Day 47: A Loaf of Bread and a Dose of Self-Reflection

My church is collecting stories from parishioners on how we are coping with The Quarantine.   Here is my contribution: 

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As I write this, it is day 47 of my confinement.  I am fortunate in that I have been able to work from home, and this has served to keep me occupied and out of trouble during the day.

In the afternoons and weekends I have been taking what I have learned from the garden managers in the church garden and applying it to my own garden.  My goal even before the pandemic was to create a “pollinators’ oasis” in my backyard.  Now I finally have the chance to do this. Poppies, calendulas and nasturtiums have taken over one whole side of the yard, and I am eagerly awaiting my milkweed and borage plants to bloom. A couple of years ago I got myself a good camera and finally now have a chance to play around with it to capture images of my pollinating visitors.

I got loose in the kitchen and have been making comfort foods from my mother’s and grandmother’s recipe collections.   I have been experimenting with bread-making and I finally was able to bake something that resembled whole wheat bread rather than a whole wheat brick.

I have been binge-watching Downtown Abbey episodes and just finished the entire Harry Potter film series.  I am currently reading The Idiot’s Guide to Zen Living,   I figured out the Book of Common prayer and have been doing one of the daily offices each day.

Finally, I have been having virtual happy hours with friends through text and zoom.   One friend sent me a case of wine to make sure I do it right.

The strange thing is:  As much as I am eager to get back to “normal,”  I think I may miss this time of comradery and self-reflection when I do.

ljgloyd 2020

Day 30: Waiting for That Money Shot

Last year I bought myself a decent camera because I had this idea that I would be able to get back into photography. That did not come to pass because one thing after another came up to get in the way.

The shelter-in-place mandate by my county has been extended to the middle of May and my workplace will not allow us back until the end of May. So I have plenty of time on my hands.  Instead of just standing by and waiting for the all-clear, I thought I would put my camera to use.

Since I cannot go anywhere, I will need to be satisfied with what I can shoot around my home and in my neighborhood. This morning I figured out how do use my long range lens. I sat on my patio for a while waiting for the hummingbirds to feed on my nasturtiums as well as house finches and Black Phoebes to splash in the birdbath.  However, a murder of crows roosting in a Jacaranda tree on the property next door was creating havoc by terrorizing the mourning doves, cavorting mid-air with each other and hollering back-and-forth at full-volume.   They managed to scare off all small birds in neighborhood, so all I managed were some shots of my flowers and bees. It’s gonna take a while to get that proverbial money shot.

That’s OK.   It seems like I’m in this for the long-haul.

ljgloyd  2020

 

 

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2020/04/11/rdp-saturday-standby/

 

 

 

Day 26: Touching Base

It is Day 26 of my lock down.   And it is looking like this will continue at least through the month of April and probably into May.  And then, from what I hear, it is going to come around again in September.

The situation has been tolerable, but now I am hearing that we should not leave the house at all, not even to walk around for exercise for at least two weeks.   Now I know that is for my well-being and the safety of all around me.   And it is no big deal to be asked to lay on my couch all day.  So I will do it.

It will end.  It will. I have no doubt.  But how will I change and how will we all change when it is done?  Will we go back to the old normal of being selfish, shallow, materialistic, over-privileged jerks?   Or will be move giving, more reflective, more spiritual, more magnanimous individuals?

Maybe I will slip back to the old ways, though I hope not.  But I do know that I am grateful for a job, a roof over my head, food in my pantry, and so far — by the grace of God — good health.   If there is no other benefit than learning to be grateful, then I will have done well.

ljg 2020

 

Grace