current events

Pandemic - while our local count of the virus has dropped and is holding steady, things have only slightly opened back up. Groups continue to sue the governor for the right to open and attempt to abide by guidelines (churches sued two weeks ago and won the right to meet and social distance; bars, gyms, and bowling alleys were supposed to partially open this past week along with hair salons and restaurants but instead were told they could not. Those groups are now either suing or investigating their options as appeals for help and guidance go unheard.) Many restaurants are continuing to only have curbside and drive-thru as the measures required to open the dining halls are financially unfeasible to do. Several quilt shops have opened but one of their many precautions is that restrooms are closed to customers. So that basically means I won't go. I'm not willing to drive 40 minutes one way to then spend half an hour shopping and then drive another 40 minutes home without having access to a bathroom. My bladder would not survive.  And while America is still very much the land of plenty, I'm still amazed at the rolling shortages of items in the grocery store. Peanut butter, frozen vegetables and some pastas continue to be very limited in supply. Cleaning supplies with bleach or peroxide, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and many canned goods continue to be non-existent or so limited that there are quotas. I did find toilet paper at the Dollar Tree this week. They are very small rolls, but it's good quality and I'm thankful to find it period.

Racial injustice and murders - A black man named Gregory Floyd was murdered at the hands of police in Minnesota. His crime? Attempting to use a counterfeit bill. I've seen two video clips (and simply cannot watch any more) and in one (which has two parts) the media showed he was not resisting arrest in any form or fashion. But even the fact that they would attempt to arrest someone for using a counterfeit bill shocks me. I've been given a fake bill by a bank teller before. When I tried to use it a store, the lady asked me if I knew it was fake, and when I told her no and I just got it from the bank, she returned it to me and told me to take it back to them but I couldn't use it there. (The bank did replace it.) So I do not understand why the store owner or the officers felt it necessary to make an arrest in the first place. Even worse, I do not understand the officer placing his knee in an area that would cause a panic or anxiety attack at best when the person is begging for air and help. The most heart wrenching is long after they suspected he was dead, they continued to "subdue" him in such a manner and never once attempted CPR or offered in relief whatsoever. First degree murder in most places is a pre-meditated or planned murder, so I do understand not having a first degree charge, but I am a bit puzzled by the third degree/manslaughter charge. That is usually reserved for things like death by vehicle that is not intended to kill but does. Growing up in a small town, you know very well about the inconsistencies of police officers or the ones that are bad. You know that bad cops exist. I have several classmates who serves as police officers now. One of them lost his job for telling an officer under him not to comply with the chief's request to turn over the unused evidence (drugs) to him. My classmate lost his job over it, though the chief was later charged and found guilt and the new chief unsuccessfully tried to get him to return. I know there are many evil cops out there who use their uniform to abuse power. But it makes me sick to my stomach to think that black American males fear the cops the same way my students in China did. I don't know what the solution is. (Yes, I am an American and do think problems can and should be solved...used to drive my Chinese students crazy.) I've thought about a few things, but those are things that must come from our leaders and not from me. (Perhaps that's a post for another day.)

Protests and riots - As a result of the recent murder, there have been protests against police brutality, as there has been after other deaths at the hands of police officers (except for the two situations where white people were wrongly murdered at the hands of police here in NC in the last 5 years. No one but the media seemed outraged over those deaths, and even the media only talked about it for a day or two.) In Minneapolis, where George Floyd was murdered, one group of protestors attacked and burned a police station. I can kind of understand that one, even if I disagree with it. But when they began to attack and loot Target, the Dollar Tree, Starbucks, and bus stations, in my personal opinion, they stopped being protestors and were simply angry, anti-civilation idiots. The family of George Floyd is begging for this to stop. As the burning and looting has spread, there appears to continue to be three groups: the protestors wanting true change and justice; the anarchists who only want to destroy, kill and serve themselves by looting, and the helpers who are uniting to clean up the mess every morning after. They also attacked CNN media in Atlanta, along with a sports museum.  I can understand why they are angry with police and are attacking them and their vehicles, but I do not understand the rationale, or lack of it, for the destruction of all the other public and personal property.

China - India and China are once again in dispute over borders. China is finally cracking down on Hong Kong's freedoms, attempting to bring them more inline with the rest of their domain, and the rest of the world is rebuking them for it. Britain has actually stated that anyone with a six month work visa from Hong Kong can receive a British passport and China is having a fit over that. And of course our president is continuously creating ill will with them over the virus ( no pun intended there), but very few people are still speaking out about the human rights violations of the Uighers.

