It occurs to me that my posts might give the impression that we’re just nailing or sailing through this pandemic, while others are suffering.  I don’t mean to sound privileged or oblivious; I’m very aware of how catastrophic this is, economically and physically.  I’m also very conscious of how fortunate we are to be retired with a fixed income, able to pay our mortgage and bills, and stay home and safe for now.  Random timing and circumstances worked in our favor, but it could have so easily devastated us along with millions of others.

There’s nothing we or anyone could have done to avoid a disaster this universal, other than taking medical precautions early on.  It is no respecter of persons, no matter how special or insulated you think you are.  It’s so easy to contract this deadly virus from just one careless person, no matter how conscientious you are.  It’s even harder if you’re forced back to work without protections in place because our corrupt president doesn’t give a crap about you.  I never take our current fortunate situation for granted.

So please take all my routine gardening, cooking, and occasional ranting with that in mind.  I’m extremely mindful of all the hardship and distress all around us, which we’ve been able to dodge so far simply by random chance circumstances and vigilance.  My normal level of anxiety is heightened all the time now, and I know I’m not the only one.  So I try to focus on a mundane, healthy routine to take my mind off the looming dread, and hope that in the process, perhaps I can help distract or even amuse you as well.

None of us knows if we’ll outlive this thing, or what the new abnormal will look like, but in the meantime you have to live and breathe and carry on, one day at a time, as always.  Take Misu the Cat.  She’d much rather be outside, but it’s dangerous out there, so she makes the most of a boring situation, and keeps herself amused (or asleep).  Inadvertently, she also distracts and entertains us, and reminds us to appreciate what we do have in the present moment.

(We’ve been in lockdown too long!  Even the puns are getting sicker.)

Seriously, we did manage to conjure up a festive 6th in quarantine.  We splurged on some steaks (a rare and pricey commodity these days), which E grilled to perfection outside.  (FI-UH!)  Paired with red wine, a homegrown salad, and steamed potatoes and peas, it was quite a feast, and still much more affordable than going out.  (Remember going out?  We don’t.)  Misu pretty much sums it up in this shot.  And of course, flowers are free.

No, unfortunately it’s not a year since the virus hit, although it’s going to feel like it soon.  Rather, it’s erev our sixth (!) anniversary, quarantine-style, a novel (heheh) experience.  Needless to say, it will be at home.  That’s OK, we’re usually home anyway, and we keep ourselves amused and entertained in our own boring way.

I decked the kitchen with flowers from the garden, made a fresh greens salad from our own “salad bar”, and E will attempt to do something frivolous on the grill.  Our gifts never arrived, of course, due to the pandemic, but eventually they will.  We’ll watch some movies and shows as usual, and be thankful we made it alive thus far, unlike some.

Today E made one of her excellent pizzas from scratch–who needs delivery!  Meanwhile, Misu did virtual pouncing on critters from her window perches, in this case a chipmunk.  And as mentioned, I went crazy with flower arrangements.  You see, we’re self-amusing.

Yesterday evening we watched as a couple of ravens brazenly pulled up almost every single label in my veg garden and just left them there.  One raven would cleverly pull out a tag, while the the other raucously cawed him on, like evil laughter!  They don’t seem to have any purpose or motive, other than pure gleeful mischief, much like insolent human toddlers.  All that effort was rewarded by crowding into the small birdbath for a drink.  Sorry again for the blurry quality.

Speaking of emboldened wildlife, just when I thought I’d seen everything, this happened.  It was 8:15 AM, the rain just giving way to sun, and all the ravens and critters, including Misu, were very agitated.  There was what had to be a coyote, just meandering alone around our garden!  (You can just make out all the labels strewn around by the ravens.)  At first I thought it was a fawn, as it was tan, long-legged, and sleek, like a deer.  Maybe a younger coyote, or a hybrid?  It seemed more curious than wary, so I was able to catch a few somewhat focused photos from windows (while Misu raced nervously from one to the other for a better look).  After a few moments the coyote calmly trotted off.

I understand coyotes living in close proximity to humans may become more nocturnal, but may still come out in early morning or evening to hunt for food; while in less populated areas, they feel safe hunting during the day, and not always within a pack.  They prefer small rodents and rabbits to human or pet food (or pets).  There have been more rabbits around here lately (as well as the odd scraps).  I confess I’m pleased by all these “encroachments” of wildlife back into their stolen territories.  You have to admire the chutzpah.  They are putting up with us, after all.

It’s been pouring and t-storming for a couple of days, always a happy development for the garden and for my state of mind.  I sloshed out into the “prairie”, where bunnies and flowers are jumping out.  Always nice to see results.

Likewise, the edibles are looking better in the rain, especially to the critters.  Shown are: the three sisters (corn/beans/squash), the salad bar, and nasturtiums.

