy to be back working with Brad today after not doing any work at all last week.

Duck update: Mike and I walked to the nest tonight. Mrs. Duck was gone, and there were 11 eggs.  Babies should be arriving right around the end of quarantine!  They'll have to cross two streets to get to the creek.

Day 14

It's very strange not to go to church on Sunday.  I worked a little this morning.  It's hard to find decent  jobs on the weekends, but I got a good one.

I gave Noah a haircut and threw the clippings out for the birds.  His hair is perfect nesting material.

I made turkey salad and another pot pie.

It boiled over in the oven, so that will be a mess for me to clean up after it cools.

Bouts of irritation occasionally flare up between certain people in the house and certain other people in the house, who shall remain nameless.  Mike has spent more time in the basement today.  I think he's building a nice little nest for himself down there.  I'm grateful that we have enough room in the house for each person to have a private space away from everyone else.  We all need that sometimes.  I'm going to play an online game of Scrabble with my friend Denise.

Did some laundry, made toffee bars, and went for a walk to counteract yesterday's slothfulness.  While I was out walking, I found a treasure:  a nest of duck eggs!

It was in a low bush a couple streets over.  I'm always on the lookout for nest activity, and this area struck me as a good place, so I peered in, and sure enough, there were about 10 eggs in there!  That made me ridiculously happy.  It almost makes up for not being able to pet dogs when I'm out for walks.  I miss petting dogs.  They always look so confused and sad, especially the ones that know me and are used to my petting.

President Trump today extended the time of quarantine until April 30, so we have more than a month of this to go.  It's not a complete quarantine unless you're sick.  We just can't gather in group of more than 10 and have to stay 6 feet away from people.  We're not supposed to shop for anything but essential supplies like food and medicine.  So churches, schools, gyms, restaurants will still be closed for a long time.  I feel safe, I'm not scared, and I don't really mind the isolation.

Day 13

Today started at 6:00 a.m. with a big fat (she must be pregnant) possum on the back patio.
Mike went to Kroger, against my advice. He got  milk, frozen pizzas, and a bag of onions. He and I went for a walk, which was cut short, because it started raining. Virtual church starts at 6:00 tonight.  I didn't do much of anything today. I think (hope) Mike must be cleaning the basement, because every time I can't find him, he's been down there.

Speaking of the basement, that's where all 7 of us ended up just now (9:00 p.m.) because of a tornado warning.  We played some euchre until it passed.

Day 12

Even the animals seem stir-crazy, which seems odd, because nothing has changed for them.  Maybe they can just sense the vibe.

Shadow walked around the house yowling like he does when he's about to do something weird.  Then he vaulted up to the top of the fridge!  He's really quite an athlete.  After stirring the dust around and enjoying the view from up there, he jumped straight down to the floor and landed very close to his sister, which caused her to fluff up in terror and go skidding down the hall, which caused him to chase her.  They chased each other all through the house for several minutes.  It was very entertaining!  

Today's breakfast of quarantined champions is a coffee cake, inspired by the bag of frozen mixed berries I found in the freezer and the granola I found in the pantry.

And for dinner, they'll be having a turkey from 2012, discovered during the Great Defrost.  

Update: The turkey has been cooking all day, and the whole house should smell like Thanksgiving by now, but instead, it smells oddly like strawberry oatmeal. I just had this conversation with Noah:

Me: What do you smell?

N: My fart.

M: What do you smell out in the world?

N: Fire?

M: No, what do you smell cooking in the crockpot?

N: Roast beef?

(pause)

Turkey?

M: Yes, it's a turkey.

N: (in his "I'm trying to please you" voice) Mmm, smells good.

I got this sad email this afternoon:

Dear Janel Janes, Here's a message from your SignUp.com organizer, Heather Berger, Co-Director/Music Director: Hello, Big Fish Parents, It is with very heavy hearts that our production team announced today that we must cancel the show. Your students were sent a video with a statement created by Mrs. Berger, Miss Isacksen, Sra. Zehr, Mr. Feleccia, and Mrs. Farwell. Please watch that statement with your child and be with them during this painful and utterly disappointing announcement. We, as directors, felt that canceling was the only option for the safety of our students and staff. We know that this is just one of many disappointments that we have all felt in the past 2 weeks. But we also know that this could hit some of our students the hardest. Please contact any of us if you need anything. We are here to help however we can. Thank you for your support of your children and of the MHS Theatre program. We appreciate your willingness to help in every production that we produce. Take care of those wonderfully talented kids of yours. Hug them tight. We love them! Until we meet again, Heather Berger, Sarah Isacksen, Vonda Zehr, Tony Feleccia, & Miki Farwell I cried for a good five minutes, because I knew it was going to break Sarah's heart.  But she took it surprisingly well.  She tried to find something positive about it and said that at least now she'll have more time for track.  I dread the day that she finds out the whole track season is cancelled too.  I know it's coming.

Day 11

Early this morning, Noah and I went for a walk, because the weather was perfect (cloudy and 50 degrees) and it's supposed to rain the rest of the day.  It felt good to exercise, get fresh air, and chat with my boy.  We walked around a park, and I greeted the squirrels, then we walked around a nursing home and waved at the residents, and we wrote chalk messages for our little neighbor kids across the street.

When we got home, he rode the broken chair down the street. 

The media is magnifying this virus.  Check out a couple of the graphics on the news:

 Mike said this one looks like Hiroshima.

This one pictures a huge virus ball looming over the Peoria skyline.

 I much prefer this painting that a couple friends of mine did before the pandemic.  Jesus, the lion of Judah, protecting the city.

I have no graphic arts ability, but I wanted to make something that shows Jesus as more powerful than the virus, so this is my attempt.

During the Great Freezer Defrost of 2020, I found some frozen butternut squash, so I used that and my last onion to make butternut squash soup. 

It was pretty boring, like baby food, so I added some beans, spinach, rice, and quinoa.  It wasn't boring anymore, but still not very good.  I ate the whole bowl though, because I don't waste food.