May the fourth be with you...

Yeah, I went there.  So did our neighbor with the cool yard signs. 

I guess I'm settling into the new normal under stay-at-home.  The days are starting to be meaningful and they're stopped blurring all together.  I was looking at my photos to post today and was able to easily remember which pictures I took since last Monday. 

Last Tuesday was Rob's birthday.  I planned to wait til he went to work, then bake a carrot cake for his birthday and make his favorite dinner for that night as a surprise.  I even got Syd to participate. Then, I was watching TV that night and plotting how and what time I was going to do all that and still work, when I remembered that he works from home on Tuesdays.  So, we had a good laugh about that and the next morning, I got up early and baked. 

The best description of that cake is "sinfully delicious".  Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  So sweet it made my jaws hurt when I ate it.  But, that didn't stop me eating it.  I think he had a nice birthday, even if it was during lockdown and we didn't get to go anywhere to celebrate.

Yesterday, I decided to make an apple cake, but bake it in two loaf pans instead of a tube.  When I peeled and sliced the last three apples that I'd bought before we went into shelter-in-place, I ended up with enough to make two cakes, so I made four loaves.  One goes to Rob's co-worker's family and two went in the freezer and we'll eat the last one.  And, we've gotten hooked on homemade bread.  Even if I'm only using it for a sandwich or morning toast, it's so much better than store bought.  And, the more I make bread, the easier it gets.  I read a news article from a baker last week that was admonishing everyone to stop baking bread.  Her reason?  She was baking bread before us and we were using all the flour so she couldn't bake her bread.  First come, first served was her premise.  It didn't stop me from making more bread.

I always spend time walking in the garden, but now that I'm home all the time, it's gotten even easier to get up for a stretch, take the dogs out in the yard and just walk around, looking.  I'll pull a few weeds or dead head spent flowers and take pictures, then it's back to my desk.

We believe this Iris came from a grower near my parents.  We went there with them and Rob got stung by a bee (he's really allergic) and the grower gave him a plant to make up for it.  We think it was this, but we don't remember for sure. 

These were found blooming last Tuesday; skyflower, the first daylily of the year, blue salvia, and plumbago.  I spent several hours in the yard over the weekend.  It's constantly a new adventure and there's always something to do. 

This is a green daylily.  When my parents were really into daylilies, my Dad was collecting green ones.  He had two and shared one.  There's now a stand in the front yard and one in the back. 

Every day at lunch, I walk the dogs as some exercise.  Here we are, all geared up, waiting to hit the pavement.  Everyone in the neighborhood is still social distancing and we walk past neighbors all the time that are talking from 6' apart.  Everyone speaks and is friendly.  That's always good and welcome. 

Someone is writing on the sidewalks and here are some drawings I saw last week.  This person writes at the intersections of streets, so as we cross, we get to see one on the corner we're leaving and one on the corner we're walking to.  I'm even thinking of buying some sidewalk chalk and getting in on the act.  Not sure what I'd say, but I'm sure I can think of at least three uplifting things to write on the sidewalk in front of the house. 

 We moved Sydney home on Saturday.  I think she was ready, but it still made Rob and me sad to see her go (less sad about her taking that dirty laundry smell home with her).  She will go back to work this week.  They'll need to clear the warehouse, clean the store and sort food to get rid of any that has expired.  I think even she was a bit sad to be going.  She's been lucky that her store has continued to pay its full time workers through all this.  We listened to her talk about work and it sounds like she's got a pretty good gig going there.  I was glad to see that she has an appreciation for that. 

Last week, I got a negative comment on my post.  A reader told me off for getting upset and complaining that a hero grocery bagger that is exposing herself to danger for me, while I sit here in my lovely safe home didn't bag my groceries right.  She said she'd lost all respect for me and that my white privilege was showing.  White privilege is not something I'm proud of, but as I mused on it, I realized that no matter what I do, I have it easier because I'm white and male.  After I got over the way she said it, I was chastised and wanted to thank her for pointing it out because her very snarky comments hurt.  Also, if that's all it took to lose all respect for me, then she must not have had much respect to begin with.  Then, I realized she was a no-reply blogger.  I put myself out there every week, exposing my thoughts to the world and receiving feedback. And, she wouldn't even back her comments up with an email address.  I'm not saying that no reply readers shouldn't comment.  Several of my regular commenters are no reply readers.  But, no reply or not, don't come after me with snarky comments if you're not brave enough to have an actual conversation about it. 

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I am appalled and angry about the sick people that the joke-president is firing up showing up at these protests with their guns.  Talk about white privilege.  I know they want to make us afraid that they'll kill us all with those big guns.  But, honestly, I'm not afraid of them.  If they want to show just exactly how stupid they are and take betsy devos' money to tromp around and shout like banshees, that's their problem.  I hope (okay, not much) that they don't get sick from being in such close quarters.  Because threatening governors and other officials, screaming in the face authority, that ain't what makes America great.  That's what makes America look stupid and disorganized and fragile to the rest of the world.  Showing division like that in a time of what even the orange toad in the white house calls a war is exactly what some dictator is looking for to come try to take us over.  Because if we can't stay focused now, then we won't be focused in a defense against invaders.

So I hope that anyone getting up in a cop's face and endangering them with their hate spittle gets arrested and serves time.  Because from what I hear, there's not much white privilege in prison. 

  

Everyone be well.  This will all get better when we take crazy toad out of power and show people that it doesn't have to be about their hate and anger.  Til then, maybe they'll find some spontaneous combustion.

Lane