I forgot, in all the “excitement”, it turned spring (yesterday or today, depending on who you believe).  Happy (a debatable term) Spring!  After temps in the 80s and more rain, there’s no doubt about it.  There are violets in every hue, and several perennials starting to bloom.  Also, my peas and other veggies are coming up!

We had to return to the pharmacy again, as there are many delays due to the virus.  Kroger shelves were still (or again) empty.  Our so-called governor is being totally ignorant and incompetent, refusing to take this crisis seriously or take action, keeping Dollywood and other big attractions and restaurants open for “tourism”, and claiming we can pray away the pandemic.  Just wow.  It is seriously medieval here.

Regardless, you have to keep living and functioning, and try to stay upbeat and hopeful.  I hope our thug-in-chief and his gang get the justice they deserve, after all is said and done.  I hope we learn to trust science and math, as NY Gov. Cuomo said, and act accordingly.  May history reflect the corruption and depravity of trump & co., and may we never repeat it.  Most of all, I hope I live to see his downfall, and our recovery.  Or at least to see my son again.  I miss our little family erev hangouts.

OMG it’s 82º out!  In March.  I got some garden work in, then just gazed amazed at all the flowers and veg seedlings coming up after the rain.  The lawn looks like a thick meadow of flowers.  Bees are out in force.  Here’s one.

Last night, E saw a possum on our front porch, and I know raccoons are out back doing watery things in the pond liner puddles.  It’s about to rain for another week or something, so the first mowing of the year will have to wait.

I’m gonna go down gardening.  There are worse ways to go in a pandemic.

The quarantine is hitting home in so many ways.  Yesterday Misu’s annual exam/shots/etc. were done drive-by style!  We conducted all the info exchange and business by phone from the car, then turned her over to the vet, waited, and got her back.  Our own upcoming doctor visit will be done via telemedicine.  I’m glad to see many places are adapting and taking precautions during these communicable times.

Today we had to go back to Kroger, where panic continues to be evident in all the empty shelves.  There was miraculously some TP left, but other items, such as canned goods and wipes, were wiped out.  You can see the tension and worry affecting behavior toward employees, but others are trying hard to be friendly and considerate.  I think the seriousness hasn’t quite hit people here yet, although the lines of people filling up multiple gas cans at the pumps did indicate some panicked preparedness for who knows what.  Incinerating zombies?

Misu was very stressed after her “adventure”, and still isn’t quite up to her old snuff.  We ourselves are feeling the anxiety, while diligently doing all the hygiene/distancing things in the hopes of surviving this.  The worst part is the sense of the unknown indefinite nature of this “novel coronavirus”.  If we had competent leadership in the WH who gave a damn, there might be some end in sight, or at least confidence that all possible measures were being taken.  Instead, many more deaths and meltdowns will have to hit close to home before our country gets its act together like the others.

It didn’t have to be this way.  That’s why every vote counts more than ever, whether early, mail-in, or whatever method is made available during these unusual times.  This president is dangerous to everything we value.  In the meantime, please take this virus very seriously, get informed, act responsibly toward others as well as yourself, and stay healthy and safe.  Rediscover your own yard if you have one; it can be very therapeutic.  And on that hopeful note, out back I go.

Today I cleaned up the circle around the front maple and mulched it.  What a difference!  Eventually I’ll add to the flowers and plants in it.  I just realized I don’t seem to have a “before” shot, but just imagine weeds and grass in amongst roots, very difficult to mow.  So you see, it’s not hard to find things to do outside during our semi-quarantine.

This COVID-19 virus is really setting some historical firsts.  Major cities shutting down, primary elections postponed, record-setting stock market plunges, intentional unpreparedness by this idiotic administration–and new lows of stupidity of the populace who believe their lies and continue life as usual.  While thousands die.

