The first day of the rest of our dramatically changed lives . . .

I have a friend whose birthday is on Friday, the 13th; it's always been an upbeat date for me as a result. Though last Friday was less so than usual.

For starters, we stayed home from UW Health/Sports Medicine/Fitness Center aka our gym. All classes were cancelled as of Friday and the gym suggested that anyone over 60 years of age (us!) should stay home. Given that it is a space filled with seniors, it is going to be very quiet for the foreseeable future. 

We spent the morning keeping up with the news and all the local cancellation notices. Then we went outdoors. Mark walked and took photos while I stayed in the garden, raking and doing initial cutting back as spring seems to be upon us. 

I took a stack of books off suspended holds at the library, so I will be set for reading material. Sent for an absentee ballot for the spring election and bought some flowers to raise our spirits. Yes, I did pick the flowers to go with Mark's 1982 painting of the corner of Park St. and West Wash. It's a big piece and has been languishing in the basement for enough years that it was time to let it shine again. 

Stay safe, stay healthy.

Comments

[Kris P]

It's a very weird time, isn't it? I rattled some cages late this week, sharing The Huntington's action on docent-led school tours and events with parties at my local botanic garden. An announcement similar to Huntington's went out a few hours later, followed by cancellation of the next 2 weeks of docent tours. (Schools here also announced closures the next day so that made most of the prior schedule moot anyway.) Feeling a little stir-crazy, a friend and I ventured out to a local restaurant (part of a chain) for an early lunch yesterday and, when our request for "social distancing" from other customers got lost in translation, I sent a suggestion to the chain's headquarters and got a personal phone call in response within hours with promises to do better. Everyone is muddling through at the moment but I have more hope now that the public is responding responsibly.

[Lisa at Greenbow]

Your vase of flowers look so nice with the picture. Those yellows bring them together.
Our library is closed! No CV19 is here and they want to keep it that way I guess. So much is closed here too. Schools etc... I normally live a quiet life but this seems really strange.

[Barbara H.]

You did a great job pairing the flowers and the painting. As I scrolled down I could see the picture of the flowers and the top half of the painting and thought "Wow! Those go together!" And I was right. And I really like the painting - good job, Mark.