Special Report
How many times do we have to hear the “special” announcements before we grow numb? I can’t answer that because I wasn’t counting last week when the numbness began to set in. During these “uncertain times” affecting everyone in the world, businesses that are scrambling to adjust are all issuing announcements of what they are doing to be safe, stay safe, help you, help others, unfortunately, to the point of becoming downright annoying.
It is my civic duty to assure all readers that Relative Something is striving to do everything possible to assure that all posts are maintaining a proper social distance and avoiding going to restaurants or concerts until this crisis is over. Epidemiologists are confident that reading blog posts is unlikely to pose unreasonable risks of transfer of the coronavirus, so feel free to spend extra time during your sheltering at home to visit the “Previous Somethings” archive to rediscover what the world was like before 2020.
Yesterday, in effort to clean up some of the mud-saster around here, Delilah and I –well, mostly me, she just sat nearby and stared toward the chickens in the woods– dismantled six pallets to reclaim enough lumber for extending the boardwalk on one of our trails by about seven rows.
You can see a difference one day makes when it comes to spring snow. The white stuff has melted, but that leaves behind a wet, muddy mess for trail conditions.
Actually, it was frozen this morning due to low overnight temperatures, so we hauled a wheelbarrow full of the blocks down into the woods before breakfast. The reward for that effort resulted in a special condition on Delilah’s hairy legs that I call “mudcicles.”
The doggie towels we keep at the front door for drying her feet when we come in from a walk aren’t able to wipe off all the frozen mud stuck in the long hairs on the back of her legs. That tends to slowly melt off around the house over the following hour after we come in.
Luckily, since I am home alone and am not able to host any guests during the pandemic crisis, I simply pretend not to notice how gross the house is becoming. When I try communicating with others in the world via Zoom or FaceTime, I just make sure to keep the camera pointing well above the floor.
Rest assured, despite the thin coating of silt covering every flat surface of the house, the risk of transmission of the coronavirus continues to remain unlikely.
Stay safe while washing your hands everyone!
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Wintry Spring
The weather prank that would have fit nicely on April Fools’ Day happened two days late for that honor. Yesterday afternoon the flakes started flying and, beautiful as they can be, didn’t stop until there was an ugly couple of inches covering everything.
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Overnight last night, the temperature dropped to 22°(F) making it not only look like winter but feel like it, too.
April showers are supposed to bring May flowers. Well, April snow just might be an improvement on that because the snow tends to stay in place and soak the ground as it melts. If the forecasts are correct, this snow will disappear quickly.
The temperature shows signs of reaching 70 by Tuesday they are saying.
Growing things should find that enticing.
My reaction is to give the lawn tractor attention in preparation for the season ahead.
It is always startling when the number of days between putting away the snow shovel and getting out the lawnmower can be counted on the fingers of my two hands.
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Egg Bonanza
One of the best things about April 2nd is that there are 364 days before needing to survive April Fools’ Day again. The one silly bit of mischief I tried to pull off yesterday didn’t work as hoped, but still provided some laughter when I demonstrated later how I had intended it to play out.
Well-timed revenge was enacted and I came back from my lunch break to a malfunctioning mouse for my computer. I found a slip of post-it paper stuck to the underside covering the laser. “April Fools!” was written on the paper. Nicely executed.
One thing that was no prank yesterday was the home-laid egg performance by our eight hens. Yesterday was our first 100% production day for this year.
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That’s one less trip to the grocery store in search of essentials for me.
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Wayward Wire
Our fence is pulling an April Fools’ prank on me. One of the plastic pin-lock wire insulators has given up the ghost at a high-stress corner post. That location sees intense UV abuse from the sun and the insulators are going on six-plus years duty. Actually, there are two insulators mounted there, so maybe the one that just failed hasn’t been in use for all six years.
It will be easy to fix by simply swapping the busted one out with an insulator from another post in a position that sees no off-line pressure. The biggest complication is that the insulators are mounted with two different screw heads, so I need to show up with a drill driver and multiple tips to get the job done, as opposed to discovering it unprepared while on a walk with Delilah.
I don’t know why the fence installers didn’t run the wires on the outside of that corner post like they did most everywhere else. Maybe it wouldn’t look perfect because the post wasn’t installed in a precise position to allow the wire to run straight and true. As long as I’m working on it, I should just release one of the ends of all four wires and move the insulators to the outside of the post.
Of course, it’s right by the road so that passers-by get a good view of what looks like a severely neglected fence. A fence in disrepair speaks volumes about a property.
Mine won’t have much time to diss me. The repair is high on today’s list of things that will be receiving attention. Most likely I will go with the quick fix for now. It may not be ideal to make those insulators hold all that tension, but they’ve lasted this long …for the most part. They can survive like that until I become motivated to reroute them for a more permanent solution.
Regardless of whether or not the wires will travel in a perfectly straight line.
Happy April First, 2020!
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Flippin’ Cool
Yesterday, we received the April issue of National Geographic magazine marking the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and it’s flippin’ cool! I mean, literally!