We have had rough times before, but today it seems as if things are very dark on the world's horizon. We truly live in a world broken by sin, and are in desperate need of redemption.

ups and downs

Last night was a bit of a roller coaster. I went outside to get the chickens' feed out of the car and into the bins, only to discover a) we have a broody hen...in the garage   and b) there was a black mouse in one of the feed bins. Do you know how much I hate mice?  Do you know how frustrated I am that half of our hens are now setting instead of laying eggs AND collecting the eggs of the other laying hens?
So we deal with the mouse, feed the chickens, start supper, halfway mop the kitchen floor while cooking (so while it looked semi-okay, it sounded sticky when walking...ugh), had Mrs. Bryan for supper, then watched church online. Went to bed early because Bobby had an online and phone conference this morning.

This morning was the upside of the roller coaster. I found toilet paper at the Dollar Tree!!! SCORE!!! I didn't find the coloring book or crayons I wanted for the kids' back to church packets, but I was able to order them online when I got home.

I am woefully behind on the Gatherings Quilt Project. We had a zoom meeting this past week and I was the only one in the group with no progress to show.  The day after our meeting I figured out how many blocks were in the quilt and looked at the calendar. I should have 65 blocks by the end of this month. After working on it quite a bit this last week, I now have 24 finished. I think it is safe to say I am woefully behind. The small part that fits on my design wall (it will be a queen size when finished and my design wall will only hold a small twin size) does not pop quite the way I expected, but the border blocks are not up there either. There are several layout options with this pattern, so I might change it around and make it look totally different once all the blocks are completed.

And my garden is totally planted (unless I have to replant the okra...again). The corn and squash and a few of the beans are peeping their heads out of the ground, so that was exciting to see. Too early for the beans or peas to show themselves since I just planted them Tuesday.

So while we are not having summer temps, activity-wise, summer is upon us.

Galileo's Daughter

I just finished the book Galileo's Daughter. It was a surprising and an interesting read for a biography. I will say it was way more about Galileo than his daughter, but it really made me stop and think about the dangers of overzealous religious leaders and the desire for the control of thoughts within any group of people.

One of the startling things was the discussion of the plague outbreaks (it interrupted the publishing of one of Galileo's works as well as his heresy hearings). Considering the protests in Raleigh (to reopen the state) were starting about the same time I hit that chapter, it was equally interesting. People were allowed to keep working in one city as long as none of the workers (the owner and his apprentices or servants) showed any symptoms of the bubonic plague. Many workers would try to hide any symptoms of the disease so they could feed their families or keep their jobs. If people were caught doing that, then their hands were tied behind their backs and they were hung by their wrists. Whether that was a a temporary hanging or a permanent hanging the book did not specify. Regardless, it makes me shudder to think about that, and makes the people on social media whining about wearing a mask seem silly and childish. (And bear in mind, after wearing a mask for 5 hours at the hospital with Bobby, I'm no longer a fan of them, even if I do understand their importance.) The extremes in consequences is what I found so startling: one is pain and torture; the other is slight discomfort and inconvenience.

The other startling thing was his oldest daughter, who the book was about, took on some of his punishment for him (reciting the Psalms for thirty minutes every day and praying a certain prayer). The whole discipline concepts in the early Catholic church still astound me, but the idea that anyone can absolve or be a substitute for another's punishment seems strange and contradictory, even if that is what Christ did for us.

The ending took me by surprise, and I won't share it or it would ruin it for anyone who reads it. Let's just say that without it, I would have classified the book as interesting and okay. But with it, it bumps it up into a good category.

wildlife

 I forgot this photo was on my camera until I downloaded pics today. We don't normally see a bearded heron (I assume this is a heron). He stayed in the yard for quite some time. Haven't seen him since.

And this. I have no clue what this is. I was trimming limbs this afternoon and at first thought it was a very large piece of bark. I put the handsaw on the limb and realized it had eyes and a leg. I've never seen a bark-looking tree frog before. Guess I need to research them a little more and find out what it is.

The Beaver War, day 2

 Debris removed from yesterday evening.
I was worried what I would find this morning,
but the water had drained enough today
I could see the entire drain, as well as the "fortress"
dam the beavers had built around it.

