Pandemic Times, March 21-27

Sunday, March 21

I got up late, but with the intention to make 2 Mexican themed dishes to take to the Brocks for a late lunch and to watch the Lady Vols in the first round of the NCAA tourney.  First I made Mexican cole slaw from a recipe I found on Facebook.  It called for cilantro, so I headed to the garden.  On my way, birds were singing from every tree all around me.

Chorus of birdsong
Each one singing its own tune
Beautiful music

Cilantro among the weeds on the right.  Kale on the left.

There is much work ahead to bring this garden to production.

We had a normal game day and food with the Brocks.  Aiden was at work, Wayne, Kathy and Bill are fully vaccinated and I'm half way there, so no masks were required! Yea!  Our women won which made it even more fun and the food was good, too. Kathy had onion dip with potato chips, bean dip with tostitos, and I took a tamale pie in addition to the cole slaw.  Nothing on the menu was very healthy but it was all very satisfying.

Monday, March 22

I was supposed to have a grant meeting at Good Samaritan at 11 am, but Mary Ann emailed me early and we worked out everything by phone and email.  So not meeting was required.  She doesn't like unnecessary meetings any more than I do.

With some of my day now freed I worked in the garden, clearing some of the beds for early planting.  While I was busy in the garden, Bill was leveling the ground just outside the deck so we could move the new umbrella off the deck.  When the time came to actually move the umbrella, he needed my help.  We had to first lift the umbrella off of the base, then scoop most of the sand out of the base using trowels. When it was light enough, we moved it to its new spot and refilled the sand.  It was a tedious but not particularly hard.

When I got back to my garden work, I picked the new growth kale from plants that had wintered over. Later in the day, I washed and steamed it.  A grocery sack stuffed with fresh-picked kale yields about a quart of steamed kale.

Washing and stripping the kale.  It turned out to be very mild.

Working on weeding the Oregano

Old growth/weeds removed in anticipation of lettuce and spinach.  The green clump is lemon balm.

As usual, I took Amanda to softball.  After I dropped her off, I went to Pope's garden center in Dixie-Lee Jct and bought lettuce and spinach plants, 3 pots of basil and 2 bags of soil amendments.  Then 

For supper we had leftover tamale pie and coleslaw. 

Tuesday, March 23

The weather is still warm and conducive to gardening.  I added some of the soil amendments to the garden square that I had cleared yesterday, worked it into the soil and planted my lettuce and spinach.  It feels good and right to have begun this year's garden.  After I got the new plants in the ground (except the basil), I trimmed back the abundant sage.  I have way too much sage.  I cleared the fence row where snap peas will go.  The ground is till too wet to really dig and work it, so those won't get planted before next week.  I am also planning to plant mustard greens and chard in the early beds.  Summer crops won't be planted until after mid-April when the ground warms enough, so I'll be working on getting the beds ready.

Amanda had a softball home game. I didn't get to stay for the whole game, but I saw her first at bat.  She made solid contact and hit cleanly into center field.  Unfortunately a teammate was tagged for the 3rd out at home plate on the play, so Amanda didn't get on base.

Because we left home so early for the game, I made an early supper of marinara from leftover canned diced tomatoes in tomato sauce and bits of other leftovers and herbs.   I marinated chicken thighs in my balsamic/olive oil dressing, rolled them in bread crumbs and air-fried them for 10 minutes.  A salad completed the supper offering.

Wednesday, March 24

I hate AT&T. Unfortunately, we have no other choice for streamable internet out here in the country.  They charged us with over 9 GB of data upload before we even got up this morning.  This has been an on-going problem. But we are monitoring closely and this was particularly egregious. So another call to tech support. At least this time they acknowledge that they have an issue with the fixed wireless service.

I was scheduled to take Amanda for a haircut appointment at 12:30 in Turkey Creek.  I let her drive on the interstate and in the suburban shopping center traffic.  She did great! We had one moment when it looked like a big rig would move into our lane, but we both handled it safely and without panic.  I'm so proud of her.  An her haircut looks great!

While she was at the salon, I went shoe shopping - successfully!  I was in need of new walking shoes as mine are many years old and worn out. I was unusually successful, coming home with 2 pair of walking shoes, one for outdoor trails and one for general use, 1 pair  for Easter and a pair of around-the-house slip-ons.

Amanda and I stopped at our favorite Asian restaurant for take-out. Amanda chose drunken noodles and I got our regular for Bill and me.  Each portion is enough for 2 meals for us. 

Amanda had another ball game - away this time, so we chose not to go.  Bill has been working on the deck and I've been running around all day, it seems.

Thursday, March 25

We had rain off and on all day as predicted, with stronger storms coming tonight.  It was a good day to sleep in, do computer work, read, walk the treadmill etc. We did not even venture out to the mailbox and Amanda's practice was cancelled.

I worked on editing another dental grant and getting my computer ready to take to the Apple Store for service tomorrow.  I have an appointment after my vaccine. Maybe I'll come home with a new stimulus-funded computer.

For supper we finished an assortment of leftovers.

Friday, March 26

I started this day by driving to North Knox Medical Center for my 2nd vaccine (Phizer). I feel a big sense of relief to have that done.

 From there I went to West Town Mall where I had a 10:45 service appointment and an 11 am sales appointment at the Apple Store.  There are no walk-ins at the store. Customers enter by appointment only and no less than four security guards were stationed at the entrance to monitor traffic.  When I finished the service appointment, I had to go out of the store and wait to be called back in for the sales appointment. I did not end up getting any service done on the computer, but I did get the screen replaced on my iPhone.  I had to wait until 1 pm for that job to be completed.  I did come out of the sales appointment with a new MacBook Air and I learned a lot in the process. The new laptop replaces my ten-year-old model.  Of course I spent most of the rest of the afternoon setting up the new computer.

The afternoon was warm and sunny, so we enjoyed a late afternoon cocktail time on the deck with some nice french bread & olive oil to go with our wine and beer.

For supper I made enchiladas with left-over taco beef.  No BBall games tonight, so we enjoyed a moved recommended by Kathy, "The Peanut Butter Falcon."

Saturday, March 27

Heavy rain moved in overnight and continued off and on throughout the day.  It is so typical of spring to have these weather fronts move through every few days with alternating sun and rain.

I had a Zoom workshop which began at 9 am and lasted until 1:30. It was a course in the United Methodist Lay Servant series on Preaching. It was taught by a conference pastor, Rev. Paul Seay. It was a good course and I picked up a few ideas as well as the certificate.  I spent the rest of the afternoon in my chair working on putting last week's log online.

I was glad to have a physically quiet day.  After the shot yesterday, I was feeling very lethargic. Fortunately, I didn't have any major side effects.  I cooked tuna steaks and served them with baked sweet potatoes and steamed kale our for supper.  Bill watched BBall and I went to bed early.

My vaccination this week marks the beginning of the end of my personal Pandemic Times.  The race is still on between the spread of new and more contagious variants of the virus and the spread of vaccinations.  As of next week, anyone age 16+ will be eligible for a vaccine.  Claire will be vaccinated at the university on Monday.  The level of testing is so low that we don't really know how much the virus may be spreading. Locally the positivity rate is below 10%, which is good, and the case rate is 12/100,000.  I trust that the data shows that locally, the infection is waning.  

I am ready to transition this blog from "Pandemic Times" to "The Journey Continues."  I began this journey a year ago, and the journey continues, even as it changes.  Life, after all, is the Journey. I began this daily log of life during the covid pandemic on April 1 one year  ago.  So next week, this daily log will become "The Journey Continues."