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From Editor, Susan Goldberg:
“For the occasion, we’ve created the first ever “flip” issue of National Geographic—essentially two magazines in one—to revisit environmental milestones of the past half century and to look ahead at the world our descendants will inhabit in 2070, on Earth Day’s 100th anniversary.”
I figured it was just a cool cover and the inside would be all one orientation, but no, the contents literally reflect opposing views.
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A quick turning of the pages revealed a wealth of information that will take me a while to consume, but I’m already enjoying the creative presentation.
I’m open to both ways of framing the status of our planet and undecided as to which perspective I will read first. I’ll probably start with the bad and then finish with the good to leave me with a more optimistic mindset.
I didn’t notice if either view includes a reference to dealing with pandemic flu events. Reports have surfaced pointing out the massive shutdown of activity across the planet has quickly resulted in decreases in atmospheric pollution.
There is a meme going around depicting the pandemic as the Earth sending us all to our rooms to think about what we’ve done. While people are stuck at home, the planet is getting a little reprieve from the previous levels of industrial abuse.
Here’s to the possibility of humans permanently changing behaviors for the better after the current pandemic passes into history. I’m sure the Earth would welcome a correction of the current trajectory.
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As Predicted
The weather on Saturday and Sunday played out just as the forecasters predicted. Windy, cold, gray, wet, snowy, lightning & thunder, and did I mention, windy? I have to go back to work today, and what are meteorologists saying about how today will shape up? Sunny and mid-50s (F). It figures.
We had standing water in the labyrinth. That’s a rarity.
The next shot is not the drainage swale, it’s the North Loop trail. I coulda used a kayak.
The water was even making its way into the barn.
Delilah and I did the morning walk yesterday in a snow shower.
She had her eyes on a robin that seemed oblivious to the presence of a potential predator. I think the birds act that way around Delilah because they know they can fly out of reach in the nick of time.
The presence of robins in the yard is a sure sign of spring. Another inspiring sight to witness is the first shoots of allium making an appearance.
I have a feeling the greenery is going to burst forth with dramatic swiftness when the sun finally replaces the gray skies of the last two days.
It would be a welcome bonus if we could get a decent number of dry days in a row, as well.
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Near You
This morning, I took my temperature again, just like I have every day for the last week. A clear pattern has developed that gives me confidence I will recognize if/when a change starts to occur.
Even without the threat of infection from the current pandemic, I regularly notice odd aches, pains, or unexplained weird sensations that have me noting a possibility of illness visiting my body. Almost always, nothing comes of it. Headache? Maybe I didn’t drink enough water. Throat feels scratchy? There’s probably an allergen in the air.
A day later, I’ve usually forgotten about the previous days’ malady that caught my attention.
Of course, now my first impression when something feels amiss is that I am getting the COVID-19. Although, in that regard, I’m equally inclined to suspect that I’ve already been exposed and haven’t developed any symptoms.
Wouldn’t it be great if officials could get their act together and widely release the increasingly tantalizing simple blood test to check for COVID-19 antibodies that will clarify who is able to get back to life as normal? I’d be one of the first in line after they give us all permission to go out together again.
There is another way I am trying to contribute to a greater understanding of this pandemic. In the US, it is possible to provide your health status to a team at Boston Children’s Hospital to help them map the COVID-19 outbreak. The brilliance of their project is that it doesn’t simply focus on who has been tested, it seeks to collect information from everyone by way of user-submitted reports to fill out the picture of both who is sick and who is still healthy.
COVID Near You is a sister tool of Flu Near You already in use to help communities track cases of seasonal flu.
How are you feeling?
Go to covidnearyou.org and answer that question. Contribute to the map of everyone, both ill and well.
I can’t think of any easier step to take toward contributing to a better world for all, except maybe pausing wherever you are to conjure up some love for the rest of the world.
What the heck, might as well do both.
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Bridge Built
It hasn’t started raining today yet, but precipitation is on the way. Knowing that, yesterday I made it a priority to finish the bridge I started a week ago. I wanted to get it done while the weather was nice. I’ll let the pictures tell most of the story:
Once the frame was complete, I used the cut pieces (previously employed as shims to level joists during assembly) for reducing friction when I single-handedly dragged the base across the gorge. It was heavy!
For now, there will be a step up onto the deck, but at some point in the near future, I plan to dig down so the ends will be at ground level so the lawn tractor can roll smoothly up and over.
I wonder how heavy it is now.
If we get too much water flowing, the whole thing will get pushed out of position. However, if that happens, we will have other flood-related problems to deal with that will make the shifted bridge a minor concern.
I’m going to bank on the likelihood that’s not gonna happen.
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Lifting Spirits
Amid the glut of dramatic economic distress and virus fears in the news every minute, there continue to appear glimmers of calm and inspiration. I can’t add any words to enhance the wonderful a cappella collection of student voices from Rome singing a Crosby, Stills, & Nash song that has been in my repertoire since the early days of my acquiring an acoustic guitar. They deserve your full attention.
Hat tip to Howard Rheingold for pointing me to this gem.
Claim a few minutes from the calamities of your day to sit and enjoy this. It is a worthy distraction.
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I’m going to find it difficult to sing this song alone from now on after having watched them.
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