Our own TN reps are disregarding the facts and encouraging people to do likewise.  You can see it around you when you venture forth to do necessary errands, the contradictory complacence and panic.  At the same time, we saw something unheard of down here–church closings!  “No Sunday Services”!  The last bastions of Repug denial of science and defense against the “liberal hoax”, forced to comply with reality.  That has to be a new first.

Meanwhile, it’s (shock) pouring again, and the natural world has turned very green for St. Patrick’s Day.  I confess I myself have stocked up on the essentials of Guinness and other spirits (for “mental health”).  (And germ-killing in a pinch!)  With some states (Prohibition PA) shutting down liquor stores, it pays to be prepared.  When the viral zombies come for us, our arsenal of toilet paper and booze should hold them at bay for at least a week!

I don’t have any shamrocks or 4-leaf clovers, but here is some greenery in the rain.

And by SPAM, I mean the canned pork product popularized in WWII.  Years from now they’ll be discovering ancient stashes of petrified toilet paper in underground bunkers from the Age of Coronavirus.  Seriously, it’s a joke!  (Not the virus, the things people prioritize in a crisis.)

We finally found the precious commodity in a mega-Target in a slightly more civilized part of town, not yet totally decimated by toothless hags.  We actually got excited we scored our quota of two (!) big TP packs, that’s how absurd it all is.  Pretty much the only people there were doing same.  In fact it was almost deserted everywhere we went, with everyone holing up at home.  So surreal.  And yes, we did all the hygiene things.

Here is Misu demonstrating how to bunker down (or up in the closet, as the case may be).

I mean, literally, the panic vultures have descended upon every roll of TP anywhere, even with store limits imposed at places like Kroger and Target.  Then they proceeded on to the tissues, and anything remotely hygiene-related, so there’s little or nothing left for the rest of us.  Then on to random foodstuffs.  Of course not the healthy produce, but rather the meats and filler foods like bread.  I saw one woman sweeping all the remaining cheap ramen cases into her cart.  It’s starting to look like Soviet Russia, aisles of bare shelves.  People were rolling their eyes at each other at the sheer lunacy.

As we checked out, the guy said they could barely unload the trucks before customers were mobbing them.  A manager informed employees they’d be closing the store early–stock was running out.  At Lowes, there weren’t enough employees at work to assist customers with heavy items.  Fortunately I’m still healthy enough to help myself.

And this is just in stores.  Hospitals, airports, public venues, everywhere, personnel are overloaded, understaffed, undersupplied, and overwhelmed, while the virus is being transmitted exponentially.  The trump admin. is basically doing nothing to alleviate the situation, just spreading vile propaganda and ignorance.  Half the people you run into just think it’s some liberal conspiracy as usual, and take no precautions.  There’s no excuse for such lack of/ obstruction of leadership in such a serious world crisis.

Ok, ranted out for now, back to our usual bland programming porridge.  You’ll be happy to know there’s still the great outdoors, relatively germ-free, remember that?  Speaking of which, back out I go.

Here is a dramatic sunrise this morning before it starts raining again.  I’m trying to keep up hopes of a better day just over the horizon.  Darkness before the dawn and all that.

It’s almost 70º, and about to rain for at least a week, so I took a stroll around and captured these shots.  Meanwhile, our loser-in-chief is just getting around to announcing a national emergency, and gibbering on about his usual clueless nonsense.  It’s disturbing to watch his incompetence and apathy.  So back to less unnatural subjects.  Here’s Misu with the right idea.

As I said, life must go on, even if I can’t take a chance having my own son over for erev due to high risk categories.  I feel for all the people losing work and jobs, kids out of school with inadequate food, and the lack of medical resources and assistance for all the people in need.  Someone needs to restrain this bungler-in-chief and his gangster crew, so we can get on with addressing this crisis with testing for the virus like the rest of the world.

On that doomy note, here are E’s latest, greatest challot, new flowers, windowsill herbs, all my tomatoes (and peppers and eggplants) coming up, and this somehow appropriate eye-roll by Misu.  I think she speaks for us all.