 Morning of day 2.

 I started with cleaning debris from the drain itself,
then started attacking more of the side walls.

I think this picture shows a little of the depth of their wall.

Stopping for the day. 

The shovel was not very helpful so mostly used the hoe.

If the water drains enough tonight (and the beavers don't return and rebuild)

then I'll wade out in my rain boots and start attacking the far side.

this little house was made of...

The drain to our pond has been stopping up more than normal the last two weeks. I knew it was slightly clogged with debris, but not so much so that one night of rain should have totally covered it and stopped it up.

I cleaned enough around it two days ago to get us through the forecasted rain. When we got home today and I mentioned the rain would start soon, Bobby remembered to tell me that the drain was totally covered and looked quite bad. So I headed down there to see what I could quickly do before the rain started.  And I was amazed at what I found.

Normally there is one or two sticks with a lot of leaves and pine straw and the occasional piece of trash.  I pulled so much debris off the top of the drain and from the sides of it that I could have filled up half a wheelbarrow. A layer of pine straw, a layer of sticks, a layer of mud, a layer of leaves, a combination of all of the above, and then it repeated. There was an entire buildup of sticks and mud in a circle around the drain. Strangest thing I've ever seen. But then I started noticing the sticks were all approximately the same size and were organized in such a way in the mud that it was designed to keep water from flowing to the drain. And the sticks were woven in and out of the drain slats with mud and pine straw that I was literally scooping and pulling with the hoe to get it all up and out of the water. The final piece of the puzzle was when I realized almost all of the sticks were slanted on one end.

This little house was made of mud. This little house was made of straw. This little house was made of sticks. And this little beaver is now entering a war.

To be continued...

treading among the fearful

Bobby is scheduled for a follow-up procedure tomorrow at Rex Hospital. It will be outpatient, and this time I will be allowed to stay in the waiting room. (If I leave, I cannot return.) Since this time is a scheduled procedure and not an emergency procedure, we've had a few extra hoops to jump through. He had to be tested for the virus (he doesn't have it), his pre-op appointment was done over the phone, and we have to arrive three hours early instead of two (I'm starting to think we're taking an international flight or something) so the tests that would normally be done during pre-op can be done before/during the regular check-in and pre-op.

We will both have to wear masks the entire time, and will have to answer the "safety" questions for the umpteenth time tomorrow. Talking through a mask is not fun. Thankfully this time he is not running a fever so the admitting personnel won't be in a state of trepidation.  And I've already changed out the van seats so I can drive, so we shouldn't have a repeat of a few weeks ago. (When the ER  nurses told me he would be having surgery and then would be admitted and I would not be allowed to stay, I started changing out the van seats. We were not prepared for that and all the tracks were full of dust and straw and leaves from his chair. As I was blowing things out so I could attach the tie-downs for the seatbelt, the dust got in my face and I started coughing...as my phone started ringing from the ER nurse saying I needed to come inside and get his belongings. And of course I had to answer the safety questions on the phone, which included "Have you been coughing?" I squeaked out a no.)

I hope we do not meet the same receptionist I yelled at a few weeks ago. But if we do, that's okay. I don't think she'll tell me this time that my husband is not there.

Barrelling into May

In some ways, I feel that I am busier with the stay at home order. Cooking every night requires cleaning the kitchen every night. I'm somewhat enjoying it, though on the days when I have outside work to do the last thing I want to do is come in and cook and clean. We did eat take-out a few nights this past week.

I was so looking forward to being at home for six weeks. Yet with it hitting at spring time when the yard needs work and the garden time begins, my schedule has not been quite as free as I had hoped. The riding lawn mower tearing up hasn't helped my to do list any either.

And yet, between the yard work and health issues, we did have some down time. We watched five movies, which is what we might normally see in a year, and have read some. We're still having church online, and it's been nice to be able to have lunch cooking and check on things not long after church is over.

We had two small chicks hatch in the last few days and we still have three setting hens. That means our egg supply has diminished quite a bit, but we are still getting more than we need.  The sad thing is the two of the last four chicks that have survived are showing every sign of being roosters.  

We have an appointment at Rex this Friday, but thankfully since it is classified as outpatient I will be able to stay in Bobby's room the entire time. The nurses were great two weeks ago, but it was a very unsettling feeling to not be able to be there.

Hopefully pictures will be coming next week!