Once again, with the usual anxiety and precautions, we ventured out into the Kroger petrie zone.  We were extra cautious, aware of the raised risk from everyone thinking we’re back to “normal”.

We actually found most employees wearing masks, though not as many customers.  The products that were still nonexistent seemed random and illogical, and many were scarce and overpriced, but we got the essentials.

Each time we go out there, we know the probability of exposure goes up.  We’ve gotten pretty efficient at getting out of there as expeditiously as possible, then decontaminating ourselves and all the groceries.  It’s still stressful.

As I write, it’s thunderstorming, but I was able to catch a few shots just in time.  We have redbud pods, pea flowers, chive flowers, lacy cilantro flowers, poppies, blue and purple bachelor buttons, columbine, and daisies. Yesterday evening I even managed to capture this raven enjoying a drink in the birdbath.

It’s headed for 85º, and flora and fauna are busting out of every crevice.  Bees are hard at work, covered with pollen.  Birds are cavorting.  Lizards are a-slitherin’ underfoot.

On one of my little “explores”, I followed a cloying sweet fragrance to masses of these white flowers, whose evil invasive ID I can’t reveal.  It does create a pleasant flowery bower behind the shed, so I’m leaving it, not fighting it.

While exploring, a couple of hawks were soaring high above the trees.  Here’s one.  Below, a large groundhog was pruning.  Sorry about the poor quality, my camera doesn’t zoom well.

I’ve decided to just live with nature, and let her sort it all out as she always eventually does.  I’ll do my part, but I’m getting too old to singlehandedly undo centuries of human environmental damage.  I’m OK with being an equal opportunity grower for the most part, while introducing more natives as able, and managing what’s here as wisely as I can within my means.  The fauna seem to approve, so I must be doing something right.

Right now my priority is to try to stay alive while reckless humans are out spreading a deadly pandemic around and killing each other off, Darwin-style.  While I’m waiting, my mission is to let this barren blank slate revert to a more natural wooded state, with some help.  Also to enjoy a nice “herby” beer and this fine homemade pizza by E.  Keeping it simple.

So as I was saying, here are more flowers gone wild.

It’s hard to beat a deer sighting, but these proliferating chipmunks are too adorable.  There’s a whole family running around our house, and now they just eat bird seed and ignore me and Misu for the most part.

I had another first, though not as dramatic–the snow peas are finally blooming, now that it’s headed for the high 80s!  About time.  And a second–the second salad of the season, straight from the “salad bar”; doesn’t get any fresher than that.

Last but definitely not least, my favorite flowers continue to amaze–poppies, columbines, irises, and the deep blue bachelor’s buttons or cornflower (Centaurea).  I know, not native, still pretty.

This is the moment I’ve been waiting for.  Early this morning I happened to glance out the window to the back field, and there was this very large deer just standing there!  These photos suck, because I didn’t want to startle it by going outside.  So yes, I need to wash windows, but this proves I wasn’t just hallucinating!  The poor deer found itself trapped out in the open between houses, so it ran around until it found the neighbor’s fence, and jumped over it into the woods.

I knew there had to be deer roaming the area, with enough woods and hedgerows for cover, and gardens for food.  We’ve seen them in nearby yards once in a while.  It was just a matter of time until they found their way here.  The yards are very exposed, with more construction going on every day, plus dogs and coyotes, but that never stopped deer.  If there was that herd that came through our suburban NJ yard near NYC in search of food, how could they not be just out of sight in rural TN.  Perhaps the too brief interlude of COVID quarantining brought more of them out in the open, but not for long.

In Maryland (my main home for decades) they were the bane of gardeners’ existence.  The deer population was out of control, because of human encroachment and dwindling predators.  They would eat anything and everything.  Plus they had lots of protected state natural environment areas to roam.  The first question customers at our nursery would ask us is “is it deer-resistant?”, and the answer was “probably not”.  Deer were a constant danger to motorists.  Needless to say, deer-hunting season was big in MD.

Anyway, that’s my big news of the day.  I hope it’s just the beginning of a trend.  If they enjoy my garden, so be it.  That’s the point of native habitat restoration, to provide food, water, and shelter for wildlife.  The wilder, the better.

I never knew how pesky and rascally ravens could be!  Now that they’re making themselves at home around the house, they pull up all my labels, dig holes, plow up my mulch, move logs and lumber around (seriously!), throw stuff in the birdbath, poop all over, bully other critters, you name it.  Every morning they’re all lined up perched on the fence and tree, just…waiting.  They’re like juvenile delinquents!  I love them.  I’m learning to speak raven.  I think I amuse them.  (Or possibly insult their mother.)  Still tricky to get good shots, though, but soon they’ll just ignore me altogether.

In the meantime, here are some flowers around the house and field.